570 



NA TURE 



[May 6, 1922 



administrator may encourage individual effort in con- 

 structive thought, more consolation is found in the 

 fact that the rare scientific genius cannot be sup- 

 pressed, though there may be some danger of his 

 applying his originality to financial and routine matters. 

 Famihar indeed are the difficulties which scientific 

 workers find in complying with the regulations con- 

 trolling their expenditure, or accepting the limitations 

 which a Treasury finds, or may think, necessary to 

 place upon it. Regulations and limitations are re- 

 garded as personal insults, for the purpose only of 

 hampering research. 



The direction of a group of strongly individualistic 

 investigators, including, it may be, a master mind, and 

 almost certainly several hewers of wood and drawers of 

 water, is no light task. Originality of thought has to 

 be encouraged, but unity of purpose must be main- 

 tained in order to achieve the results demanded under 

 the grant. The delinquents in such a group are usually 

 unconscious of any delinquency, as for example the 

 dilettante who flits from one problem to another and 

 believes that he fulfils all obligations if he merely 

 remains on the pay-roll ; the brilliant mind that is so 

 undisciplined that it cannot be made to formulate 

 conclusions ; or the hard-working procrastinator who 

 dare not put forward his conclusions for fear of omitting 

 some detail. Less deserving of sympathy are the pests 

 who are as quick as a hair-trigger in publishing, and 

 rush into print where more experienced men fear to 

 tread, or the self-selected mouthpiece, who, unwilling 

 to hide his light under a bushel, constitutes himself the 

 agency by which science reaches the average man, and 

 is too often taken at his own valuation. The " pro- 

 fessional prominent scientist," another familiar type, 

 at one time formed the popular authority in Washing- 

 ton. His dictum on any new problem was final, but 

 he was more highly reputed by the public than by his 

 colleagues. 



A criticism passed on all men of science, not 

 only by Mr. Brooks but also by literary men in 

 Great Britain, relates to the form in which science is 

 presented. The greatest need of the average American, 

 and we may add of the British man of science, is to 

 write clear English. He conveys his message to the 

 people in language they cannot understand, and often 

 he and his colleagues fail to understand one another. 

 The development of such curiously similar types on the 

 two sides of the Atlantic is interesting. 



On the outbreak of war the Federal service proved 

 its true worth. The bureaus formed the backbone of 

 war service, for they were immediately available as 

 storehouses of scientific facts and their great corps were 

 quickly turned on to war problems. One result was 

 to reveal the high commercial value of science, with the 

 NO. 2740, VOL. 109] 



consequence that the ranks of the Federal service have 

 been most seriously depleted. The best- trained men 

 are now tempted away by the financial prospects of a 

 commercial career, and the second choice only is left 

 to the Government. It is suggested that the change 

 may be due to the lowering of the ideals of the student, 

 for the professor who is compelled to eke out a small 

 salary by taking commercial work or writing text-books 

 for profit, has not the same influence as a " revered 

 master " in research. Without disparaging the high 

 ideal attributed to the student, one is tempted to think 

 that the possibilities of far higher emoluments in 

 commercial service than could be justified in a Govern- 

 ment bureau, are the principal inducement. 



Pay, however, is not everything. Mr. Brooks re- 

 minds us that the young investigator who has obtained 

 a post in the Government service, finds himself a 

 member of a corps of well-trained enthusiastic pro- 

 fessional men, whose actions earnestly express pubHc 

 duty and self-sacrifice. He will enjoy among them and 

 in the non-professional societies congenial scientific 

 companionship, and he will realise that the mere mass 

 of such an army of investigators, whose ideals are not 

 less lofty because they include the welfare of mankind, 

 give an inspiration not excelled elsewhere. 



A. S. 



The Design of Electric Power Stations. 



Power House Design. By Sir J. F. C. Snell. (Long- 

 mans' Electrical Engineering Series.) Second 

 edition. Pp. xi -I- 535. (London: Longmans, Green 

 and Co., 192 1.) 425. net. 



THE second edition of this important work will 

 be welcomed by all engineers who are interested 

 in power-station design. The author is the chairman 

 of the Electricity Commissioners ; he has been both 

 a distributing and a consulting engineer, and has 

 therefore studied the problem from all points of view. 

 The book is a storehouse of facts which will be of great 

 value to the designer. The general principles which 

 should be followed are laid down and illustrated by 

 clear descriptions of many modern power stations. 

 It is interesting to note that these stations are of very 

 varied design. This is doubtless due partly to the 

 individual experience of the designers, but it also 

 bears out the author's contention that every case 

 must be considered on its own merits, and so the 

 solution applicable in one case may be unsuitable in 

 another. The apparatus inside a power station should 

 be standardised as much as possible, but at the present 

 time it would be inadvisable to attempt to standardise 

 the station itself. 

 The modern fashion is to concentrate generating 



