THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA 9 



in the most fundamental principles of science. And such train- 

 ing can be obtained only from teachers of the highest qualifica- 

 tions, from men who see science not only as it is today, but who 

 have some inkling of what is to come. After all, we must 

 educate the student not alone with a view to his immediate 

 necessities, but also with a view to those which will arise at 

 a much later time. 



I come now to the second factor which has contributed and 

 is still contributing to our scientific backwardness. I speak of 

 the depreciation of ideals among those teaching science in our 

 colleges, universities and technical schools. This cause is much 

 more insidious than the first. It has crept in little by little and. 

 not infrequently has masqueraded under philanthropic guise. 

 The scientist, to be worthy of the name, must be possessed of 

 an insatiable desire to extend knowledge in its most fundamental 

 aspects. He must not count the years of preparation required 

 to actually master his subject, nor the labor necessary to trans- 

 mute a crude idea into a well polished, finished scientific pro- 

 duct. He must never be satisfied with mediocrity, and must 

 ever strive to increase his scope in order that he may produce 

 results of more fundamental importance. With the increasing 

 development of technical science has come increased tempta- 

 tion to leave the tasks of pure science, often laborious and 

 exacting, to turn to minor technical investigations which are 

 less exacting in time and effort and more certain of reward. 

 Under the guise of cooperation with the industries, many a 

 promising man has been led to give up his pursuit of pure sci- 

 ence to do the tasks of technical chemistry, tasks, quite often, 

 which technical chemists find too unimportant to carry out 

 themselves. Cooperation between the universities and the in- 

 dustries is most desirable, but in the main, the universities will 

 carry out their task, in providing the industries with an adequate 

 supply of men who possess a broad training and whose ambi- 

 tions are not entirely focussed on merely increasing their 

 salaries. On the part of the industries, cooperation consists in 

 making it possible for those in academic positions to carry on 

 their work to best advantage, that they may be freed from 

 unnecessary uncertainties and interruptions. The diversion of 



