THE AGE OF SCIENCE 1 



BY IKA KEMSEN, PH. D. 

 President of the Johns Hopkins University 



As much of the time of those who go forth from this 

 institution to-day has been spent in the study of the 

 sciences, it has seemed to me fitting to ask your attention 

 to some considerations suggested by the phrase, "This is 

 the age of science". I do not remember ever to have heard 

 this statement questioned, much less denied, nor do I re- 

 member ever to have heard it satisfactorily explained. It 

 sounds simple enough, and does not appear to call for 

 explanation or comment, and yet I think it worth while to 

 examine it a little more carefully than is customary, to see 

 in what sense it is true. For in a sense it is true, and in a 

 sense it is not true. The statement raises two questions 

 which should be answered at the outset. These are: (1) 

 What is science? and (2) In what sense is this the age of 

 science ? 



First, then, what is science? Surely there can be no 

 difficulty in answering this, and yet I fear that, if I should 

 pass through this or any other audience with the question, 

 I should get many different answers. 



A certain lady, whom I know better than any other, has 

 told me that, should she ever be permitted to marry a sec- 

 ond time, she would not marry a scientific man, because 

 scientific men are so terribly accurate. I often hear the 

 same general idea expressed, and it is clear that accuracy 

 is one attribute of science according to prevailing opinions. 

 But accuracy alone is not science. When we hear a game 

 of baseball or of whist spoken of as thoroughly scientific, I 



Commencement address delivered at Worcester Polytechnic Insti- 

 tute, June 9, 1904. Published in Science for July 15, 1904. 



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