September 23, 1920] 



NATURE 



i'3 



of persons interested in science and with a l^een 

 appreciation of the practical value of science to man- 

 kind. But the excessive specialisation of British 

 Association meetings has repelled instead of attract- 

 ing their interest, and they have felt that they could 

 not "see the wood for the trees." 



.After all, as you point out, one of the most im- 

 portant functions of the .-Vssociation is to obtain the 

 attention of the nation to the objects of science. It 

 cannot do this unless it is willing to popularise its 

 meetings, and I feel sure that your suggestions to 

 associate with the meetings public men, whether of 

 local or national distinction, and by grouping sections 

 to obtain a broader outlook upon the scientific ques- 

 tions of the day, form a practical contribution towards 

 the problem of how to revive public interest in the 

 Association. 1 trust they will be seriously considered 

 by the council. Neville Chambkrl.mn. 



Westbourne, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 

 September 20. 



The stress laid in the leading article in Nature of 

 Siptember 16 on "The British Association and 

 National Life" on the importance of the "enlighten- 

 iiH-nt of an extensive group of workers as to main 

 lines of advance in fields not specifically their own" 

 •nboldens me to repeat a suggestion which I have 



uen made and never found acceptable. It is that 

 I he presidential addresses in the sections should be 

 placed in the foreground of the work of the Asso- 



aiion, and so timed that an individual member 



aild hear them all if he felt so disposed. The presi- 

 • nt of a section may safely be assumed to know his 



vn subject, and he is usually able to express his 



■ ws in language sufficiently explicit to be clear to 

 ■•ryone interested in any department of science. It 



of vital importance to every scientific worker to 



know how his brethren are heading, were it only in 



'inler to see w'hich lines are converging on his own, 



id which in the light of new knowledge may seem 



■ be diverging from it. Hucii Robert Mill. 

 September 18. 



I WISH, as a mere layman, to support the .plea in 



'lur leading article of September 16 for more ener- 



■ tic and popular action by the British .Association. 



I am afraid that the responsibility both for the in- 



:iiTerence. or even hostility, to science of Governments 



(<if which Prof. Soddy complained in a recent letter), 



iiul for the lack of financial support from the general 



;blic, lies at the door of men of science themselves, 



lio do not understand that they ought to carry on 



^tematic educational propag.Tnda as to the value of 



ience in terms of the things that interest the 



dinarv man. 



I will give three pieces of evidence : 

 (1) I am thirtv-four years of age. I have never 

 ••n directly appealed to for a subscription to any 

 ientific society, and I have never been asked to join 



■iC. 



<2) I have just rccentiv looked through the file 



ntaining letters appealing for subscriptions ad- 



■ •ssed to a certain business firm during the twelve 



Ninths ended .August 31, iq2o. I find there are just 



■■ ■'■• 'Ppeals, or sav three a week. They range 



■lis to choral societies. Not one is for aid 



..;..c research. Most exceptionally, there is 



10 for an cdurntional institution, and part of the 



irgp gift made in respon-ie may go to research. 



(3) I happened to remark to a well-educated «nd 



NO. 265*1. VOT,. 106] 



intelligent man who takes great interest in public 

 attairs that 1 was glad to see that a large sum of 

 money had been given for biochemistry. .\ly friend 

 replied that no doubt it was a good thing, but he 

 was sorry that the donor had not rather given the 

 money to reduce the National Debt ! 1 think 1 

 managed to convince him that the money given to 

 biochemistry would probably yield the nation 

 thousands per cent, in mere cash, to say nothing of 

 other benefits, e.g. health. 



But this is what the average man — very naturally — 

 thinks of scientific research, and will continue to 

 think until men of science, or more properly their 

 officials specially trained for the work, carry on sys- 

 tematic propaganda in the same way as hospitals, 

 political organisations, and trade bodies do. 



The love of science for its own sake is a special 

 taste, like an interest in heraldry or stamp-collecting. 

 If the men of science want the support of those who 

 do not happen to share that taste, they must show 

 the non-scientific man that science (unlike stamp- 

 collecting) can confer real benefits, moral or material, 

 on the world at large. 



Governments move as they are pushed ; if they 

 have not moved to support scientific research, it is 

 because there is no strong body of public opinion 

 pushing them. 



.My practical suggestions are these : 



Creation of a " Propaganda and Finance Depart- 

 ment " of the British Association, with a permanent 

 staff consisting of a director (responsible to the 

 council of the B..\.); under him a publicity manager 

 controlling a staff of journalists and a staff of lec- 

 turers, a financial agent controlling a staff of travel- 

 ling collectors, with the necessary typists and clerks. 



The working would be somewhat as follows : The 

 publicity manager tells his journalists to " write up " 

 the life and experiments of Faraday, showing the 

 present results ; particulars of the industries and 

 benefits that have resulted from them ; number of 

 men employed ; dividends paids ; number of tramcars 

 running; and need of financial support for "our 

 modern Faradays." This to be embodied in (i) lee- 

 ture.s — for the travelling lecturers ; (ii) posters ; (iii) 

 booklets and pamphlets for the use of the travelling 

 collectors ; and (iv) letters to the Press, especially the 

 provincial and local Press. 



.After a certain district had been well " treated " 

 with this propaganda, a travelling collector to be 

 sent to interview individuals, firms, chambers of 

 commerce, trade unions, and so on. These collectors 

 would have to be men of high capacity and tact; 

 They would endeavour to get (i) subscriptions and 

 (2) new members of the B..A. 



.A few thousands a year spent in this way would 

 produce easilv an income of 500,000!. a year in sub- 

 scriptions and donations, to say nothing of the other 

 advantages that would flow in. 



One useful means of propaganda would be a 

 "Science Dav " on the lines of Lifeboat .Saturday. 

 .Another would be a "Review of the Year's Work " 

 in each branch of science in non-technical language. 



Fr.ank R. 1"\--t. 



9 King Edward's Road, Swansea, 

 September 18. 



Relativity. 



The examples considered bv the theory of relativity 

 appear to have become somewhat stereotyped, and to 

 deal mainlv with problems of optics and electro- 

 dvnamlrs. The specification of "simultaneity " Koeins 

 to lio regarded as necessarily Involving the use of rays 



