XXIII 



THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF 

 RESEARCH 



GEORGE ELLERY HALE 



THE progress of research, and the rapid advance of knowl- 

 edge along particular lines, have naturally resulted in 

 the highly specialized organization of science of the present 

 day. Two centuries ago the Royal Society of London and the 

 Paris Academy of Sciences could easily embrace the whole 

 range of science, and include in their membership essentially 

 all of the able investigators of England and France., The 

 establishment of the Linnean Society in 1788 marked the begin- 

 ning of a dispersive movement that has continued ever since. 

 The Geological Society was instituted in 1807 and the Royal 

 Astronomical Society in 1820, partly as the result of the ac- 

 cumulation of valuable observations too extensive for the Royal 

 Society to publish. One by one the recognized branches of 

 science took definite form, developed a large group of adherents, 

 and a special society resulted. Engineering and medicine ex- 

 perienced the same progress, large general societies being 

 followed by special organizations occupying particular fields. 

 Civil, mechanical, mining, and electrical were the first great 

 subdivisions of engineering, but recent years have brought 

 increased specialization, and we now have societies of naval, 

 illuminating, automotive, and refrigerating engineering, fol- 

 lowed within the past year by a society devoted to electric 

 welding. Medicine has also divided into many elements, and 

 it is safe to predict that new special bodies will continue to 

 arise as workers multiply. 



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