12 THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA 



tion to the ability or activity of the individual. The services 

 of the most successful chemist in the country for an academic 

 position can be obtained for not more than twice the salary of 

 a mediocre one, and even positions of this kind are very few. 

 However successful the holder of a professorship may be, he 

 cannot hope to add materially to his income through any activity 

 in his capacity as teacher or investigator. The difference be- 

 tween mediocrity and unqualified excellence is so small that 

 an academic position holds forth little incentive to young men 

 who have both ability and initiative. I venture to say that 

 the success of Germany in scientific lines is in no small measure 

 due to the much larger salaries to which her most able men 

 in academic life may aspire. 



Another serious factor lies in the conditions under which 

 advancement follows. The average man succeeds to a full 

 professorship, with approximately his maximum salary at the 

 age of thirty-five. Up to this time, the income in an academic 

 position is about the same as in the professional field, although 

 probably smaHer. But while the professional man's income is 

 just beginning to advance from this time on, that of his academic 

 brother remains stationary, while expenses are just beginning 

 to mount. 



These conditions have their inevitable consequences. The 

 undergraduate and graduate student is fairly well informed 

 on matters of this kind. He is aware of the fact that, no 

 matter how successful he may be in academic work, the most 

 he can hope for is a living wage and he takes a chance at not 

 getting that. Can you blame the best students for not going 

 into pure science under these conditions, when they can go- 

 into technical research equally well? And can you wonder that 

 the professional man looks upon the university professor as 

 impractical. He must, indeed, be impractical in the highest 

 degree if he is to choose academic work as a career. 



Suppose, however, that a student had allowed his interest 

 in science to get the better of his business judgment. What 

 is the result, in nine cases out of ten? (I am naturally assum- 

 ing that the man in question has genuine ability). He applies 

 himself to his task with energy and zeal. He teaches his classes 



