298 



NATURE 



[December 13, 19 17 



Another point in connection with invention is the 

 injustice and the inexpediency, from a public point of 

 view, of the present system wtiereby the Patent Office 

 makes a large annual profit out of the fees paid by 

 inventors, Ihere might possibly be some justification 

 for this were the money thus obtained spent on scien- 

 tific education, on provincial scientific libraries, 

 or on some other object that would further 

 invention and discovery. The money is, how- 

 ever, merged in the ordinary revenues of the 

 country, and thus becomes a veritable tax on 

 brains. It is, moreover, a tax on the cerebral 

 activity of a class of men who are usually by no means 

 overburdened with wealth. Though all inventors are 

 fortunately not driven by poverty to such expedients 

 as Palissy the potter, who actually had to burn his 

 household furniture in order to provide heat for his 

 furnace, still the majority of inventors are undoubtedly 

 poor, and find the cost of protecting their inventions 

 by patent, and still more of maintaining these patents 

 when granted, a considerable strain upon their finances. 

 The truth of this may be seen by the frequency with 

 which patents are dropped merely in order to save the 

 renewal fees, and the patentee in some cases deprived 

 of profits to which he is justly entitled. 



We shall, however, never get justice done to science 

 by the Government and its departments until some 

 knowledge of science is made a compulsory part of the 

 curriculum for the training of the Civil Service and 

 an important item in the entrance examinations. Only 

 in this way shall we get the departments filled by men 

 who realise what science means, and how it lies at 

 the root of all material progress. There is an idea 

 afloat in the political world, as also in the bureau- 

 cratic mind, that no man can at the same time be a 

 master of science and a good administrator or 

 organiser, either in public or commercial affairs. This 

 idea probably originated from observation of scientific 

 men of the scholastic and professorial types, whose 

 training has been mainly directed to the art of teach- 

 ing, and who have never had much opportunity of 

 developing their faculties in the administrative sphere. 

 To show, however, how false is the assumption, it is 

 only necessary to mention two such names as those 

 of Benjamin Franklin and Count Rumford, both of 

 whom were consummate men of science and did very 

 valuable original scientific work, but were also both 

 prominent men of business and managed great political 

 undertakings with remarkable success. Or, if we come 

 to more modern times and turn to ciptains of indus- 

 try, there are, without going out of this country, and 

 to mention only one or two, such men as Joseph Whit- 

 worth, Henry Bessemer, William Armstrong, and 

 Andrew Noble, all of whom had high scientific gifts 

 and knowledge, and also were very successful in the 

 organisation and administration of large industrial 

 enterprises. Indeed, for any business employing tech- 

 nical methods the ideal chief must necessarily be a 

 man of scientific attainments, as it is only such a OT:e 

 who can properly weigh the pros and cons of the pro- 

 positions put before him by his technical staff, while, 

 what is even more important, it is only such a chief 

 who can command the real respect of his employees, 

 who will never have complete confidence in, or a proper 

 veneration for, a leader whose scientific and technical 

 knowledge and experience are in the aggregate less 

 than their own. These considerations, of course, apply 

 to Government departments w.hich deal with scientific 

 questions equally with industrial undertakings carry- 

 ing on technical processes or manufacture. 



In obtaining Government support for the promotion 

 of applied science, it is most necessary to beware of 

 political interference. 



The dangers that arise from this may be seen from 

 the history of one or two typical industrial applica- 

 NO. 251 I, VOL. 100] 



tions of science during the last century. Take, for 

 instance, the application of mechanical power to road 

 locomotion. In the period covered by the years 1820 

 to 1836 this made rapid strides, and towards the close 

 of the period many steam-coaches were maintaining 

 regular services between various centres in different 

 parts of the country. In this, England was many 

 years ahead of the rest of the world, and a new and 

 what promised to be a very profitable industry was 

 being developed. Parliament, however, at the instance 

 of rival interests, passed hostile legislation which abso- 

 lutely shut the whole movement down, and automobil- 

 ism in this country was completely crushed, not to be 

 heard of again for more than fifty years. When, more- 

 over, a new beginning was made, the fresh start did 

 not take place in England, its original home, where 

 it was prohibited by law, but in France, where legisla- 

 tion was more enlightened. In this way, owing en- 

 tirely to the politicians, we. lost an opportunity of be- 

 coming pioneers throughout the world of a completely 

 new and what proved to be a gigantic industry, which 

 might have brought to our manufacturers much wealth 

 and to the working classes much lucrative employ- 

 ment. 



Or, to turn to another case, take the history of elec- 

 tric lighting and of the supply of electric power. Here, 

 again, the development of a new scientific industry 

 was greatly impeded by Parliamentary action. In 

 1882 this country was as far advanced in everything 

 pertaining to the application of electricity as any other 

 country on the globe. Indeed, many of the develop- 

 ments in this branch of science were peculiarly British, 

 having originated in this country. Again Parliament 

 intervened, and with a mistaken idea of protecting 

 the consumer from the dangers of monopoly, so effec- 

 tually strangled the whole movement that for six years 

 there were practically no consumers at all, as the 

 conditions imposed on undertakers were so onerous 

 that no one would risk the money required to insti- 

 tute a supply. In 1888 the political powers that were, 

 realising their mistake, made some legislative amend- 

 ments that enabled a start to be made ; but it was 

 then too late, for other countries had got ahead, and 

 even then the electrical industry was still hampered 

 by artificial conditions, some of which endure to the 

 present day, with results that have been inimical to 

 proper development. There are other similar instances, 

 such as the telephone, in regard to which the poli- 

 ticians have interfered to the detriment of progress. 



To a society such as this, the object of which is the 

 encouragement of the arts, science is mainly interest- 

 ing from its pre-eminent value for purely materialistic 

 ends, and it is therefore from this point of view that I 

 have endeavoured to give some account of its functions. 

 It must not, however, be supposed that science has 

 not also a very high value from the ethical point of 

 view. As Adam Smith wrote in his "Wealth of 

 Nations" nearly a century and a half ago, "Science is 

 the great antidote to the poison of superstition " ; more- 

 over, science is, so far as the limitations of the human 

 intellect will permit, a search for absolute truth. 

 Accuracy is its foundation-stone, acute observation and 

 strict logic are its most powerful agents. These have 

 all an educational value of the highest importance. The 

 study of Nature and the pursuit of knowledge have, 

 in addition, an elevating influence, and produce a 

 breadth and a strength of mind that rise superior to 

 material environment. This is well. seen in the blame- 

 less lives of the great masters of science, and in the 

 wav that manv of them sacrificed everything to their 

 work. Some encountered persecution and even martyr- 

 dom for their ideas, and met their misfortunes with a 

 fortitude quite equal to that shown by other men for 

 their faith. Among the functions of science we must 

 not therefore forget its moral power. 



