io8 



NA TURE 



[December i, li 



is a maximum or a minimum ; as, for instance, in May 1896, 

 July 1S97, August 1898, Septemljer 1899, &c. Should it then 

 be found that the angular displacement is less than one-tenth of 

 a second, we have at least sufficient data to be able to say that 

 this star has a parallax of less than one-twentieth of a second. 

 Possibly photographs or micrometric measurements are available 

 in some observatories." 



The New Planet Witt DQ.— The discovery of the little 

 planet Witt DQ is of such importance that it behoves astro- 

 nomers now to seek out a name for it which will be appropriate. 

 The minor planet family, which now numbers some hundreds, 

 has practically monopolised most of the gods and goddesses, so 

 that a suitable choice in its nomenclature is not an easy 

 matter. Prof. S. C. Chandler, with all due regard to the right 

 of the discoverer, both by courtesy and the precedent of custom, 

 of suggesting a name, proposes Pluto, which he thinks is appro- 

 priate in many ways. The other sons of Saturn have all worthily 

 been assigned to major and minor planets ; but Pluto has been, 

 up to the pre.sent, omitted. Moreover, as Prof. Chandler says, 

 " there is a certain fitness in the appellation arising from its faint- 

 ness or invisibility on ordinary occasions. Piuto, under his 

 older name. Hades, was the ' invisible' or 'unknown,' the god 

 of darkness. This invisibility, he removes, with the helmet 

 forged for his concealment by Vulcan, when he comes to peri- 

 helion opposition, shining then as a comparatively bright star, 

 perhaps visible to the naked eye. This helmet, by the way, 

 could serve as his conventional planetary symbol, if one is 

 ■desired." 



SCIENCE IN EDUCATION} 

 YVTHEN the history of education during the nineteenth 

 century comes to be written, one of its most striking 

 features will be presented by the rise and growth of science in 

 the general educational arrangements of every civilised country. 

 At the beginning of the century our schools and colleges were 

 still following, with comparatively little change, the methods 

 and subjects of tuition that had been in use from the lime of 

 the Middle Ages. But the extraordinary development of the 

 physical and natural sciences, which has done so much to alter 

 the ordinary conditions of life, has powerfully afl'ected also our 

 system of public instruction. The mediaeval circle of studies 

 has been widely recognised not to supply all the mental training 

 needed in the ampler range of modern requirement. Science 

 has, step by step, gained a footing in the strongholds of the 

 older learning, Not without vehement struggle, however, has 

 she been able to intrench herself there. Even now, although 

 her ultimate victory is assured, the warfare is by no means at an 

 ■end. The jealou.sy of the older regime and the strenuous, if 

 sometimes blatant, belligerency of the reformers have not yet 

 been pacified ; and, from time to time, within our public schools 

 and universities, there may still be heard the growls of oppos- 

 ition and the .shouts of conflict. But these sounds are grow- 

 ing fainter. Even the most conservative don hardly ventures 

 nowadays openly to denounce .science and all her works. 

 Grudgingly, it may be, but yet perforce, he has to admit the 

 teaching of modern science to a place among the subjects which 

 the university embraces, and in which it grants degrees. In our 

 public schools a " modern side" has been introduced, and even 

 ■on the clas.sical .side an increasing share of the curriculum is 

 •devoted to oral and practical teaching in science. New colleges 

 have been founded in the more important centres of population, 

 for the purpose, more particularly, of enaliling the community to 

 obtain a thorough education in modern science. 



The mainspring of this remarkable educational revolution has, 

 ■doubtless, been the earnest conviction that the older learning 

 was no longer adequate in the changed and changing conditions 

 of our time ; that vast new fields of knowledge, opened up by 

 the increased study of nature, ought to be included in any scheme 

 of instruction intended to fit men for the struggle of modern 

 life, and that in this newer knowledge much might be found to 

 minister to the highest ends of education. Nevertheless, it 

 must be admitted that utilitarian considerations have not been 

 wholly absent from the minds of the reformers. Science has 

 many and far-reaching practical applications. It h.as called into 

 existence many new trades and professions, and has greatly 



1 An address to the students uf Mason University College, Birmingham, 

 jit the opening of the session, October 4, by Sir Archibald Gcikie, D.C.L., 

 F.R.S. 



NO. I 518, VOL. 59] 



modified many of those of older date. In a thousand varied 

 ways it has come into the ordinary afiairs of every-day life. Its 

 cultivation has brought innumerable material benefits ; its 

 neglect would obviously entail many serious industrial dis- 

 advantages, and could not fail to leave us behind in the 

 commercial progress of the nations of the globe. 



So much have these considerations pressed upon the attention 

 of the public in recent years that, besides all the other educa- 

 tional machinery to which I have referred, technical schools 

 have been established in many towns for the purpose of teaching 

 the theory as well as the practice of various arts and industries, 

 and making artisans understand the nature of the processes with 

 which their trades are concerned. 



That this educational transformation, which has been 

 advancing during the century, has resulted in great benefit to 

 the community at large can hardly be denied. Besides the 

 obvious material gains, there has been a widening of the whole 

 range and method of our teaching ; the old subjects are better, 

 because more scientifically taught, and the new subjects enlist 

 the attention and sympathy of large clas.ses of pupils whom the 

 earlier studies only languidly interested. Nevertheless, it is 

 incumbent on those who have advocated and carried out this 

 change to ask themselves whether it has brought with it no 

 drawbacks. They may be sure that no such extensive reform 

 could possibly be accomplished without delects appearing 

 somewhere. And it is well to look these defects in the face 

 and, as far as may be possible, remove them. In considering 

 how I might best discharge the duty with which I have been 

 honoured of addressing the students of Mason College this 

 evening, I have thought that it might not be inappropriate if, 

 as a representative of science, I were to venture to point out 

 some of the drawbacks as well as the advantages of the 

 po.sition which science has attained in our educational system. 



At the outset no impartial onlooker can fail to notice that the 

 natural reaction against the dominance of the older learning J 

 has tended to induce an undervaluing of the benefits which that 

 learning afforded and can still bestow. In this College, indeed, 

 and in other institutions more specially designed for instructioin 

 in science, |irovision has also been made for the teaching ofi 

 Latin, Greek, and the more important modern languages and' 

 literatures. But in such institutions, these subjects usually hold 

 only a subordinate place. It can hardly be denied that generally 

 throughout the country, even although the literary side of 

 education still maintains its pre-eminence in our public schools 

 and universities, it is losing ground, and that every year it 

 occupies less of the attention of students of science. The range 

 of studies which the science examinations demand is always 

 widening, while the academic period within which these studies 

 must be crowded undergoes no extension. Those students, 

 therefore, who, whether from neces,sity or choice, have taken 

 their college education in science, naturally experience no little 

 difficulty in finding time for the absolutely essential subjects 

 required for their degrees. Well may they declare that it is 

 hopeless for them to attempt to engage in anything more, and 

 especially in anything that will not tell directly on their places 

 in the final class-lists. With the best will in the world, and 

 with even, sometimes, a bent for literary pursuits, they may 

 believe themselves compelled to devote their whole time and 

 energies to the multifarious exactions of their science curri- 

 culum. 



Such a result of our latest reformation in education may be 

 unavoidable, but it is surely matter for regret. A training in 

 science and scientific methods, admirable as it is in so many 

 ways, fails to supply those humanising influences which the 

 older learning can so well impart. For the moral stiinulus that 

 comes from an association with all that is noblest and best in 

 the literatures of the past, for the culture and taste that spring 

 from prolonged ct)ntact with the highest models of literary 

 expression, for the widening of our sympathies and the vivifying 

 of our imagination by the study of history, the teaching of 

 science has no equivale,nt.s. 



Men who have completed their formal education with little or 

 no help from the older learning may be pardoned should they 

 be apt to despise such help and to believe that they can very 

 well dispense with it in the race of life. My fir.st earnest advice 

 to the science students of this College is, not to entertain this 

 belief and to refuse to act on it. Be as.surcd that, in your future 

 career, whatever it may be, you will find in literature a .source 

 of solace and refreshment, of strength and encouragement, such 

 as no department of science can give you. There will come 



