NATURE 



307 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1915. 



SCIENCE FOR ALL. 



THE little attention given to science in edu- 

 cation and in the public mind has been the 

 theme of many essays and addresses. In both 

 cases science is usually regarded as suitable for 

 study by a select few only, and not as an essential 

 part of all modern life and thought, Latin and 

 dreek, history, and the literature of other times 

 receive almost as much consideration now as they 

 (iid before scientific discovery changed the whole 

 aspect and outlook of life; and the mass of the 

 people, as well as most of their leaders, are in 

 their training deprived of light which should illu- 

 mine the minds of all. 



We do not for a moment suggest that the end 

 of all education should be preparation for scientific 

 careers ; neither do we ask that men of letters, 

 statesmen, and administrative officers of depart- 

 ments of State should all be scientific experts. To 

 make such claims would be unreasonable, though 

 not more so than the accepted principle that fami- 

 liarity with classical languages and literatures is a 

 necessary qualification for such positions, and that 

 the first place must be given to these subjects even 

 if matters more closely related to modern condi- 

 tions of existence in war or in peace have to be 

 neglected. Our claim is that everyone — from ele- 

 mentary-school pupil to college don — should be 

 made acquainted with appropriate outlines of 

 scientific work and thought. We want science to 

 be a part of every general education, and we urge 

 that the times demand this recognition of its influ- 

 ence and potentialities. When this modernisation 

 has been accomplished, facilities for scientific work 

 will be increased a hundredfold, and the public will 

 not be deceived by sensational announcements in 

 the daily Press, or tolerate official indifference to 

 the growth of natural knowledge. 



It may be doubted whether the methods now fol- 

 . lowed in the teaching of scientific subjects in 

 schools are as effective in creating or fostering 

 interest in science as those formerly adopted. 

 Twenty years ago or so, much more attention 

 was given to the attractive side of science than 

 is now the case. Pupils were shown interesting 

 experiments or were encouraged to read about 

 remarkable facts and phenomena in Nature ; and 

 if they took a practical course they were able to 

 cover a fairly wide field. In physics, for ex- 

 ample, a student could learn something about the 

 whole elementary range — mechanics, heat, sound, 

 light, electricity, and magnetism ; in chemistry 

 NO. 2403, VOL. 96] 



he would see many striking changes and effects, 

 such as impress themselves upon the youthful 

 mind ; in natural science he would be told many 

 wonderful facts about birds and beasts and other 

 objects — animate and inanimate — in the world of 

 Nature. 



No comprehensive survey of this kind is possible 

 under existing conditions of science teaching in 

 schools. In physics few students get beyond a 

 course of work in mechanics and heat, and they 

 leave school without receiving any instruction in 

 other branches of the subject ; their practical 

 chemistry is frequently limited to manipulations 

 and a study of air and water; and work in 

 Nature-study means mainly the observation of 

 a few facts of plant physiology or of animal 

 development and habits. 



Personal observation, intelligent inquiry, quan- 

 titative test, are, of course, essential factors of 

 scientific method, but we believe that to insist 

 upon all school science being controlled by them is 

 a mistake. The limited amount of time that is 

 given to science in schools renders true research 

 methods impracticable ; and pupils in general 

 can scarcely be expected themselves to possess 

 the motive and the purpose that lead to scientific 

 investigation. Every teacher knows that only 

 rarely is a pupil capable of initiating an experi- 

 ment or of arriving at a statement of law or prin- 

 ciple from results obtained by practical work. 

 Little justification can be found, therefore, for the 

 concentrated attention given to a few subjects, 

 with the view of imparting knowledge of experi- 

 mental methods, when such a course means that 

 the wonders of the fields beyond are kept outside 

 the range of vision. 



School science as at present taught, and as de- 

 fined by examination syllabuses, seems to proceed 

 on the assumption that every pupil is to become a 

 skilful experimenter, or an original investigator, 

 in the realms of Nature. Courses of laboratory 

 work designed with this intention may not un- 

 fairly be compared with the test-tubing of former 

 times, which aimed at making every boy an ana- 

 lytical chemist. The practical work now done is 

 certainly more valuable as a means of scientific 

 training than it used to be, but it may be doubted 

 whether by such exercises science can claim a 

 prominent place in the curriculum. Modern life 

 requires that the elements of scientific method and 

 knowledge should form part of every educational 

 course. School work should not be concerned in 

 training experts in science, any more than special- 

 ists in classics, but with imparting the rudiments 

 of a liberal education to all pupils, so as to awaken 



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