178 Britain's Heritage of Science 



question of the stability of fluid gravitating and rotating 

 bodies. George Darwin's own contributions to the subject 

 have materially helped to establish a scientific basis for the 

 treatment of a subject, fundamental in cosmogony, which 

 has fascinated the most powerful mathematical brains in 

 recent times. For his other important researches the reader 

 must be referred to his collected works, but some reference 

 may be made to the time which he ungrudgingly devoted 

 to assist all efforts which aimed at an organized co-ordi- 

 nation of scientific work, and co-operation between different 

 scientific bodies. During thirty years he was a member of 

 the Meteorological Council, and of the Treasury Committee 

 which superseded it. He actively supported international 

 scientific undertakings, and more especially the International 

 Geodetic Association, on which he represented England for 

 many years; in 1909 he was elected its President. 



Several instances have already been given of the reci- 

 procal relation between utilitarian objects and abstract 

 scientific truth, and a further example is furnished by the 

 work of John Milne (1850-1913). After studying Geology 

 and Mineralogy at Bang's College and the Royal College of 

 Mines, he gained some practical experience in the mines 

 of Cornwall and Lancashire, extending his knowledge by 

 a course of study at Freiberg, and a visit to the mining 

 districts of Germany. In 1875 he was appointed Professor 

 of Geology and Mining at the Imperial College in Tokio, 

 where he was at once confronted with important practical 

 problems arising out of the frequent occurrence of earth- 

 quakes in Japan. In order to construct buildings and bridges 

 so that they should resist the movements of the foundations 

 on which they are built, it is necessary to study, in the 

 first instance the nature of these movements. Milne was 

 attracted by both the practical and theoretical side of the 

 investigation, but as no suitable instruments were available 

 for the purpose, he supplied the want, and for a number of 

 years his seismographs became the standard instruments. 

 Important questions immediately suggested themselves, and 

 Milne became the founder of a new science. After his return 

 to England, he organized, with the assistance of the British, 

 Association, in different parts of the Empire and other 



