ii4 SCIENCE AND THE WAR 



the^outburst^there can bejio question, nor of its 

 persistence A to the present day. That also is 

 surely a , curious phenomenon ; for, as regards 

 most other things, we seem to be in the trough 

 of the wave, and not merely in these islands but 

 all over the civilised world. In Art, in Music, 

 in Literature, in the Drama, it would be difficult 

 to argue in favour of a pre-eminence, or even of 

 an equality of the present age, comparing it with 

 its predecessors. 



Take the politicians of the world ; it is perhaps 

 difficult, even foolish, for us who are living with 

 them to prophesy with any approximation of 

 accuracy what the historian of a future day may 

 say about them. He may sum them up as respect- 

 able, honest mediocrities trying to do their best 

 under exceptionally difficult circumstances ; he 

 may put them lower ; he may put them higher ; 

 he may differentiate between those of different 

 nations ; but there is little doubt that, with the 

 exception of the American President, he will not 

 be able to point to any one of the calibre of Pitt 

 or of Bismarck or of the less severely tried Disraeli 

 or Gladstone. 



But just the reverse is the case in science, which 

 has men of the very first rank living, working, and 

 discovering to-day. There are indeed signs that 

 even our Government is cognizant of this. The 

 creation of a Department of Industrial Scientific 

 Research, the provision of a substantial income 

 for the same, the increase of research-grants to 

 learned societies, these and other things show 

 that some attempt will be made to recognise the 



