NA TURE 



529 



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1923. 



CONTENTS. 



Representative Body for Science .... 

 Synthetic Colouring Matters. By Prof. J. F. Thorpe, 



F.R.S 



The Eye and Vision. By Dr. H. Hartridge 



The Brackish- water Area of the Zuiderzee. By Dr. 



W. G. N. van der Sleen ..... 

 Geology for Canadian Students. By Prof. Grenville 



A. J. Cole, F.R.S 



PAGE 



529 



532 

 533 

 535 



Mental Athleticism . 535 



Our Bookshelf 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Micelle— A Question of Notation.— W. B. Hardy, 



F.R.S . 



Problems of Hydrone and Water : The Origin of 

 Electricity in Thunderstorms. — Prof. Henry E. 



Armstrong, F.R.S. 



Earthquake Warnings. — Dr. John W. Evans, 



F.R.S 



Human Embryology and Evolution. — J. T. 

 Cunningham ....... 



Curious Spherical Masses in Ashdown Sands, (llkts- 



iraied.)— Geo. Abbott 



Stereoisomerism among Derivatives of DiphenyL — 



Dr. J. Kenner .... 



Waves and Quanta. — Louis de Broglie 

 The "Concilium Bibliographicum." — Dr. J. Strohl 

 Long-range Particles from Radium-active Deposit. — 

 Dr. Hans Pettersson ..... 

 The Management of Medical Research. By Sir 



Ronald Ross, K.C.B., K. CM. G, F.R.S. . 

 The Recent Eruption of Etna. {Illustrated.) By 



Prof. Gaetano Ponte 



Population and Unemployment. By Sir William H. 



Beveridge, K.C.B 



Obituary : — 



Mr. Frederick Chambers 



Dr. Christian Hess ....... 



Prof. J. Violle 



Current Topics and Events ..... 



Our Astronomical Column 



Research Items ....... 



Report of the British Broadcasting Committee 



Pioneers of Metallurgy 



American Genetical and Botanical Research. By 



R. R. G 



The Mechanics of a Cyclone. {With Diagram.) 

 University and Educational Intelligence . 

 Societies and Academies ...... 



Official Publications Received 



536 



537 



537 



538 



538 



539 



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 540 

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540 



541 



546 



548 



550 

 551 

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 556 

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561 

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563 

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Diary of Societies 564 



Editorial and P uUishin<; Offices : 



MACMILLAN &■ CO , LTD., 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET. LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters should be 



addressed to the Publishers. 



Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address: PHUSiS. LONDON 

 Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 



NO. 2815, VOL, I 12] 



A Representative Body for Science. 



FROM time to time proposals have been made 

 for the establishment of a body representative of 

 British scientific opinion — professional or otherwise ; 

 and various opinions have been expressed as to the 

 constitution and functions of a body of this kind. It 

 seems desirable^ therefore, to consider some of the 

 questions raised by these proposals. 



First it may be asked whether such a body does not 

 exist already. A fully representative body is one which 

 can recommend a course of action in the perfect assur- 

 ance that its recommendation will be accepted by all 

 but an insignificant minority of its constituents. 

 There are bodies representative in this sense of some 

 groups of scientific workers ; there are others which, 

 in the opinion of their members, should be, or some day 

 may become, fully representative. But there does not 

 seem to be any body which actually possesses at the 

 present time the necessary authority over all scientific 

 workers. 



The second question is whether there is such a thing 

 as scientific opinion, of which any body can be repre- 

 sentative. The opinion relevant to Our discussion is 

 not that concerning technically scientific matters. 

 Such opinion is not formed in council, and needs no 

 enforcement, even among the laity. The only matters 

 on which a representative scientific body could usefully 

 express an opinion are those on which the laity judge 

 for themselves, and are not always prepared to accept 

 the verdict of scientific workers. For our purpose 

 there is no scientific opinion unless there are questions 

 on which scientific workers, while agreeing substantially 

 among themselves, are apt to differ from important 

 sections of the rest of the community. There probably 

 are such questions ; for example, there is the recogni- 

 tion, economic, political, and social, to be given to 

 scientific work. Other matters need not be mentioned ; 

 but, since our judgment of the desirability or possibility 

 of a representative body is likely to be greatly affected 

 by our view of the nature of the problems with which 

 it will have to deal, every one who discusses the matter 

 should start by suggesting to himself concrete examples 

 of such problems. 



Supposing, then, that it is decided that there is a 

 group of problems on which a definite scientific opinion 

 exists, we may proceed to inquire whether it is likely 

 that any actual representative body would succeed in 

 expressing it. If there is any doubt on this matter, it 

 will probably arise from a fear that any body of the 

 kind proposed would be sure to lose touch with the 

 average scientific worker and fall under the domination 

 of some unrepresentative clique. The danger must 

 be recognised, for scientific workers are often not highly 



