NEW CONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE 



of the fruitful union of scientific experiment and 

 the scientific imagination. Wise men from among 

 many peoples have come bearing their gifts; but, 

 in the long line from Kelvin and Helmholtz to 

 Lorenz and Poincare", you discover no faces out of 

 the desert of the western continent. 



It is pretty much the same story wherever we 

 turn. What is the cause? Why is it that this 

 people, now marching to the industrial conquest of 

 the earth, has done so little, comparatively, in 

 the realms of science? I leave the answer to oth- 

 ers who may love large generalizations more. My 

 purpose was rather to indicate a condition than 

 to propose a remedy. It is certain we do not lack 

 for colleges and institutions of "higher culture." 

 The sums which our Croesuses scatter with lavish 

 hand are the wonderment of Europe. We are a 

 clever people, undoubtedly; this is not new; our 

 newspapers and orators do not miss an opportuni- 

 ty of telling us so. We have done big things ; and 

 it is, perhaps, just for that reason, just because of 

 the rich prizes of business, that the Faradays and 

 Claude Bernards are not to be found among us. 



Not long ago France did honor to one of the 

 century's notable men, her great chemist, M. 

 Berthelot. The President of the Republic was 

 there to preside; it was a national affair. I sup- 

 pose M. Berthelot may be accounted the greatest 



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