330 



NATURE 



[November 27, 1919 



asm for scientific progress, while they have been 

 as much concerned with the importance of science 

 to the well-being and prosperity of the community 

 as with its value in education and in the improve- 

 ment of human knowledge. All of them are men 

 who personally have done valuable original re- 

 search, and shown the capacity for affairs and the 

 sound judgment necessary in these days of organ- 

 ised scientific work. 



The terms of reference of the Commission re- 

 late, not onlv to questions of finance, but also to 

 the government of the Universities and the rela- 

 tions of the colleges to the Universities and to each 

 other; hence the inquiry is likely to be an exten- 

 sive one. In the course of the inquiries to be 

 made, many anomalies will doubtless be re- 

 vealed. Our educational structure is curi- 

 ously unbalanced. It has grown up cathedral- 

 like, and bears witness to the loving, if some- 

 times misguided, benefactions of many genera- 

 tions. We trust that the Commissioners, while 

 retaining all that is good — and there is much that 

 is worthy of preservation — will ensure, a more 

 economical and equitable distribution of the fruits 

 of past benefactions for the encouragement of 

 religion, learning, education, and research. 



In particular, we would direct attention to the 

 need for greater facilities for research, not only 

 in pure science, but also in modern philosophy. 

 It is almost incredible that Oxford, the home of 

 classical learning, cannot boast of a single ex- 

 ponent of modern philosophy who might be ex- 

 pected to explore the regions of thought revealed 

 by recent scientific research on space and time. 

 The discontinuities of modern physics should 

 surely not appeal in vain to the heirs of the 

 wisdom of the Greek philosophers 



Further, the hard-worked science tutor should 

 be afforded time and facilities for research. A 

 critical study by the Commissioners of the dis- 

 tribution of tutors in the various subjects and of 

 the relative number of pupils allotted to each tutor 

 would form an instructive lesson on our educa- 

 tional methods. Some relief could be given to 

 science tutors if it were made compulsory for 

 candidates for degrees in science to obtain ex- 

 emption from preliminary physics and chemistry 

 before admission to the University. This would 

 also relieve the already overburdened labora- 

 tories. 



Other questions relating to natural science with 

 which the Commission must deal are : (a) The 

 urgent need for further buildings and equipment, 

 and for increased staff, if the present rush of 

 students is to be met, and if research is to be 

 maintained ; (h) the sufficient remuneration of the 

 NO. 2613, VOL. 104] 



teaching and research staffs, and the recognition 

 of the fact that the research worker is no less 

 entitled to payment for his labours than the busi- 

 ness man, the teacher, or the labourer; (c) the 

 better support of natural science by the colleges 

 (in proportion to its importance, natural science is 

 inadequately assisted by many colleges in the 

 matter of scholarships, fellowships, and lecture- 

 ships); (d) the provision of pensions for professors 

 and other officials, and the introduction of a 

 definite age for retirement. This last matter is 

 particularly important in natural science, where 

 the professors have administrative and organising 

 duties, as well as those of lecturing and directing 

 research, and there is no reason why a university 

 should be an exception to the general rule in any 

 large undertaking, national or private, that an 

 executive appointment should be subject to an 

 age limit. 



The Committee on Estate Management will ha\e 

 to consider the more efficient administration of 

 college property, and may recommend the adop- 

 tion universally of the system already agreed to 

 by three important colleges at Cambridge of em- 

 ploying a common estate office connected with 

 the School of Agriculture. The present system 

 of awarding scholarships, the subject of women's 

 degrees, the finances of the women's colleges, 

 and the cost of living of the average undergradu- 

 ate are among the more controversial matteis 

 to be decided. Whatever may be the course of 

 their deliberations, however, it is clear that Cam- 

 bridge will not be encouraged, as it might ha\e 

 been under another type of Commission, to cease 

 its national function as a home of "'' religion, 

 learning, and research," and to become a place 

 merely of technical instruction. Whatever faults 

 the Commission may have will lie, not In a lack 

 of sympathy for education and research in the 

 best sense, but in a rather conservative outlook 

 and an Inabilitv to understand the urgencv of 

 really radical changes, in an insufficient apprecia- 

 tion of the needs and demands of the great labour- 

 ing, classes of the country, and in lack of under- 

 standing of the point of view of the younger 

 generation. 



PRINCIPLES OF RADIO-COMMUNICATION. 



The Principles underlying Radio-communication. 

 Radio Pamphlet No. 40. December 10, 1918. 

 Signal Corps, U.S. .Army. Pp. 355. (Wash- 

 ington : Government I^rinting Office, 1919.) 

 Price 55 cents. 



"T^HIS book has been prepared by the Bureau 

 -L of Standards, Washington, under the direc- 

 tion of the Chief Signal Officer of the Training^ 



