406 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



This rapid progress of subdivision indicates, of course, a most 

 healthy condition of affairs. Without intense concentration of 

 interest and effort science and its applications could never have 

 attained their present advanced position. Specialization in 

 research, and the association of specialists in groups, must, 

 therefore, be regarded as signs of progress. But the conse- 

 quences of this movement are not wholly advantageous. The 

 separation of investigators of somewhat different tastes has 

 deprived them of many mutual benefits. In each branch of 

 science instruments and methods are devised to meet particular 

 needs. These may have many applications, direct or indirect, 

 in other quarters, but for the most part they remain the undis- 

 puted possession of those acquainted with the special journals 

 in which they are described. How often does the physicist 

 consult the proceedings of a psychological society, or the 

 engineer a journal of physiology? Yet problems often arise in 

 which the experience gained in remote fields would be invalu- 

 able. More often, when some large problem is open to attack, 

 its aspects are so various that investigators representing a dozen 

 branches of science may be needed to deal with it effectively. 

 It then appears most clearly how the artificial partition of 

 knowledge, and the erection of barriers between those con- 

 cerned with its increase and those most interested in its applica- 

 tions, must hamper effort and delay progress. 



Without specifying other reasons, it is plain that the increase 

 of specialization, instead of rendering unnecessary organiza- 

 tions dealing with science as a whole, has served to emphasize 

 their possibilities. In fact, it may be doubted whether there 

 was ever a time in the history of science when such bodies 

 could render a greater service. The rise of astrophysics and 

 physical chemistry is evidence enough of the advantage of 

 bridging the gaps between diverging branches, and the great 

 national academies of science are in a position to contribute in 

 large measure toward this end. 



In a previous chapter (i) we have seen how the National 

 Academy of Sciences, acting on the approach of war, estab- 



