HOW TO PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY 409 



It has often occurred to me that wealthy men who 

 wish to devote large sums of money to the promotion of 

 scientific research find difficulty in carrying out their 

 intentions, owing to the fact that they do not know 

 enough about the methods and conditions of scientific 

 discovery to enable them to form a definite independent 

 judgment as to how to assign their money, so as to 

 make sure that it shall really be employed in the most 

 effective way towards the end they have in view^ — namely, 

 the increase of scientific discovery. They naturally 

 have some doubts as to whether the old (or even the 

 new) Universities can help them as trustees of the money 

 when they see the importance attached by the former to 

 antiquated methods of teaching and examination and 

 observe their traditional cultivation of certain favoured 

 studies, with a minimum of activity in research and 

 discovery. They mistrust special societies or individuals 

 as advisers in the matter, and sometimes finally spend 

 the money which they had destined to be the means of 

 furthering scientific discovery upon a costly and ill- 

 considered architectural monstrosity dedicated to science, 

 but of little help to its progress. 



In past times various schemes have been adopted by 

 benevolent men for bequeathing or giving their money 

 so as to promote scientific discovery. Very generally 

 there has been a certain amount of confusion between 

 two distinct purposes — namely, that of creating new 

 knowledge (the discovery of previously unknown things 

 and new processes), and that of spreading existing 

 knowledge amongst an increased proportion of the 

 community. An admirable endowment for the latter 

 purpose is that of Mr. Smithson, a member of the family 

 of the present Duke of Northumberland, which was 

 refused by the British Government for peculiar reasons, 



