December 15, 192 1] 



NATURE 



491 



stock of fundamental knowledg-e. Further details 

 are g^iven in appendix 2, while in apf>endix 3 we 

 have a list of aided researches ; scarcely one of 

 these deals with work in pure science ; they in- 

 clude glass technology, the corrosion of condenser 

 tubes, the flow of steam through nozzles, and 

 other similar investigations of an industrial char- 

 acter. An exception should be made in the case 

 of the work on tides now in active progress at 

 Liverpool University, but here, too, the results 

 have a direct industrial bearing. On the other 

 hand, appendix 4 — publications by individuals in 

 receipt of grants — does contain a number of 

 papers of the greatest importance to pure science — - 

 e.g. Dr. F. W. Aston on "Mass Spectra and 

 Atomic Weights "; Sir Ernest Rutherford, " The 

 Nuclear Constitution of Atoms" and "The Mass 

 of the Long-range Particles from Thorium-C," 

 with many others of less striking merits — ^while an 

 interesting list is given on p. 73 showing the wide 

 range of science covered by the papers. It 

 appears that during the year under review a sum 

 of 40,850^. was spent on these grants, while pro- 

 vision is made for the expenditure of 50,000]!. 

 during the current year, but by no means all of 

 this was for the advancement of pure research, 

 and the criticism may be made that, compared 

 with the amounts available for industry, the sum 

 devoted to pure research is but small. 



Yet it is difficult to see how it could be greatly 

 different. The men capable of original research 

 in pure science are limited in number. We have 

 long known that Poeta yiascitur non fit and poetry 

 and original discovery have much in common. 

 Imagination of a high order, combined with 

 skilled training and a real grasp of essential prin- 

 ciples, the love of knowledge for its own sake, 

 the readiness to pursue it whithersoever it may 

 lead, and the opportunity to do this when the 

 exceptional man is found, are all required. The 

 opportunity implies freedom from too much pure 

 routine and financial wcrrics. The best course 

 the Advisory Council can adopt is to see that all 

 those who have shown the incipient signs of this 

 ability should have the opportunity and the free- 

 dom. The Council realises this in theor}' ; it was 

 pointed out in the Report for last year that "no 

 conditions are attached to the grants made to 

 workers whose sole aim is the extension of know- 

 ledge either as to the line of their work or as to 

 the use to be made of their results." If a dis- 

 covery is to be made use of commercially, applica- 

 tion must be made to the Department. 

 NO. 2720, VOL. 108] 



This is as it should be, but it is almost equally 

 important that the same principle should 

 apply to work done for the research associations 

 or in the various laboratories controlled or aided 

 by the Department. It is impossible to evaluate 

 pure research on principles which apply to a 

 works, or even to a works laboratory engaged 

 mainly on routine testing and the examination of 

 products. There is a real danger lest the time of 

 men thoroughly competent to carry out funda- 

 mental investigations of high value should be 

 absorbed in serving tables, in compiling details 

 of the hours and minutes spent on this or that 

 job, or in writing minutes in reply to official in- 

 quiries. It is difficult, no doubt, for a Govern- 

 ment Department to avoid this ; there are 

 Treasury rules to be followed, but the error comes 

 in the attempt to apply these rules to conditions 

 for which they were never intended. 



It should be noted, however, as the Council 

 itself points out, that the funds which it ad- 

 ministers in grants to workers mainly at the uni- 

 versities are only a small portion of the sum con- 

 tributed by the State through other agencies to 

 university education and research. It is not the 

 business of the Council to pay professors and 

 teachers. It can make grants only for individual 

 pieces of work, and this function we may fairly 

 hope it will discharge when once convinced of the 

 importance of the work and the capacity of the 

 worker, with a broad faith and without too narrow 

 an inspection of details. 



The Report covers much g-iound, and 

 much more could be written about it, but 

 space forbids. One matter, however, men- 

 tioned at the end, must be noticed. The results 

 of research become known through the publica- 

 tions of the scientific societies, and many societies 

 are in a difficult position financially, and find it 

 impossible to make both ends meet. The matter 

 has been considered by the Conjoint Board of 

 Scientific Societies, but it moves slowly ; still, it 

 is intended that a statement of the case should 

 be presented in the near future to the Treasury. 

 The Council had referred to the matter in the 

 Report for last year, and it now states : 



"We have learned with satisfaction that action 

 has already been taken by the scientific societies 

 on the lines suggested in our Report of last year, 

 and should they apply for, and receive. Govern- 

 ment aid through the Treasury under a well- 

 thought-out schem.e, we should welcome the re- 

 moval of a serious obstacle to the progress of 

 science in this country." 



