THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA 



CHARLES A. KRAUS, Ph. D. 

 Clark University 



It is impossible to discuss any subject of general interest at 

 this time without referring to the war sooner or later. There 

 is scarcely any phase of activity which has not been affected 

 and in many instances the effects will be more or less perman- 

 ent. Perhaps the one thing most noticeable, aside from the 

 advancing cost of living, is the tremendous awakening of the 

 popular interest in science. Nor is this interest confined merely 

 to the newspapers and the popular journals; it has permeated 

 all classes of society, even responsible government circles. The 

 nations who are now taking account of their stock of resources 

 are devoting much serious consideration to science in all its 

 phases; and fortunate indeed does that nation account itself 

 which finds its supply of scientists anywhere near adequate. 

 Science is playing one of the leading roles in the war itself, 

 and there can be no question but that, when the war is over, 

 science will play a much greater part than ever before in all 

 our lives, both individually and collectively. It is to science 

 that men look in finding substitutes for the workers lost in 

 war, in making good the wastage of material things and in 

 retrieving their fallen fortunes. And to the universities in 

 large measure, falls the task of developing science and dis- 

 seminating scientific knowledge among those who are to apply 

 it in a practical way for the benefit of mankind. 



In the past, Clark University, founded through the fore- 

 sight and broad minded idealism of Jonas Clark, has been one 

 of the pioneers in American science. On her, among others, 

 falls the stupendous task of preparing the nation so that it 

 may be in a position to attack its problems intelligently. It 

 has seemed worth while, therefore, to discuss here today the 

 future of American science in so far as it may be foreseen, 

 in order that we may be prepared to meet our responsibilities 

 effectively, that we may be prepared to lead rather than to 

 follow in the arduous time that lies before us. 



