NATURE 



251 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1915. 



SCIENCE AND NESCIENCE. 



MUCH attention has been given recently in 

 Parliament and the public Press to the 

 [subject of protective measures against Zeppelins 

 land other hostile aircraft. The position of the 

 matter suggests that we have here another in- 

 stance of the result of neglect of scientific know- 

 ledge, and of the prevision which comes with it, 

 in our national executive. For many years Ger- 

 { many has been perfecting the Zeppelin airship 

 with the view of making it an effective weapon of 

 war. Every failure of an airship during this 

 )eriod has been gleefully chronicled in our daily 

 ipers, but until Zeppelins appeared over Ant- 

 rerp and rained down bombs upon the city, little 

 irious attention was given to them by the lay 

 >ress. We should have supposed, however, that 

 the executive officers of departments entrusted 

 fwith the country's defence would be fully informed 

 )f the progress that was being made, and that 

 ractical provision would be made to meet the 

 mger likely to arise. 



It appears now that our confidence has been 

 lisplaced, and that only in recent months have 

 :ientific measures been instituted to protect the 

 mntry from airship attack. It is not for us to 

 iuggest how such attacks may best be met, but 

 ,'e do think there might have been a more capable 

 mticipation of them and adequate means devised 

 'to meet them. It is easy to conceive airships in 

 the future having sufficient strength to withstand 

 11 ordinary weather, but for offensive operations 

 [f value they cannot avoid being in sight of the 

 round, and thus laying themselves open to attack. 

 ''e trust, therefore, that the possibility of air- 

 lips being able to survive the anti-aircraft gun- 

 bry of the immediate future is remote, provided 

 lat their range can be found. 

 We are not, however, concerned here with these 

 :hnical matters so much as with the national 

 laracteristic of indifference to scientific plans of 

 ;tion, whether pertaining to operations during 

 ir or of industry in times of peace. So little 

 ttention is given to science in most schools and 

 )lleges that it is rare to find an administrative 

 icer or leading writer or speaker able to make 

 clear distinction between it and magic. With 

 [few exceptions, the men who control or influence 

 welfare of the nation have been trained in 

 chools in which science and humanity are re- 

 garded as antithetic. We were reminded very 

 definitely of this in the early days of the war, 

 NO. 2401, VOL. 96] 



when German barbarisms were placed at the door 

 of scientific education by many writers in the daily 

 Press ; and we were warned not to depart from 

 the road of literary culture if we wished to main- 

 tain our national characteristics. Since then the 

 need for science in connection with inventions and 

 munitions of war has been seen, and scientific 

 committees have been appointed for various 

 national purposes ; but their work cannot be used 

 to the utmost until our executive officials also 

 possess a knowledge of science. 



The whole system by which men are selected for 

 administrative posts, or other positions of in- 

 fluence, is archaic, and neglects the knowledge of 

 scientific methods demanded by a modern State. 

 It is time to understand that no man can now be 

 considered to have received a liberal education 

 unless he has some acquaintance with the prin- 

 ciples and methods of science ; and that works 

 of Pasteur and Faraday should be as familiar 

 to all as those of Victor Hugo and Tennyson. 

 The training which ends in literary culture without 

 science is just as incomplete as that which pro- 



j motes scientific knowledge without the power of 

 clear expression. 



Judging from statements commonly made in 

 newspapers — not only in daily papers, but also in 

 weekly periodicals in which greater accuracy 

 might reasonably be expected — few writers have 

 any knowledge of natural objects and phenomena. 

 It is scarcely too much to say that, omitting 

 signed articles written by experts, few newspapers 

 make any announcement relating to a scientific 

 subject without committing a mistake. Either 

 terms are wrongly used, or a matter of common 

 knowledge among men of science is regarded as 

 a remarkable discovery, or sensational claims are 

 presented to the public as if they were established 

 truths, though they await confirmation from the 

 scientific world, and are mostly unworthy of 

 serious consideration. 



It may be too much to expect men of letters 

 to possess an elementary knowledge of science, 

 or to have any sympathy with scientific precision, 

 but it is not unreasonable to ask for accuracy of 

 description when they are dealing with natural 

 facts or phenomena. They may reply that even 

 Shakespeare was at fault in matters pertaining 

 to natural history ; but he, at any rate, reflected 

 in his works the best knowledge of his time, 

 which is more than can be said of most writers 

 to-day. We are often told that men of science 

 should cultivate the art of literary expression, but 

 the stronger necessity for men of letters to have 

 at least a nodding acquaintance with the out- 



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