6o 



NATURE 



[November io, 1910 



to the present time the direct influence of Greek and 

 Roman learning. 



In his " Organcn " Aristotle expounded the logic of 

 deductive reasoning in such a complete form that even 

 the terms which he was the first to establish are in use 

 at the present time, and both Kant and Hegel acknow- 

 ledged that from the time of Aristotle logic had made no 

 progress. But the schoolmen did not realise that the 

 " Organon " was merely an " instrument " setting out 

 the theory of reasoning ; they neglected altogether the 

 teaching of Aristotle, that in every branch of science or 

 art the only means of obtaining premises on which logical 

 deductions can be based is by experience and observation 

 of facts. He says in the " Prior Analytics," I., xxx., 3 : — 

 " \\'hen the facts in each branch are brought together it 

 will be the province of the logician to set out the demon- 

 strations in a manner clear and fit for use." 



This principle of bringing together facts was absolutely 

 neglected in mediaeval times by the later schoolmen, even 

 when, during the thirteenth century, the complete works 

 of Aristotle, translated into Latin, had become known to 

 them, although at first the Church authorities would not 

 allow any lectures to be delivered on them in the 

 universities. 



A reaction against Scholasticism, or Obscurantism as it 

 is sometimes called, set in during the fifteenth century ; 

 it was strongly supported by the Reformation, but it is 

 the merit of Sir Francis Bacon to have directed the course 

 of the further studies of mankind into the right channel 

 by showing that the object of all science is to recover 

 man's sovereignty over nature, or, as he expresses it, " to 

 extend more widely the limits of the power and of the 

 greatness of man " (" Novum Organum," I., 116). 



For this purpose, Bacon asserts, it is necessary to study 

 nature by inductive investigation after observing and 

 collecting facts, but, in contrast to the deductive reasoning 

 adopted by the schoolmen, he lays down that " the induc- 

 tion that is to be available for the discovery and demon- 

 stration of sciences and arts must analyse nature by proper 

 rejections and exclusions, and then, after a sufficient 

 number of negatives, come to a conclusion on the 

 affirmative instances, which has not yet been done save 

 only by Plato . . . and this induction must be used not 

 only to discover axioms, but also in the formation of 

 notions" ("Novum Organum," I., 105). 



Although it cannot be said that the Baconian method 

 has been followed in its entirety during the subsequent 

 development of science, its fundamental ideas, viz. the 

 need for rejecting rash generalisation and the necessity for 

 critical analysis of experience, serve as the sound basis of 

 the modern method of framing hypotheses and verifying 

 them by observation and experiment. 



In literature and art or in philosophy we cannot boast 

 of being greatly superior to the ancients, but, so far as 

 engineering problems are concerned, we have enormouslv 

 advanced, thanks to the practical application of scientific 

 theories. 



Comparing generally the conditions of life then and 

 now, we may sum up the difference by claiming that our 

 progress is "due principally : — (i) to the improvement of 

 the means of communication ; (2) to the saving of manual 

 labour by the introduction of mechanical power ; which 

 main features have caused a general lowering of the cost 

 of " obtainables." 



When Hertz discovered the property of electric sparks 

 to start waves of the aether which can be detected at a 

 distance, nobody anticipated that Marconi and others 

 would succeed in developing these small beginnings to the 

 system of wireless telegraphy, of which nowadays so many 

 applications are in constant use. 



Again, the polyphase motors and generators of elec- 

 tricity had their beginning in the researches of Prof. 

 Ferraris, who demonstrated that three alternate currents 

 can be combined in such a manner that the sum of the 

 three currents at any moment is equal to zero, and that 

 by their aid a revolving magnetic field is produced. 



When we seek to recognise true progress in the material 

 conditions under which we are living, it is not unreason- 

 able to expect that any further advance will be made on 

 the same lines as differentiate our present civilisation from 

 that of the ancients, and that " lowering the cost of 

 obtainables," based upon improvement of communications 



NO. 2 141, VOL. 85] 



and upon the saving of manual labour, will furnish 

 trustworthy test whether a change suggested to be m;i 

 in our material surroundings is worth adopting or 

 merely an alternative without any prospect of bei: 

 generally accepted. 



The development of the manufacture of glow-lamps i.- 

 striking e.xample of the advantage of labour-savi 

 machinery; at first the lamps were made by a few skill 

 workers at a high cost, so that they could not be sold I 

 less than twenty-five shillings each. This excessive r< 

 naturally restricted their sale ; but the efforts of the man 

 facturers to devise labour-saving machinery were i 

 relaxed until the selling price of glow-lamps \\. 

 diminished to its present level, when they are sold by 1 

 million. Can anybody doubt that the introduction 

 labour-saving machinery into this industry, far fr( 

 diminishing opportunities for employment, has not o; 

 benefited the skilled workers, but has opened new aveni. 

 for profitable employment to the so-called unskili 

 labour. 



Nor is the advantage limited to this particular industr 

 the possibility of obtaining cheap glow-lamps has increa- 

 the sale of dynamos, steam and gas engines, cables w. 

 fittings, giving employment to thousands of workm- 

 Similar consequences have followed the introduction 

 labour-saving machinery into other branches of mar 

 facture. 



In their own interest inventors should appreciate m< 

 than they have done in the past that progress is not ; 

 result of flashes of genius that illuminate suddenly 

 hitherto unknown subject, but that it can only be gaii; 

 by plodding work and careful study directed by an infir,: 

 capacity for taking pains. 



This requirement is expressed very tersely by .Xristn 

 in his definitions of science and of art, which, unfor 

 nately, have been lost sight of in the course of ages, 

 that they cannot be used any longer. They are, he 

 ever, so appropriate to our subject that I do not hesit. 

 to repeat them. 



Aristotle says : — Science is the trained faculty of dem< 

 strating necessary conclusions from necessary premi> 

 and these conclusions are independent of the producer. 



Art is the trained faculty of producing, involving sou 

 reasoning; it has to do with the genesis, the product: 

 of things, and the result depends on the producer. 



From these definitions it follows that every profess; 

 requires to have its *' science " which teaches the " soi; 

 reasoning " on which its " art " is based, and for b< 

 " science " and " art " training is a necessary condit; 

 for success. 



They indicate, to my mind, for our profession in p; 

 ticular, that the college teaching should occupy its 

 principally, though not exclusively, with " science," n 

 the natural laws which are " independent of the produce; 

 leaving the " art " of engineering to be developed by pr. 

 tical work either in the field, in the drawing office, or in 

 the workshop. 



So far as the " science " of any industry is concerned, 

 all civilised countries have access to the results of the 

 latest researches which are published without loss of time 

 in the technical journals, and the " art " of each industry 

 devotes itself everywhere to the problem of lowering the 

 cost of production in order to widen the circle of possible 

 customers. 



Viewing the question of international competition from 

 this aspect, it can only be regarded as an extension of 

 the competition at home, and, applying the same reason- 

 ing, the question naturally arises whether it would be 

 desirable to have international standards or not. Looked 

 at from the point of' view of the consumer, it certaii ' 

 appears to be very convenient to be able to obtain supp' 

 from a number of different sources with the certainty ,. 

 their being interchangeable, or at least equivalent. 



In fact, the same reasons that have led to the establish- 

 ment of the Engineering Standards Committee in this 

 country hold good for international dealings, so that w-e 

 may look forward to the time when international standard 

 specifications will be accepted all over the world. A 

 beginning was made when the British .Association intro- 

 duced in 1861 the C.G.S. system of electrical units, which, 

 since that time, have been adopted internationally, and a 

 further step w-as taken at the St. Louis Exhibition of 



