June 21, J9i7] 



NATURE 



irliest years be directed to external Nature. His ob- 

 --jrsation should be alert and it should be exact. Along 

 with this he should Know how to use language, to 

 know the precise ditterence between the meanings of 



irious words apparently similar to be able to convey 



ccurately what he wishes to say." - 



Then, after distinguishing between the world of 

 Nature and that of man, he discusses how the time 

 available for education is to be divided between these 

 two spheres, urging the need for plenty of knowledge 

 of both to produce a capable and highly finished mind. 

 "No man," he says, "in our day can be deemed edu- 

 cated who has not some knowledge of the relation of 

 the sciences to one another and a just conception of 

 the methods by which they respectively advance." He 

 .presses strongly the importance of ' literary studies 

 because of the service they render to us for practical 

 life, for mental stimulus and training, and for enjoy- 

 ment, and as an introduction^to his views on the claims 

 of the classics, he writes :— 'A word must be said on 

 the practical aspect of the matter as it affects the 

 curricula of schools and universities. I do not contend 

 that the study of the ancients is to be imposed on all, 

 or even on the bulk, of those who remain at school 

 until eighteen or on most of those who enter a univer- 

 sity- It is generally admitted that at the universities 

 the present system cannot be maintained — we shall 

 effect a saving if we drop the study of the ancient 

 languages in the case of those who, after a trial, show 

 no aptitude for them. For the schools, the problem 

 is how to discover among the boys and girls those who 

 have the kind of gift which makes it worth while to 

 take them out of the mass and give them due facilities 

 for pursuing their studies at the higher secondary 

 schools, so that they may proceed thence to the univer- 

 'sities and further prosecute them there. Manv of vou, 

 as leaders, know better than I how this problem may 

 be solved; solved it mu%t be, if the whole communitv 

 is not to lose the benefit of our system of graded 

 schools.*' 



And in this connection let me quote a few words 

 'from a recent letter in Nature bv Mr. M. D. Hill, an 

 ■'Eton master of twenty years' experience. He writes : — 

 "The boys who are best at classics are also best at 

 science. . . . Every intelligent bov must be given equal 

 opportunities in science and languages in the widest 

 'sense of the word until he is old enough to show which 

 line of study he can most profitably follow." 



Here is a problem which the university must attack 

 ^ once. 1 have alreadv pointed out what seems to me 

 ihe first step towards its solution. Cambridge must 

 "open her doors wide to every son of our great Empire 

 who can show that he will reap benefits from studying 

 within her walls anv branch of knowledge for which 

 she offers opportunities; this steo should be taken 

 \yithout delay. Lord Bryce has indicated, I think, the 

 lines for our future development. Let me brieflv out- 

 line how they appear to me to run. The university 

 must remain the home of ancient learning, but the 

 course pursued to secure this end must not be such 

 as to demand that Latin and Greek should remain the 

 principal part of the school tasks of all bovs. It must 

 train men to be leaders in all walks of life, and not 

 least in industrial pursuits, and this not by undertaking 

 the technical training of the men who cro out hence 

 into the world, but bv laying a broad foundation of 

 the scientific principles and laws on which technical 

 knowledge, be it of theologv, medicine, or law, or of 

 the more modern branches of applied science, must rest. 

 .^nd lastly, but most important of all, it must produce 

 the leaders in every branch of science. 



For the highest work of all, be it literary or iscien- 

 tmc, the course is fairly simple. Men in Whom are 

 implanted the thirst for new knowledge, the power of 



NO. 2486, VOL. gq"! 



discovery, the keen logical insight to follow the right 

 path and avoid the wrong, will come to the front helped 

 by the traditions of tHe past, the enthusiasm and devo- 

 tion of the teachers, the generosity of our founders and 

 benefactors. Funds, it is true, will be needed, and must 

 be supplied. A man whose researches may produce a 

 beneficial revolution, whose discoveries may prove of 

 untold benefit to mankind, should not depend for a 

 scanty livelihood on the proceeds derived frpm his 

 yearly cycle of tutorial lectures. Means must be found 

 to increase the endowments of the university for pure 

 research, and funds so expended will in time produce 

 a full harvest. 



Let me, however, endeavour to say something' as to 

 the steps to be taken to give science its due place in 

 the education of every man. Have we attacked this 

 question in the right manner? and by "we" I mean 

 teachers of science generally. 



It is nearly fortv years since the present Chancellor 

 asked Sir Napier Shaw and myself to help in his work 

 at the Cavendish Laboratorv. Practical physics as a 

 branch of study for undergraduates generally was 

 almost non-existent. Maxwell had inspired a few of 

 the leading mathematicians with the desire to work at 

 the laboratorv, but the organised classes were small 

 and their organisation was incomplete. Elsewhere 

 Carey Foster had classes at University College, Balfour 

 Stewart at Manchester; Kohlrausch's book had been 

 published and translated into English some few years 

 previously. Shaw had worked in Berlin under Helm- 

 holtz. We commenced the endeavour to systematise the 

 teaching, to devise experiments to illustrate and 

 "prove"'' fundamental laws and principles, to teach 

 students the realitv of many things of which they 

 read in books, and show them that effects do follow 

 their causes in the manner there described. 



Laboratory notebooks were w-ritten. In due course 

 (in 1885) Glazebrook and Shaw's "Practical Physics" 

 appeared, and, I am glad to say, after more than thirtv 

 years of life, is vigorous still. It has been followed by 

 manv similar books, and has, I trust and believe, done 

 much useful and important work. A man who is to 

 develop into a phvsicist must have an intimate know- 

 ledge of the existing methods of physical investigation. « 

 Measurement is so important a factor in manv branches 

 of knowledge that an acquaintance with the funda- 

 mental methods of measurement, and skill in using 

 instruments and apparatus, are of the highest value . 

 for large classes of men. 



But for the great majority the mental food thus 

 offered affords but little nourishment. The teaching 

 of practical phvsics on these lines fits in w-ith our 

 examination svstem. Problems can be set and ques- 

 tions asked admitting of definite and precise answers 

 the^ value of which an examiner can easily assess in 

 marks. -A^ sum in arithmetic is classed as a physical 

 problem because the term "specific heat," or "elec- 

 trical resistance." is used in stating the question. 

 "Our examination svstem," says Principal Griffiths, 

 " has endeavoured (but. thank Heaven! unsuccessfully) 

 to kill the soul of science in the rising generation. 

 There is, however, a stirring among the dry-bOnes, and 

 we are awakeniner to the fact that science must *be 

 taught as if we believed in it for its own sake, that 

 we must teach it as a disciple preaches his religion, 

 and that we must refuse to be bound bv the fetters 

 in which tradition has entangled us. If we are to 

 succeed, we must make science a living: reality to our 

 pupils, and cease to retrard it merelv as a convenient 

 machinerv for the manufacture of conundrums." We 

 do not reallv so regard it, any of us teachers, but our 

 methods of teaching- and examinations tend to produce 

 this impression. It is clear, I think, that a 

 plan which is excellent for men who -.ntend 



