138 



NATURE 



[October 17. [918 



10 ph Id be taken from man} other bi am hi 



1 ime permit. 'I he devclopmeni ol the 



did mil al first depend to anj large 



extenl ai 1 measui emenl and ph) sii .1! resi ai 1 h 



- ■ omparativel) slow until Rankin and 



Kelvin developed the thermodynamics oi steam 



ontinued in our nun time b) mam well-known 

 names, and turned to practical use ol th< highest 

 importance b) Parsons in the development of the 

 turbine. 



When the stor) of the pasl foui eventful years 

 can be fully written* thi nation will realise to an 

 extent ii lias never done before the importance ol 

 physics in our national life. Whal conclusions can 

 we who 1I0 realise ibis draw from the facts 1 have 

 imperfectl) pul forward? Whal lessons are there 

 for the time that is to nun., thai reconstruction 

 period, which, if rightl) used, will mean so much 

 to England? We must, to begin with, give the 

 man of science a freei hand, a better chance to 

 develop his discoveries; and, in the second, with this 



object we I ed icate the people to appreciate more 



full) the impoi lancr ol science. 



Men who ran make greal discoveries are few in 

 number; increase the opportunities for their work 

 when found, and encourage all that may help to 

 develop them. Such a man may come from' any rank 

 of life. Mr. Seaton, in an interesting paper on the 

 importance of research in marine engineering read 

 recently before the Institution of Naval Architects, in 

 directing attention to the fact that many inventions 

 of importance to engineers have been made in nun 

 who were not engineers, writes thus: — " Bramah, one 

 of the first to suggest tin screw-propeller, was a 

 blacksmith and locksmith; George Stephenson a lire- 

 man; "Screw-propeller" Smith, who patented a good 

 workable propeller, was a farmer. . . . The inventor 

 who exhibited an internal-combustion engine tit Cam- 

 bridge a hundred years ago was a parson; so also 

 was Ramus, the inventor .1! the hydroplane -lap 



James Watt was an optical-instrument maker; the 

 inventor ol the chronometer was a gardener. 

 "Increasing-pitch" Wobdcroft was a librarian, 

 Bessemer an artist, Armstrong a lawyer." 



Though in these days oi increasing specialisation 

 the task of the amateur discoverei grows daih mine 

 1 . the importance, in the first place, ol the educa- 

 tional ladder to give an) boy ol real talents his chanci , 



n thi - I, ol providing fot the man who has 



d he can advance knowledge and max make a 



liscovery, is paramount. No doubt the chances 



of success are small. Main will sel tool on th( 



I climb to a greater or less height, but few 

 will reach the top. No doubl also the selection oi 

 ho should he encouraged is difficult; examina- 

 tion su is h\ no means always the -mm si test, 

 in frame another. But then the 

 discovi men of science an- rareh in a form 

 to be .1 ri ctly by industry and to bei ome 

 availabli fi 1 mal advantage. It was a long 

 step h urn ean nes ,,, t | 1( . dynamo .and 

 motor of to-d n the Faradav "dark spai e 

 .and Hittorf's nents with cathode ravs, and 

 Rontgen's .lis,- th, X-rays, to the Coolidge 

 tube and th.- \-i a hi modern Arm\ hos- 

 pital; or, again, fn I paper on electrical 

 oscillations in 1855, oi irsl suggestion of 

 thi- same in 1S47, 1,, thi 1 developments of 

 wireless telegraphy. 



What action can we take to bridge the gulf, I" 



render scientific discovery more readilv available and 



read more wideh knowledgi which mav he of 



nost service to the manufacturer!' This 1 lake 



!555i vol. 102] 



io he tin work ot laboratories of industrial research 

 which I hope 10 see grow up in the variou 

 centres of industry. In such a laboratory the stafl 

 .an- studying continuously to bring scientific know- 

 ledge as n advances to beai on industrial problems. 

 They miisi be skilled experimenters with a sound 

 knowledge of recenl discoveries, a nal zeal for the 

 work the) have undertaken, and a deep-seated belief 

 in iu importance to the nation. The laborator) must 

 he equipped in a complete manner with plant and 

 apparatus such as would In- found in works, prepared 

 to carry out the investigations necessarj In Ion a new 

 process or idea, the outcome of some laborator) in- 

 vestigation, Can lie applied on a works scale. 



For such work special laboratories and condi- 

 tions are essential. The National Physical 

 Laborator) should be one such; in time, a i ■ u- 

 tr.il institution for this task, correlating tin work 

 of the various local institutions, carrying out work 

 which might be common to a number, and serving 

 as .1 centre from which information is disseminated, 



and to which manufacturers will come for Suggestions 



and guidance. 



All this, however, will he of little avail unless the 



nation as a whole learns to appreciate its importance. 

 What is to be done to evoke a mini' intelligent 

 interest in physics among men at large; to induce our 

 legislators to realise the necessity fur large expendi- 

 ture and generous support; to evoke a general faith 

 in the efficaC) of scientific method which would 140 so 

 far to hearten and encourage the patient worker? 



I am speaking mair.h to teachers; let me, in con- 

 clusion, ...liln ss a few words to you specially as such. 

 If 1 have convinced you of the importance of my 

 sul.j. 1 1 main needed no convincing, I am sure maj 

 I remind you that it is your great task to arouse this 

 faith; to leal the rising generation to look on physical 

 science, not as something outside and apart from their 



daily life, fun as a source of strength and progress; 

 in educate them so that they may realise nun.' full) 

 what the) owe to the rf r eat men of the past who 

 have sowed th. seeds of England's power, and what 

 they must do to preserve the heritage this, men have 

 handed down 10 them? 



Win how ? I In- question is a difficult one in answi r. 

 There is a loud call for a more generous recognition 

 of science in our schools, for curricula in which it has 

 a largei share in the time-table, for more recognition 

 lor its teachers and more prizes and scholarships for 

 its stud. nis While this is most desirable, it is not 

 enough; alone it will do little. -Lord Bryce in a 

 recenl article writes: — "No man car bi deemed 

 educated who has not some knowledge of the relation 

 <il 1I1. sciences to one another and a iusi conception 

 nf the methods b\ which they respective^ advanci 

 Will iln- studenl gain this education merel) by trans- 

 ferrin:; him For so many hours a week from the 

 literar) sidi to the scientific side of the school? 1 

 fear not. Reform is needed in out methods of science 

 teaching. I speak as one responsible in pari for those 

 methods with a consciousness of seme fault. Fortv 

 years ago ii was mv privilege to organise, ale 

 m\ colleague, Sir Napier Shaw, the teaching of prac- 

 tical physics ai the Cavendish Laboratory. We were 

 dealing, under difficulties, with young university 

 students preparing to take a degree in science .,1 medi- 

 cine, men proposing to specialise. We had learnt the 

 necessit) foi exact measurement in all research, the 

 importance of a personal acquaintance with the 



methods by which our knowledge had been advanced; 

 we were not then concerned with the general educa- 

 tion of the \.ist mass of boys and i.<irls throughout 

 the cniintrv, and so we devised and extended the 



