September 12, 1901^ 



NATURE 



479 



the simple theory has established astronomy as the most exact 

 of all the departments of applied science. Men who devote 

 themselves to science are actuated either by a pure love of truth 

 or because they desire to apply natural knowledge to the benefit 

 of mankind. Astronomers belong, as a rule, to the first cate- 

 gory, which, it must be admitted, is the more purely scientific. 

 We not only find international cooperation in systematically 

 mapping the universe of stars and keeping all portions of the 

 universe under constant observation, but also when a particular 

 object in the heavens presents itself under circumstances of 

 peculiar interest or importance, the observatories of the world 

 combine to ascertain the facts in a manner which is truly re- 

 markable. As an illustration, I will instance the tiny planet 

 Eros discovered a few years ago by De Witt. Recently the 

 planet was in opposition and more favourably situated for 

 observation than it will be again for thirty years. It was deter- 

 mined, at a conference held in Paris in July 1900, that combined 

 work should be undertaken by no fewer than fifty observatories 

 in all parts of the world. Beyond the fixing of the elements of 

 the mean motion and of the perturbations of orbit due to the 

 major planets, the principal object in view is the more accurate 

 determination of solar parallax. To my mind this concert of 

 the world, this cosmopolitan association of fine intellects, 

 fine instruments, and the best known methods, is a deeply 

 impressive spectacle and a grand example of an ideal scientific 

 spirit. Other sciences are not so favourably circumstanced 

 as is astronomy for work of a similar kind undertaken 

 in a similar spirit. If in comparison they appear to be in a 

 chaotic state, the reason in part must be sought for in conditions 

 inherent to their study, which make combined work more diffi- 

 cult, and the results of such combined work as there is less 

 striking to spectators. Still, the illustration I have given is a 

 useful object-lesson to all men of science, and may encourage 

 those who have the ability and the opportunity to make 

 strenuous efforts to further progress by bringing the work of 

 many to a single focus. 



In pure science we look for a free interchange of ideas, but 

 in applied physics the case is otherwise, owing to the fact that 

 the commercial spirit largely enters into them. In a recent 

 address. Prof. Perry has stated that the standard of knowledge 

 in electrical engineering in this country is not as high as it is 

 elsewhere, and all men of science and many men in the street 

 know that he is right. This is a serious state of affairs, to which 

 the members of this Section cannot be in any sense indifferent. 

 We cannot urge that it is a matter with which another Section 

 of the Association is concerned to a larger degree. It is our 

 duty to take an active, and not merely passive attitude towards 

 this serious blot on the page of applied .science in England. 

 For this many reasons might be given, but it is sufficient to 

 instance one, and to state that neglect of electrical engineering 

 has a baneful effect upon research in pure science in this country. 

 It hinders investigations in pure physics by veiling from obser- 

 vation new phenomena which arise naturally, and by putting out 

 of our reach means of experimenting with new combinations on 

 a large scale. Prof. Perry has assigned several reasons for the 

 present impasse, viz., a want of knowledge of mathematics on 

 the part of the rising generation of engineers ; the bad teaching 

 of mathematics, and antiquated methods of education generally ; 

 want of recognition of the fact that engineering is not on stereo- 

 typed lines, but, in its electrical aspect, is advancing at a pro- 

 digious rale ; municipal procrastination, and so on. He con- 

 fesses, moreover, that he does not see his way out of the difficulty, 

 and is evidently in a condition of gloomy apprehension. 



It is. I think, undoubted that science has been neglected in 

 this country, and that we are reaping as we have sowed. The 

 importance of science teaching in secondary schools has been 

 overlooked. Those concerned in our indu.stries have not seen 

 the advantage of treating their workshops and manufactories 

 as laboratories of research. The Government has given too 

 meagre an endowment to scientific institutions, and has failed to 

 adequately encourage scientific men and to attract a satisfactory 

 quota of the best intellects of the country to the study of science. 

 Moreover, private benefactors have not been as numerous as in 

 some other countries in respect of those departments of scientific 

 work which are either non-utilitarian or not immediately or 

 obviously so. We have been lacking alike in science organi- 

 sation and in effective cooperation in work. 



It has been attempted to overcome defects in training for 

 scientific pursuits by the construction of royal roads to scientific 

 knowledge. Engineering students have been urged to forego 



NO. 1663, VOL. 64] 



the study of Euclid, at\(i, as a substitute, to practise drawing 

 triangles and squares ; it has been pointed out to them that 

 mathematical study has but one object, viz., the practical carry- 

 ing out of mathematical operations ; that a collection of mathe- 

 matical rules of thumb is what they should aim at ; that a 

 knowledge of the meaning of processes may be left out of account 

 so long as a sufficient grasp of the application of the resulting 

 rules is acquired. In particular, it has been stated that the 

 study of the fundamental principles of the infinitesimal calculus 

 may be profitably deferred indefinitely so long as the student is 

 able to differentiate and integrate a few of the simplest 

 functions that are met with in pure and applied physics. The 

 advocates of these views are, to my mind, urging a process of 

 " cramming " for the work of life which compares unfavourably 

 with that adopted by the so-called "crammers" for examinations; 

 the latter I believe to be, as a rule, much maligned individuals, 

 who succeed by good organisation, hard work and personal in- 

 fluence, where the majority of public and private schools fail ; the 

 examinations for which their students compete encourage them 

 to teach their pupils to think, and not to rely principally upon 

 remembering rules. The best objects of education, I believe, 

 are the habits of thought and observation, the teaching of how 

 to think, and the cultivation of the memory; and examiners of 

 experience are able to a considerable extent to influence the 

 teaching in these respects ; they show the teachers the direction 

 in which they should look for success. The result has been that 

 the "crammer" for examinations, if he ever existed, has dis- 

 appeared. But what can be said for the principle of cramming 

 for the work of one's life ? Here an examination would be no 

 check, for examiners imbued with the same notion would be a 

 necessary part of the system ; the awakening of the student 

 would come, perhaps slowly, but none the less inevitably ; he 

 might exist for a while on his formulce and his methods, but 

 with the march of events, resulting in new ideas, new appa- 

 ratus, new designs, new inventions, new materials requiring the 

 utmost development of the powers of the mind, he will certainly 

 find himself hopelessly at sea and in constant danger of dis- 

 covering that he is not alone in thinking himself an impostor. 

 And an impostor he will be if he does not by his own assiduity 

 cancel the pernicious effects of the system upon which he has 

 been educated. I do not, I repeat, believe in royal roads, 

 though I appreciate the advantage of easy coaches in kindred 

 sciences. In the science to which a man expects to devote his 

 life, the progress of which he hopes to further, and in which he 

 looks for his life's success, there is no royal road. The neglect 

 of science is not to be remedied by any method so repugnant to 

 the scientific spirit ; we must take the greater, knowing that it 

 includes the less, not the less, hoping that in some happy-go- 

 lucky way the greater will follow. 



At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was possible for 

 most workers to be well acquainted with nearly all important 

 theories in any division of science : the number of workers was 

 not great, and the results of their labours were for the most part 

 concentrated in treatises and in a few publications especially 

 devoted to science ; it was comparatively easy to follow what 

 was being done. At the present time the state of affairs is 

 different. The number of workers is very large ; the treatises 

 and periodical scientific journals are very numerous ; the ramifi- 

 cations of investigation are so complicated that it is scarcely 

 possible to acquire a competent knowledge of the progress 

 that is being made in more than a few of the subdivisions of 

 any division of science. Hence the so-called specialist has 

 come into being. 



Evident though it be that this is necessarily an age of 

 specialists, it is curious to note that the word "specialist" is 

 often used as a term of opprobrium, or as a symbol of narrow- 

 mindedness. It has been stated that most specialists run after 

 scientific truth in intellectual blinkers ; that they wilfully re- 

 strain themselves from observing the work of others who may 

 be even in the immediate neighbourhood ; that even when the 

 line of pursuit intersects obviously other lines, such intersection 

 is passed by without remark ; that no attention is paid to the 

 existence or the construction of connecting lines ; that the 

 necessity for collaboration is overlooked ; that the general 

 advance of the body of scientific truth is treated as of no 

 concern ; that absolute independence of aim is the thing most 

 to be desired. I propose to inquire into the possibility of such 

 an individual existing as a scientific man. 



I take as a provisional definition of a specialist in science 

 one who devotes a very large proportion of his energies to 



