NATURE 



503 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1916. 



MERIT AND REWARD. 



ON several occasions last year, the Premier 

 and other members of the Government said 

 in the House of Commons that the services ren- 

 dered by scientific men in connection with war 

 problems had been of high national value. It 

 was acknowledged in the same place last July 

 that practically all the laboratories in the country 

 had been placed at the disposal of the War Office, 

 which had derived great benefit from ad- 

 vice and information received from the Royal 

 Society, the National Physical Laboratory, the 

 universities, and other bodies ; and opportunity 

 was then taken to convey the thanks of the Army 

 Council to these scientific and learned bodies. 



Recent events have indeed brought men of 

 science into closer relationship with national affairs 

 than ever before, and some attempts have been 

 made to organise their efforts. We give else- 

 where in this issue a list of scientific committees 

 appointed by the Government and various socie- 

 ties to assist the country in the present crisis. 

 It will be noticed that in most cases, whether 

 of Government panels of consultants or com- 

 mittees of scientific societies, the services ren- 

 dered are gratuitous. No particular publicity has 

 been given to this fact;" and the majority of 

 people are, therefore, unaware that the best 

 expert scientific and technical knowledge has thus 

 been placed freely at the disposal of the Govern- 

 ment. As most scientific work is done for the 

 good of the community instead of the personal 

 profit of the individual, it is usually assumed 

 officially that no payment need be made for it. 

 The reverse is the case in other professions, 

 where expert advice is never expected unless 

 adequate fees are forthcoming. We were given 

 several notable examples of this in a statement 

 issued by the Treasury a few days ago, showing 

 the payments made to the Law Officers of the 

 Crown since 1905. The total amount received 

 by these officers during this period was nearly 

 250,000/. In the year 191 2-13 Sir Rufus Isaacs 

 received 16,762/. as Attorney-General, and in the 

 year 1913-14 Sir John Simon was paid 14,303/. 

 We are glad that attention has been directed to 

 these generous emoluments for legal services, 

 which are essentially non-productive and unpro- 

 fitable; and we believe that when the public has 

 been sufficiently enlightened as to the relative 

 values of national work in law and science, a 

 NO. 2410, VOL. 96] 



readjustment of the rewards made for it will 

 be demanded. 



We anticipated that the publication of the list 

 of New Year Honours would show definite public 

 recognition of the national importance of science 

 by the award to a number of leading and repre- 

 sentative scientific workers of the distinctions 

 which the country has to bestow. It was reason- 

 able to have this expectation, since, as we have 

 said already, no payment is made to the men of 

 science who have been called in to assist thei 

 State with expert advice and judgment. We 

 have now the list of New Year Honours before 

 us ; and among the scores of names we do not 

 find a single honour given specifically for scientific 

 work. Several men of science engaged in Govern- 

 ment departments, as well as leading surgeons 

 and physicians, are selected for various honours, 

 but outside what may be termed official circles, 

 science is practically ignored. 



Many of the honours are rightly given for 

 valour or distinguished action during the present 

 war, but the services rendered by scientific men in 

 order to make the nation strong enough for battle 

 on land or sea under modern conditions are for- 

 gotten. It would not be supposed, from the list 

 of honours, that science had anything to do with 

 the war, yet every branch of the Army, Navy, 

 and Medical Services is dependent upon it; and 

 there never was greater need than now of making 

 the utmost use of all that science can offer. 

 Chemists have directed the manufacture of high 

 explosives and fine chemicals urgently needed, and 

 have provided means of protection from poisonous 

 gases; electricians have made it possible for 

 aeroplanes and airships to use wireless telegraphy 

 as a means of rapid communication of intelli- 

 gence to field stations at a distance of thirty miles 

 or so; mathematical research and physical ex- 

 periment are responsible for the designs of our 

 most stable aeroplanes ; optical science gives our 

 battleships range-finders which will enable ranges 

 to be determined within fifty to a hundred yards 

 at a distance of a dozen miles ; and, thanks to 

 the adoption of scientific methods, the incidence 

 of disease among our troops in France has been 

 far lighter than in any previous campaign. It 

 would be easy to multiply these applications of 

 science to modern warfare many times, but 

 national recognition of them is still to be sought. 



The honours list includes six new peers ; and 

 we are disappointed, rather than surprised, not 

 to find the name of a representative of science 

 among them, though no scientific men have been 

 called to the peerage to fill the gaps caused by 



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