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24 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCB 
the fundamental things of science, the larger truths, that in- 
crease the general perspective of knowledge, and may underlie 
the possibilities of material progress in many directions. On 
the other hand, the immediate material needs of the community 
are to be met by the superficial things of science, the external 
touch of more fundamental things. The series may move in 
either direction, but its end members must always hold the 
Same relative positions. The first stimulus may be our need, 
and a superficial science meets it, but in so doing it may put us 
on the trail that leads to the fundamental things of science. 
On the other hand, the fundamentals may be gripped first, and 
only later find some superficial expression. The series is often 
attacked first in some intermediate region, and probably most 
of the research in pure science may be so placed; that is, it is 
relatively fundamental ; but it is also relatively superficial. The 
real progress of science is away from the superficial, toward 
the fundamental; and the more fundamental are the results, 
the more extensive may be their superficial expression. 
A notable illustration of. this connection between funda- 
mental science and its superficial expression is that given by 
the study of organic evolution. Before the beginning of the 
19th century evolution was a speculation, which was as old as 
our record of human thought. During the 19th century it 
came to be based upon observation, and thus became a science, 
but its appeal was simply to those who wanted to understand 
nature. At the beginning of the present century it became a 
subject for experiment, for observation had reached its limit, 
and it was necessary to know through experiment whether one 
kind of organism can produce another kind.. This experimental 
work began to uncover the laws of inheritance, or of heredity, 
as we have come to call it. The discovery of these laws sug- 
gested methods of securing practical results in plant-breeding 
never dreamed of before, and a revolution in agriculture was 
the result. It is a far cry from speculation concerning evolu- 
tion to a solution of the problem of food production, but the 
continuity is unbroken. 
It is the proper balance between the two ideals that must be 
maintained. The physical needs of man, great as they may be, 
must never obscure the intellectual needs of man; especially as 
; 
— — 
he a 
