284 



NATURE 



[November 12, 1914 



written on stellar spectra is that of Diiner on 

 the two types, Ilia, and Illb. of Vogel's classi- 

 fication. And a study of it will show that no 

 two groups of spectra differ more widely than 

 these. 



To secure simplicity I represented the two arms 

 of the temperature curve of equal inclination, and 

 to save space I used a narrow angle between them 

 (although by all analogy the descending arm should 

 fall less rapidly than the ascending one). The more 

 t]ie curve is flattened the less difference there 

 will be in the physical conditions of stars on 

 either side of the apex representing the highest 

 temperature. These stars, therefore, will be diffi- 

 cult to classify, and even some of the conditions 

 may vary in the Alnitamian, Crucian, and 

 Achernian groups. 



It is half-way up the two curves that the 

 greatest confusion may arise if stars of the same 

 name; (A, F, K) are treated as if their physical 

 state were similar, a Cygni and Sirius, for in- 

 instance, both A in the Harvard classification 

 (B.3). Norman Lockver. 



{To he continued.) 



THE SERVICE OF SCIENCE. 



A FEW months ago public attention was being 

 directed by articles and letters in the Morn- 

 ing Post to the inadequate remuneration and 

 prospects of scientific workers, particularly those 

 engaged in research. The subject is one to which 

 many columns of Nature have been devoted since 

 the foundation of this journal in 1869, but it can- 

 not be too widely discussed if any serious effort 

 is to be made to secure improved conditions in 

 the future. The present is not perhaps the most 

 propitious moment to ask for increased endow- 

 ment of science and encouragement of discovery, 

 but there are points relating to the position of 

 science which can be stated as appropriately now 

 as at any time. Some of these matters are re- 

 ferred to in an article on " Science and the State " 

 in the October number of Science Progress, and 

 the whole subject is under consideration by a 

 committee of the British Science Guild. 



The article in Science Progress is in continua- 

 tion of one which was published in the April 

 number, and its purpose is to offer a programme 

 of steps toward the betterment of science in 

 Britain and elsewhere. It is shown that the emolu- 

 ments of scientific men are much below what 

 might reasonably be expected for exceptional 

 attainments ; and the claim is made that the 

 State should offer special rewards or pensions to 

 investigators whose researches have proved of 

 decided national or public advantage without 

 being profitable to themselves. 



The unsatisfactory positions of many professors 

 and lecturers in our universities and other institu- 

 tions of higher education, is due largely to the 

 management of the institutions by commercial 

 men who like to see fine buildings but are unable to 

 understand the use of most of the work carried on 

 in them. It comes as a surprise to such men to be 

 told that in scientific circles usefulness is rarely 

 NO. 2350, VOL. 94] 



adopted as the standard of value; and that even 

 if not a single practical result is reached by an 

 investigation, the work is worth doing if it en- 

 larges knowledge or increases our outlook upon 

 the universe. This proposition, of course, leaves 

 the practical man cold ; yet it is all that science 

 desires to offer in justification of its activities. 

 While the discovery of truth remains its single 

 aim, science is free to pursue inquiries in what- 

 ever direction it pleases; but when it permits 

 itself to be dominated by the spirit of productive 

 application it will become merely the galley-slave 

 of short-sighted commerce. Almost all the in- 

 vestigations upon which modern industry has been 

 built would have been crushed at the outset if 

 immediate practical value had determined what 

 work should be undertaken. Science brings back 

 new seeds from the regions it explores, and they 

 seem to be nothing but trivial curiosities to the 

 people who look for profit from research, yet from 

 these seeds come the mighty trees under which 

 civilised man has his tent, while from the fruit he 

 gains comfort and riches. 



Industrial research is concerned, not with the 

 discovery of truth, but with the production of 

 something which will be of direct service to man 

 and from which pecuniary profit may be secured : 

 it is the province of the inventor rather than that 

 of the man of science. Such research and that 

 carried on with no ulterior motive are comple- 

 mentary to one another. Science has done its part 

 when it has made a new discovery ; constructive 

 engineering renders good service when it shows 

 how the discovery may be chained to the advanc- 

 ing chariot of industry. To foresee the possibilities 

 of a discovery, to transform a laboratory experi- 

 ment into the mechanical plant of a large works, 

 or to apply it to the needs of ordinary life, require 

 aptitudes not commonly possessed by the scien- 

 tific investigator. The engineer usually has such 

 practical purposes in mind ; discoveries are to 

 him things to be used and not ends in themselves, 

 as they are to the man of science. He seeks not 

 so much to know Nature as to circumvent her ; 

 and the research which he undertakes or organ- 

 ises has for its object the artificial preparation of 

 substances which are naturally rare, the produc- 

 tion of a new process or the improvement of an 

 old, the design of machines which will increase his 

 power over her, and of instruments which will 

 enable him to laugh at limitations of time and 

 space. 



Research is necessary for these advances, but 

 the spirit in which it is carried on is essentially 

 different from that of the scientific worker. The 

 engineer or the inventor first of all perceives a 

 need and then endeavours to devise a means of 

 meeting it. If he is of a scientific type of mind he 

 will make an accurate analysis of the conditions to 

 be fulfilled, and then design his machine or instru- 

 ment to fulfil them ; but the usual way is to find 

 practically what will perform the required func- 

 tions, and to leave experience or scientific know- 

 ledge to indicate how improvements may be 

 effected. 



