SCIENCE AND THE PRESS 55 



This respect it does not receive. It is still looked upon with 

 a good deal of distrust by the theologians: it is not taken 

 seriously by the typical headmaster of our public schools (of 

 course it is in the curriculum, but it is not in his heart) ; it has 

 a miserable position in the Departments of the State ; it is not 

 appreciated in the business world. 



This being the case, it is not very surprising to find the 

 position it occupies in the Press. Yet the Press does a good 

 deal more than reflect public opinion. Take art, for example. 

 What standard of opinion is adopted there? Imagine a news- 

 paper critique of the Royal Academy, accurately reflecting the 

 public opinion on art derived from the majority of its readers ! 

 No, in art, in music, and in literature the Press aspires to the 

 rank of expert and guide ; it holds up an ideal to its readers, 

 and readily prints columns of technical criticism that must 

 seem strange stuff' indeed to the overwhelming majority who 

 do not read it. A newspaper would think it discreditable to 

 commit any solecism in dealing with these matters. 



In science it is entirely different. I admit, of course, that 

 the public does not want science. It likes to hear about the 

 North Pole and the Comet, because it is stirred by the hazards 

 of our seeking the one and the hazards of our being sought by 

 the other. It likes to hear about the price of radium and the 

 progress of modern alchemy. It is interested when some man 

 of science takes to amateur theology, or when another says 

 the coal supply is getting exhausted. 



Pray do not suppose that I am taking a superfine pose and 

 sneering at curiosity, which, if somewhat trivial, is quite natural 

 and harmless. I know there are vast numbers of people who 

 are more interested in reading those graphic accounts of how 

 the Prime Minister ' entered the House smiling and stood with 

 one hand on the brass-bound box' than in the momentous 

 speech, which intervened before he 'resumed his seat and 

 chatted pleasantly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer 



