February ly, 1916] 



NATURE 



OS 5 



I 



facturers, and our statesmen will unite in remedying 

 the present serious condition of affairs. 



Now the question is : Are we going- back, when 

 peace returns, to the old easy-gomg habits of import- 

 ing German-made scientific apparatus? Surely the 

 answer is, No ! a thousand times No ! But unless we 

 wish Germany's crime-stained hands to take back in 

 commerce what she has lost in war, we have to create 

 and maintain an entire scientific and economic inde- 

 pendence of our own. For this purpose we need, for 

 one thing, a properly-complete Scientific Intelligence 

 Department. 



The different agencies, committees, and institutions 

 which have been endeavouring to supply scientific 

 information a,s to manufactures should have as their 

 resultant a single organisation, the function of which 

 should be to collect and distribute all possible informa- 

 tion concerning the mode of manufacture and cost of 

 production and information concerning the patent 

 position, if any, of all the appliances and materials 

 used in scientific research. .Such a scientific intelli- 

 gence and information bureau might need subsidising 

 at the start', but it might be possible later on to make 

 it self-supporting by the subscriptions of firms and 

 persons who desired information on particular matters. 

 Just as one can pay a fee to a patent agent to conduct 

 a search for anticipations on some particular subject, 

 so this information bureau should have as its object 

 to collect and supply to its subscribers all possible 

 information concerning the manufacture or supply of 

 the materials and implements of scientific research. This 

 bureau might have certain laboratories or workshops 

 attached to it where information could be tested and 

 specifications issued for the manufacture of the 

 materials and appliances used in research. It should 

 not be concerned either with actual trade manufacture 

 or with researches per se, but should enable anyone 

 to find out with the least expenditure of time the 

 oxact way in which certain scientific materials or 

 nstruments are made and under what conditions they 

 m be produced, and to supply this information to the 

 i rades concerned who are its supporters or subscribers. 



Training of Men to Conduct Scientific and Industrial 



Research. 



Whilst the highest achievements in scientific re- 



f^arch and invention must always depend to a great 



\tent on that indefinable quality we call genius which 



uinot be made to order, it can scarcely be doubted 



that much can be done to foster and assist it. 



The nation must be educated to see that the men 



with high scientific and inventive ability in it, not 



I by any means too numerous, constitute a national 



asset of inexpressible value. This power, when it 



xists, should not be allowed to dissipate itself in a 



luggle to secure the means of living, but be given 



ii opix)rtunity for the fullest exercise and use. There 



an also be no question that we have it in our power 



by suitable methods of education to develop such 



nascent ability. 



Our present systems of education, and particularly 

 wo system of written examinations which are depen- 

 'l«nt so much on good memory for success, do much 

 10 destroy originality. In spite of all that has been 

 written and said on this subject, we do not seem 

 I to be nearer to essential reforms. The object of all 

 I education is threefold : first to train character, will, 

 and that power of selecting the best amongst various 

 urses of action which we call right judgment ; 

 I ondly, to impart necessary information and ability 

 Lo do certain things well ; thirdly, to develop initiative 

 \\ and the power of handling new problems or investiga- 

 tions and a certain alertness in dealing with new 

 ituations. Our present methods of education are far 



too much directed to supplying. readyrmadtJ and. pep-, 

 tonised information. 



The great outstanding fact in modern life is the 

 degree to which the energies and materials of Nature 

 are employed to overcome the difficulties created by 

 the increase and concentration of population. We have 

 to make the earth bring forth her increase at a greater 

 rate, to supply the ever-increasing necessities of grow- 

 ing populations and the many artificial wants which 

 have been created by progressive human desires. 

 Hence an absolutely essential part of any complete 

 ! education is some knowledge of science, and esjiecially 

 of its influence on the welfare of mankind. Vet the 

 jjeople we put in a position of authority over us are, 

 for the most part, not only ignorant of science, but 

 not even interested in it. In our public schools we 

 train boys chiefly by directing their attention to words 

 in the form of the grammar and literature of two 

 dead languages, and we neglect to give them any 

 wide and sufficient knowledge of things — viz., the 

 physical phenomena of the universe in which they live. 



Is it, then, any wonder that when these boys grow 

 up and take their places in Government offices, in 

 the Law Courts or on the Press, or any other in- 

 fluential position, they are oblivious to the last degree 

 of events taking place in the world of science which 

 have in them the power to make or destroy national 

 industries or affect the living of large populations? 

 The destruction of the madder industry of France and 

 the indigo industry of India by German synthetic 

 chemistry are now old and familiar stories. 



The point, however, to notice is that the scientific 

 chemical discoveries were not allowed to remain mere 

 laboratory feats. They were transformed into success- 

 ful commercial enterprises. The Badische Anilin- und 

 Soda-Fabrik is said to have expended i.oco.ooo/. and 

 taken seventeen years' work in translating Baeyer's 

 scientific synthesis of indigo into a factory process. 

 But the result has justified the foresight c^ those who 

 expended it. This is only one instance out of many 

 which could be quoted to show the blows that can be 

 inflicted in this industrial warfare, the weapons in 

 which are not shot and shell, but scientific discoveries 

 and inventions. 



The supremely important question is : What are the 

 steps we are taking to train the men who will enable 

 us to hold our own in this commercial conflict? It 

 avails nothing to point out that the beginnings of 

 many of these achievements were laid by British 

 scientific discoveries or original suggestions. A truth 

 or a suggestion which is not followed out or pressed 

 to the point at which it becomes practically produc- 

 tive is like a seed which is not planted in the }:*round. 

 The intellectual perception of a truth or principle 

 requires behind it the driving force of character and 

 will if it is to pass into the useful stage. 



Some people might be inclined to ask why there 

 should be this competition and pressure to invent? 

 What difference does it make who discovers a new 

 fact or makes a new application? If scientific know- 

 ledge were a mere matter of intellectual curiosity 

 concerning the secrets of Nature it would not matter 

 much, except for national honour, who made the dis- 

 coveries or applications. But scientific knowledge has 

 become much more than this. It has become the 

 iTheans of increasing national wealth, and also by 

 which national wealth can be taken away. .Again, 

 in virtue of our patent laws, it has become possible 

 for alien inventors to prevent us from even using in 

 our own country in particular ways the waste products 

 of our own industries, as in the case of certain coal- 

 tar products. Hence scientific knowledge can be 

 applied so as to become a tremendous weapon of. 

 destruction as well as of national strength. It is fcr 



NO. 2416, VOL. 96] 



