H2 



NATURE 



[September 23, 1920 



that everything old and out-of-date may be scrupu- 

 lously retained. It is not too much to say that whole 

 fields" of government in the real sense, which is not 

 the conventional sense of party politics, now fall 

 wholly within the ascertained realm of science. A 

 remark of Mr. H. G. Wells from his " Outline of 

 History " concerning ethnologists, geographers, and 

 sociologists may be generalised. .■\ll the monstrous 

 turmoil and waste, the wonderful attitudes, deeds, 

 and schemes of the "great men" deemed famous by 

 the unscientific historian, might very well be avoided 

 if Europe had the sense to mstruct a small body of 

 ordinarily honest scientific men to take over the 

 work. 



Whether the British Association can be of any real 

 help in enforcing proper respect for the public position 

 of science or not, it is clear enough to tfte man in the 

 street that figs are not gathered trom thorns. When 

 he wants his appendix removed he does not brief an 

 advocate to get up the subject for his particular case 

 to persuade him that he has not got an appendix or, 

 if he has, that it would kill him to have it removed. 

 Neither are the national appendices rendered less 

 painful by the men who talk of them as the essential 

 parts of the British Constitution, which, with their 

 felicitous assumption of oflice, has at length reached 

 its final and perfect expression. The public, if not 

 scientific men, know that scientific government is in- 

 conceivable without scientific men at the head of 

 affairs. 



It is amazing that, as in the example of the director 

 of research to the Glass Research Association, science 

 should be served by men with less respect for science 

 and understanding of its powers apparently than the 

 ordinary common-sense citizen. Ihe peculiar thing 

 is that one may attend learned societies and British 

 Association meetings regularly without taking any 

 part in the important work of selecting the officials, 

 who apparently descend upon them in some mys- 

 terious fashion from heaven. 



Unless the British Association becomes democratic 

 and acts as a real bond of union between scientific 

 men and the thinking public, rather than as a periodic 

 platform for personages, it does not seem to fulfil 

 any function worth continuing. The Dublic applica- 

 tion of science is a totally different thing from applied 

 science. This scientific synthesis and the direction of 

 the unique mental attitude, induced only by the actual 

 discovery of new knowledge, to the conduct of public 

 affairs are the real and peculiar functions of the Asso- 

 ciation if it is to regain its national position. Curved 

 space, isotopes, and the economics of life on the floor 

 of the ocean are topics of great interest to hundreds 

 of the public. The standards of truth which science 

 has set up, and the elo\ation of its pursuit above 

 sophistry, chicanery, and the monotonous motives of 

 self-interest, inspire the imagination of hundreds of 

 thousands. The British Association seems to be 

 attacked by senile paralysis just as a belief in science 

 and in the power of its methods is arising in the world 

 phoenix-like from the ashes of its old self. 



Frederick Soddy. 



The interesting criticism by Dr. R. V. Stanford in 

 Nature of September 2 tempted me to write. Your 

 leading article of September 16 makes me yield to 

 the temptation. There are two lines on which com- 

 ment may run : broad and narrow gauge. Taking 

 the broad or general view first, we have to appreciate 

 the fact that the changed attitude of the public to the 

 Association is part of a widespread change in social 

 life. Science is more taught in our schools, elementary 



NO. 2656, VOL. 106] 



scholars and others are introduced to it in our 

 . museums, and yet the number of keen naturalists in 

 our local societies is decreasing, and the help of 

 amateurs is a diminishing quantity. The opportunity 

 of the war period and the subsequent economic pres- 

 sure have driven all but a few to earn their living. 

 Those really interested in science become professional 

 workers therein ; the others pass into their own special 

 professions. Consequently, a body like the British 

 Association has to rely more on professed workers in 

 science and less on the amateurs and "camp fol- 

 lowers," whose attendance the Itmes actually depre- 

 cates. But of the scientific workers many have had 

 their fill at the end of a year's work, not to mention 

 the society and committee meetings that accompany it. 

 All they want is a holiday, and one as remote as 

 possible from their daily avocation and surroundings. 



Here we switch on to the narrow gauge. If you 

 hold a meeting in August when one man is on the 

 moors, another sea-bathing off the Land's End, and a 

 third climbing the Alps, can you expect them to go 

 to Cardiff? .An attempt to facilitate the attendance 

 of junior students was on the right lines and in 

 harmony with the general trend ; we may hope for a 

 better response at a more convenient season. The 

 local naturalists played up all right, but the other 

 inhabitants were more interested in the tram strike 

 and the coal strike than in hearing about aeroplanes 

 or a grain of wheat, and so Sir Richard Glazebrook 

 and Sir Daniel Hall delivered their popular lectures 

 to benches two-thirds empty. Possibly Cardiff is 

 more concerned with shipping than with aviation and 

 agriculture. Again, the mid-week meeting, now tried 

 for two years, seems less convenient than the old 

 system. 



Now for the sections. It is difficult to suggest 

 practicable reforms. If you restrict the papers to 

 popular expositions you may have the president and 

 his faithful recorder confined to listen to what they 

 know already, while the other constituents of the 

 section flit dispersedlv round other rooms. You ought 

 to give the local workers a chance, anyhow ; and 

 there will always be a few people who wish to test 

 some novelty on an audience of experts. How would 

 it do to have one day for the more technical pap'jrs, 

 one day for inter-sectional meetings, one day for 

 broader expositions, and one dav for the president's 

 address, reports of committees, and what may be 

 called scientific politics? These days should differ 

 for the different sections, and certainly all the sec- 

 tional presidents should not be addressing at the 

 same hour. The Oxford Parliament of Recorders, 

 held this year, effected some admirable arrangements 

 on these lines, though the printing of the Journal 

 beforehand set an ideal before sectional officers which 

 they could not always live up to — and hence confusion 

 to the public. Yet another suggestion comes from 

 a camp-follower. Why not have " Section X, Popular 

 Science," in continuous session, with a jolly presi- 

 dent, a lantern that will work, and as many "star" 

 performers as you can get? I think there's some- 

 thing in that. Of course, it must be properly adver- 

 tised, and with figures more attractive than the ajred 

 dodderer who symbolises science for the Cardiff 

 School of .Art. F. A. Bather. 



I WAS very glad to see the leading article in Nature 

 of September 16. You have directed attention with 

 great force and point to the need for alterinjj the 

 methods of the British .Association if its meetings are 

 to retain the interest and attention of the public. 

 I I doubt if at anv time there existed a larger number 



