go THE PLACE OF SCIENCE IN 
race? No one of those great investigators from Aristotle 
to J. J. Thomson, according to the ordinary definition of the 
word, had any “ practical” end in view.’ Surely there lies 
a great misapprehension and a great misstatement there. 
My reading of scientific history tells me, I won’t say exactly 
the. reverse, because there are countless cases of most im-— 
portant scientific work having originated in a simple desire 
for truth and nothing ,more. At the same time, if you 
really look into the history of science you will find that there 
is a very large proportion of the highest, the most important, 
the most theoretical science, that has arisen from the effort 
_ of science to solve practical problems. Take my own science. 
Who is the greatest man in chemistry? I think, with all due 
regard to patriotism, and with the strongest desire to be fair, 
one would be obliged to say Lavoisier, whose work revolu- 
tionized chemistry. What was the beginning of Lavoisier’s 
work? If you inquire you will find it was the desire to 
- improve the illumination of the streets of Paris. The streets 
were badly lighted and a prize was offered for improvements. 
He addressed himself, first of all to the construction of the 
lamps, to the minute construction of the burners, and matters 
of a mechanical kind. Then he came to think about the 
question of oil. From that he found the necessity of 
understanding the process of combustion, and because oils 
and other fuels were too complex material for investigating 
the simplest aspect of combustion, he passed to the investi- 
gation of the effect of fire upon metals. There he made 
his immortal discoveries and revolutionized chemical science. 
Throughout his life he was eager to solve the practical 
problems which he found in his own environment. I can 
give you innumerable examples of the same kind. _ 
Whilst, therefore, I should be among the last persons, I 
hope, to say a word against dispassionate, disinterested culti- 
vation of knowledge for its own sake; while I should be 
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