6 THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA 



its development in the past. It is unfortunately true that, with 

 one or two notable exceptions, America's contribution to science 

 has been almost negligible. Nor is this surprising, since it was 

 not to have been expected that a nation still grappling with 

 nature in its primeval condition should have the energy and the 

 opportunity to devote itself to the development of science. But 

 those times are now well past. We are now situated much as 

 the other nations are and we must be prepared to take our place 

 among them ; and our success as a nation will be largely depend- 

 ent upon our success as scientists. 



It is difficult to judge the extent of scientific development and 

 attainment of a people; results are not always tangible, they 

 can not be measured with a yardstick nor weighed in a balance. 

 Perhaps the only simple means of arriving at a conclusion is 

 to examine the literature, both as to amount and content. Un- 

 fortunately, it is difficult to compare the content of scientific 

 contributions. We may, however, form an approximate esti- 

 mate of the extent of scientific activity from the amount of 

 material published. I am aware that this method of comparison 

 is open to objection, but most men who are well informed will 

 agree with me, I believe, that if we compare American and 

 foreign publications page for page, the handicap will not be 

 against American science. 



As an example, let us examine American activity in the field 

 of chemistry. I choose this example because it is the field 

 with which I am most familiar. And what is true of chemistry 

 will in a large measure be true of other branches of science. 



During 1915, American chemists supported two journals 

 devoted to pure chemistry. Together, these comprised 3,615 

 pages. During 1913, the last year preceding the war, German 

 chemists supported ten journals comprising in all, 16,260 pages. 

 Perhaps it is a little unfair to take chemistry as a typical 

 example; but it is to be remembered that we have taken no 

 account of the content of the publications. If we were to do 

 this, the discrepancy would become much more alarming than 

 it otherwise appears. Chemistry in America must go far be- 

 yond its present bounds before it begins to approach the state of 

 development reached in Germany before the war. 



