304 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



The long controversy as to the relative merits of 

 the scientific and classical studies as training for the 

 intellect is not yet closed, and perhaps never will be, 

 since temperamental leanings govern the tendencies 

 even of pedagogues. The partisan of the classical 

 training sees in the Latin and Greek languages, with 

 their intricate grammars (forcing as they do a syn- 

 thetic and constructive attitude of mind), a stimulus 

 to the development of logical methods of thought. 

 The advocate of the scientific training urges the 

 necessity of pursuing studies that deal with the rela- 

 tions of numbers and with the observation of natural 

 phenomena and the properties of matter. Culture 

 and valuable training may be got through either the 

 classical or the scientific channel. There is, however, 

 a radical difference of quality which cannot be over- 

 looked. The mind of the classical student, while 

 engaged in acquiring technique, is bent on the study 

 of intricacies invented by human ingenuity. The 

 mind of the scientific student, on the other hand, is 

 focused on Nature herself. The study of declensions 

 and conjugations and the relation of the parts of 

 speech affords an admirable discipline, but it repre- 

 sents arbitrarily created problems. The mastery of 

 the difficulties of syntax and grammar throws no 

 light on the methods of nature and is, therefore, no 

 preparation for the understanding of life. But a 

 knowledge of the material universe, of the common 

 properties of matter, and of the forces everywhere in 

 play is the basis for an insight into the occurrences 



