304 



NATURE 



[June 8, 19 16 



SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT. 

 ''"PHHRE have been many signs lately of 

 -*- awakened interest in the national signi- 

 ficance of scientific method and work, and not 

 the least encouraging- among them is the action 

 taken by scientific workers, individually and col- 

 lectively. Until the war compelled attention to 

 be given to all matters affecting national effici- 

 ency, both in the present and the future, little 

 heed was paid to the warnings of those who dis- 

 cerned clearly the consequences of the neglect of 

 science by the State. For this indifference men 

 of science must themselves accept a share of the 

 responsibility. With a few notable exceptions, 

 they did nothing to enlighten the community as 

 to the close relation between scientific work and 

 modern progress, or to promote reforms by 

 organised effort. It is not surprising, therefore, 

 that the place of science in national polity is not 

 understood by the general public, and that the 

 activities of even such representative bodies as 

 the Royal Society and the British Association are 

 commonly regarded as of little practical im- 

 portance. 



The neglect of science by the public has, in- 

 deed, been due largely to the neglect of the public 

 by science. The only body which has seriously 

 endeavoured to show the bearing of science and 

 scientific method upon public affairs of every kind 

 is the British Science Guild ; yet until recently 

 its objects, and the work of its various commit- 

 tees, were disregarded by a large part of the 

 scientific world. It is a satisfaction to know, 

 however, that the pioneers of the movement for 

 a fuller recognition of science by the State have 

 exerted a sub-conscious influence upon the minds 

 of scientific men, as evidenced by the manifestoes 

 lately issued, and the meetings held, upon the 

 subject of the co-ordination of science with in- 

 dustry, education, and administration, which the 

 Guild has been urging for the last ten years. 

 The Royal Society has formed a conjoint com- 

 mittee of members of scientific societies; a Re- 

 organisation Committee has been constituted to 

 deal with science in the public schools, at Oxford 

 and Cambridge, and in examinations for the 

 public services ; an Education Reform Council, 

 having upon it representatives of science, indus- 

 try, and commerce, as well as of education, has 

 been brought into being by the Teachers' Guild; 

 and suggestions for reforms have been issued, or 

 are being deliberated, by all these bodies. 



The latest expression of scientific opinion is 

 contained in the memorial, reprinted on p. 305, 

 from the professorial staff of the Imperial College 

 of Science and Technology, to Lord Crewe, the 

 chairman of the governors. The memorial was 

 presented to Lord Crewe by the Right Hon. 

 A. H. D. Acland, chairman of the executive com- 

 mittee of the governors ; Sir J. W. Wolfe-Barry, 

 chairman of the delegacy, City and Guilds (En- 

 gineering) College ; and Sir Alfred Keogh, Rector 

 of the Imperial College ; and it was signed by 

 the twenty-one professors whose names appear 

 at the end. 



NO. 2432, VOL. 97] 



To those who are acquainted with such utterances 

 as are contained in Huxley's essays on "Science 

 and Education," Sir William Huggins's Royal 

 Society addresses on " Science in the State and 

 in the Schools," Prof. Perry's "England's Neg- 

 lect of Science," and Sir Norman Lockyer's 

 presidential address to the British Association in 

 1903, contained in his "Education and National 

 Progress," most of the educational points raised 

 in the memorial will be familiar; nevertheless, 

 it is well that they should be impressed again 

 upon the public mind. The war is arousing the 

 nation to a sense of the need for the adoption 

 of new measures to enable it to compete success- 

 fully in the struggles before it; and scientific men 

 have now an opportunity of exerting strong in- 

 fluence upon the schemes of reconstruction which 

 are being put forward. Sporadic memorials are 

 worthy enough in intention, but their eff'ect will 

 be ephemeral unless the signatories to them unite 

 to form a strong and active body of opinion 

 which will guide the country aright. The British 

 Science Guild provides the machinery by which 

 this end may be reached ; and it is the obvious 

 duty of all who believe in the application of 

 scientific method to national affairs to give their 

 practical support to an organisation which exists 

 solely for that purpose. 



Dissatisfaction with existing means of school 

 preparation for the strenuous conditions of modern 

 life is being expressed on all sides, and it is 

 evident that the country would welcome a practical 

 programme in which scientific principles occupied 

 a prominent place. Most progressive people are 

 now convinced that radical reforms are needed in 

 teaching and outlook, and they are looking to 

 representatives of science and other branches of 

 modern learning to state exactly what should be 

 done. In the absence of a constructive scheme in 

 which all advocates of reform will co-operate, the 

 citadels of traditional studies will stand unshaken, 

 and the vested interests in them will remain un- 

 touched, be memorials never so numerous. Our 

 educational and scientific deficiencies have been 

 revealed by the war, and the nation is anxious to 

 see them remedied without further delay. A letter 

 published in the Times of June 5, and reprinted 

 on p. 306, is a characteristic statement of this 

 feeling, and we believe it will receive wide support 

 from the parents of the public school to whom it is 

 an appeal. 



It is unlikely that the Headmasters' Conference, 

 the members of w^hich are practically all classical 

 men, will be moved by this demand for less classics 

 and more science in the public schools, but if they 

 continue to obstruct advance action should be 

 taken by the Government to compel them to stand 

 aside. Not a single sound argument can be put 

 forward for the waste of eff"ort in schools and 

 universities caused by the existence of the tradi- 

 tional curriculum of classical studies, and the 

 sooner it is superseded by courses more in 

 touch with the actual needs of the times, the 

 better will be the prospects of increased national 

 efficiencv. 



