November 12, 19 14] 



NATURE 



28s 



Scientific research may thus be divided conveni- 

 ently into two classes — one in which the motive 

 is solely the desire to extend the boundaries of 

 knowledge, while in the other the special purpose 

 is to obtain results which have a direct bearing 

 upon problems of manufacture and construction. 

 Explorers on the ship of science go out to dis- 

 cover new lands ; and their spirit is not the same 

 as that which actuates the prospectors who follow 

 them with the intention of making the lands pro- 

 fitable to themselves and others. Both these 

 classes of pioneers have their proper places in 

 the scheme of progress, but they live in different 

 atmospheres. The scientific investigator must 

 have freedom to follow his own course wherever 

 it may lead, whereas technical research can be 

 organised and definite problems presented for 

 which solutions of direct service to man are 

 sought. The standard of value in one case is that 

 of knowledge only, while in the other it is that 

 of profit or use. The scientific mind desires to 

 imderstand Nature ; the engineering mind to con- 

 trol her for material purposes. 



.Some time ago the votes of the readers of an 

 American periodical — Popular Mechanics — were 

 taken as to what inventions were considered to be 

 the "seven wonders of the modern world." From 

 a list of numerous inventions, seven had to be 

 selected ; and those which received the highest 

 number of votes were : wireless telegraphy, the 

 telephone, the aeroplane, radium, antiseptics and 

 antitoxins, spectrum analysis, and X-rays. Each 

 one of these things had its foundations in purely 

 scientific work, and was not the result of deliber- 

 ate intention to make something of service to 

 humanity. 



It would be easy to give many further in- 

 stances of the foundation of great industries upon 

 results obtained in scientific investigation. Credit 

 is, of course, due to the engineers who convert 

 laboratory experiments into commercial under- 

 takings, and to inventors for making use of scien- 

 tific results in the production of instruments and 

 devices for the convenience and comfort of man ; 

 but in both cases they are adapters of new know- 

 ledge rather than creators of it. The new field is 

 opened by the man of science, but he is usually 

 forgotten by those who afterwards take posses- 

 sion of it. 



National well-being can only be secured when 

 the close relation between it and scientific pro- 

 gress is understood. Discoveries which lead 

 directly to developments of industry and manu- 

 facture may almost be left to take care of them- 

 selves, and the search for them is not likely to be 

 neglected, but it is not the case with those for 

 which no immediate use can be seen, yet almost 

 all scientific research comes within that category. 

 This is the kind of research which needs encour- 

 agement more than any other, and demands the 

 greatest amount of originality, inspiration, and 

 enthusiasm, to produce apparently insignificant 

 results. The man who has zeal for work of this 

 kind, who is a born researcher, should be 

 cherished by his country above all others, and 



NO. 2350. VOL. 94] 



every advantage be offered him for the pursuit of 

 knowledge. 



When men of science ask for funds for scien- 

 tific research they do not wish to bury the talents 

 they receive or to derive personal profit from 

 them. Whatever amount is entrusted to them is 

 returned a hundredfold in the results achieved. 

 How many are the researches worthy of assist- 

 ance, and how small are the funds available for 

 investigations having no obvious practical appli- 

 cation, are understood only by men of science 

 themselves. It would be a revelation to people 

 endowed with a larger share of worldly riches to 

 be present at a meeting of the committee of the 

 British .\ssociation concerned with the allocation 

 of grants for scientific purposes. Thirty or forty 

 of the leading men of science in the British Isles 

 discuss for several hours how to divide the sum 

 of about 1000/. which represents the "amount avail- 

 able from the sale of tickets at each annual meet- 

 ing. There are many applications for grants 

 from committees of each of the twelve sections 

 of the Association, and the amount required has 

 usually to be whittled down to 5Z. or 10/., which 

 often does not cover the expense of stationery 

 and postage of a research committee. Not one 

 penny goes into the pockets of the men who are 

 conducting the researches, yet claim after claim 

 has to be passed, or reduced to its lowest limits, 

 because the fund is miserably inadequate to meet 

 the demands made upon it. 



The Royal Society was unable to find the money 

 required to print Newton's "Principia," and it 

 was published at the expense of his friend Halley. 

 Our scientific societies are in no better position 

 to-day. Their members — most of whom possess 

 but very slender means — pay by their own sub- 

 scriptions for the publication of the results of their 

 investigations. They sacrifice their leisure, and 

 draw upon their limited resources, not only that 

 knowledge may be increased, but also that the 

 gain may be published to the world, which is free 

 to make use of it. 



It is difficult for the man of the world to under- 

 stand the altruistic spirit which induces men of 

 science to band themselves together in societies 

 having for their sole aim the advancement of 

 knowledge in particular directions ; and that these 

 men should themselves pay to enlighten and bene- 

 fit others by the publication of their researches is 

 almost incomprehensible to the selfish or money- 

 making mind ; yet such is the case. While the 

 annual State grant made by Great Britain towards 

 the expense of the publications of learned societies 

 is limited to the sum of one thousand pounds to 

 the Royal Society, several times that amount is 

 provided each year for stationery alone used by 

 members of the House of Commons. 



The politicians who pay themselves a salary for 

 the time they devote to party tactics and personal 

 persiflage would be astounded if the proposal 

 were made to provide for the support of Fellows 

 of the Royal Society or of any other scientific 

 institution, yet of the relative values to the nation 

 of the work done in the two spheres of politics and 



