342 

Nea URE 
[Marcu Io, 1923 
The British Science Guild. 
HE Mansion House was an appropriate venue 
for the great meeting organised by the British 
Science Guild on February 27 to acknowledge and 
proclaim the importance of scientific method, scientific 
knowledge, and scientific research as factors in pro- 
moting ‘‘national and Imperial interests.” In the 
Egyptian Hall, with its high curved roof, its brilliant 
stained-glass windows, its serried banners recalling 
battles and heroes of long ago, the Lord Mayor pre- 
sided over a distinguished company of representa- 
tives of modern science and industry. The first 
citizen of London is the honoured custodian of many 
great traditions, among which not the least precious 
is the city’s historic generosity in promoting educa- 
tion and science. The City and its Companies have 
in the past given freely of their wealth in aid of these 
great causes, and it is fitting therefore that their 
faith in science, so amply proved, should stimulate 
the new crusade for its increased national recogni- 
tion. Not less significant was the King’s message 
of encouragement which Lord Askwith read to the 
meeting, welcoming the efforts of the Guild “to 
stimulate the scientific spirit, and to secure that 
application of science to industries, commerce, and, 
indeed, in all fields of human activities, so essential 
to efficiency and to the closer fellowship of ail parts 
of the Empire.” Ate 
The Lord Mayor, in his introductory remarks, 
emphasised the usefulness of the Guild’s work of 
propaganda. When, he said, the British Science 
Guild was founded in 1905, its first object was stated 
to be to convince British people, by means of publica- 
tions and meetings, of ‘‘ the necessity of applying the 
methods of science to all branches of human endeavour, 
and thus to further the progress and increase the 
welfare of the Empire.’ Modern civilisation is so 
closely bound up with the advance of scientific know- 
ledge that all progressive citizens can realise the 
service which a body like the Guild is able to render to 
this country and to Imperial development. This is an 
age of science, when such wonders as X-rays, radium, 
and wireless telephony, which have added so greatly 
to human powers and communication, are accepted 
almost as commonplace parts of our daily life. More 
scientific work is being carried on now than ever 
before, and we may expect results which will be of 
even greater value than those already achieved. 
British science in several directions leads the world, 
and it is right that this fact should be more widely 
recognised. Science stands not only for new devices 
and powers, but also for accurate knowledge and the 
right use of man’s capacity and individuality. Scien- 
tific method must, therefore, be applied to social 
problems if the true principles of progress are to be 
determined. The Guild stands for national service in 
a wide sense: it includes representatives not only of 
pure and applied science, but also of industry and 
capital. After the N apoleonic wars, the nation found 
itself exhausted and impoverished. Our national 
position was re-established through the steam-engine 
and the industrial development which followed. We 
have now to look to the science laboratory to restore 
our economic position, and even to improved agricul- 
tural production. Later in the meeting the same note 
was sounded by Sir Joseph Cook, High Commissioner 
for Australia, who pointed out that a vast amount 
of capital had been wasted through the war, but } 
the loss would soon be made good if two blades of 
grass could be made to grow instead of one or if 
the speed of steamships and other forms of trans- 
port could be doubled. 
The principal resolution was moved by Lord 
NO. 2784, VOL. IIT] 

Askwith as president of the Guild and accepted 
unanimously in the following terms : 
“ That this meeting, convinced that the progressive 
use of scientific knowledge is ‘essential to industry 
and commerce, and that the application of scientific 
method to all public affairs would ensure increased 
efficiency and economy, pledges itself to support 
the efforts of the British Science Guild to promote 
national and Imperial interests by means of these 
powerful factors.” 
A letter of apology for absence was read from Sir 
Joseph Thomson, which stressed the need for the 
popularisation of science on the widest possible 
basis. ‘‘ It seems to me,” Sir Joseph said, “ that the 
remarkable increase in the opportunities for scientific 
research which has taken place in the last thirty or 
forty years has not been accompanied by a proportion- 
ate increase in the means of bringing matters of scien- 
tific interest before the great massofthepeople.... I 
do not forget the work of some of the great newspapers 
in spreading an interest in science by the admirable 
articles they publish at frequent intervals, but the 
public I am thinking of does not read the Times or the 
Morning Post.” A more urgent need was to arouse an 
interest in science in the bulk of the population, which 
would facilitate the passage of measures to promote 
the progress of science in this country. Lord Askwith 
endorsed this plea and urged also that a great deal 
more might be done to endow discovery. It was of 
immense importance, he considered, that men of 
science without the hope of immediate reward should 
probe the mysteries of Nature, and that new dis- 
coveries should be brought quickly into general 
knowledge. 
The appeal for some ‘further endowment of 
“‘ problem-solvers ’’—the elder men of science who 
devoted their lives to research as apart from the 
young trained laboratory workers—was vigorously 
pressed by Sir Ronald Ross. It might be supposed 
that the discoverer of the cause of cancer or tuber- 
culosis would soon become a millionaire, but he 
pointed out that Sir David Bruce, who solved the 
problem of sleeping sickness, was now in Madeira 
unemployed, and there were three or four others 
whom he could name. He suggested that the nation 
should pension scientific discoverers of pre-eminent 
worth, and allow them to go on working as they 
pleased. 
The vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor and the 
other speakers was proposed by Lord Askwith and 
seconded by Lord Bledisloe, who made an interesting 
speech on the application of science to agriculture. 
It appears that Continental agriculturists use the 
results of the researches on fertilisers and plant 
diseases at Rothamsted more than we do our- 
selves. 
The meeting was a prelude to the launching of a 
national appeal by the British Science Guild for 
increased personal and financial support, and an 
appeal committee has been appointed, of which 
Lord Askwith is president. The list of members 
includes many distinguished representatives of science 
and public life. The director of the appeal is Com- 
mander L. C. Bernacchi, physicist of Scott’s first 
Antarctic Expedition. A comprehensive plan of 
objects and methods has been drawn up and will be 
widely circulated in due course. The details of the — 
; scheme were not announced to the meeting, but the 
Lord Mayor said at the conclusion of his speech 
that whatever support was given to it would be 
returned a hundredfold in national honour and 
profit. 

