5» 



NATURE 



[July 13, ign 



principle, instances were adduced of its application in the 

 domain of general physics, among which may be mentioned 

 Lord Kelvin's proof of the "gravii.ni.Mui rigidity " of the 

 earth. 



In response to an invitation from Lord Rayleigh and a 

 general demand from tin.' assembled guests, Mr. A. F. 

 Yarrow spoke "I the needs, national and individual, which 

 ic is hoped the lank will help to fill. He was glad to 

 have ill'' opportunity of thanking those who have co- 

 operated in furthering the scheme for the construction of 

 a national tank, and especially the Institution of Naval 

 Architects and Sir YVm. While As in other branches of 

 engineering practice, scientifically organised experiment is 

 necessai \ to enable the shipbuilder to take advantage of 

 every possible improvement in design. In the stress of 

 competition with other nations it is imperative that no 

 means of advance should be neglected. Shipbuilders must 

 cooperate in furthering the development of their profession, 

 'in which the safety of the nation largely depends. The 

 Admiralty has in the past led the way to progress, and it 

 is important that in the future it should continue to 

 encourage firms who show keenness to initiate improve- 

 ments. 



Lady Bristol was then invited to start the carriage by 

 which the models are towed along the lank, and an experi- 

 mental run was made and a record obtained of the resist- 

 ance of a model specially prepared for the experiment. 

 This record, in the opinion of the experts who examined 

 it later, was of an extremely satisfactory character. 



In replying on behalf of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects, Lord Bristol spoke of the assistance given by 

 the institution in the work of establishing the tank, and 

 of the important practical results which it is hoped may- 

 be the outcome of the work to be undertaken. 



At the conclusion of the proceedings connected with the 

 opening ceremony, the visitors were entertained at tea in 

 the grounds of Bushy House, and had the opportunity of 

 visiting other departments of the laboratory- 



A description of the tank and its equipment were given 

 in Nature in the number for June 15 of the current year. 



ASSOCIATION OF TECHNICAL INSTITl TIONS. 



Summer Meeting at Cambridge. 

 ■"THE Association of Technical Institutions holds two 

 public meetings every year, the annual meeting in 

 London in the winter, at which the important business of 

 tin year is discussed, and the summer meeting, held in 

 different places throughout the country, which the members 

 regard as much a friendly gathering for the informal 

 interchange of information as a serious conference to listen 

 to learned papers. Nevertheless, at the summer meeting, 

 which was held at Cambridge on Thursday and Friday 

 last, very important questions formed the subject of the 

 pa] - 1 ■ 



Training of Technical Teachers. 

 On the first day the association discussed the qualifica- 

 tions and the training of teachers of technological and 

 commercial subjects, papers being submitted by Mr. C. T. 

 Millis. principal of the Borough Polytechnic, ST., Mi. \. 

 Nixon, principal of the Municipal Evening School of Com- 

 merce, Manchester, and Dr. T. Percy Nunn. In view of 

 tin- extension "f the provision in both day and evening 

 schools of instruction in technological and commercial 

 subjects, and of the still further extension which could be 

 brought about by the raising of the school-leaving age, 

 the council of the association felt that a discussion of the 

 qualifications and the tiaining of teachers would set 

 useful purpose, .uid ii must I"- said that if nothing rery 

 definite was produced by the papers, or by the subsequent 

 discussion, the subject is n on thorny and difficul 

 and any light thrown upon it is helpful. Mr. Millis and 

 Mr. Dixon dwelt most strongly on (be need for practical 

 or workshop experience in the teacher, while Dr. Nunn 

 1 pi esi ul' d more the pedagogi aspect ol the case, and 

 insisted on his qualities :is .1 teachet rather than as a 

 skilled workman. All tin., papei of course, arded the 

 combination of the two qualities 1- ideal 



Mr. Milli- summed up the essential and requisiti qualifi 

 in ili. training oi a good tei hnical ti achet as 



NO. 2176, VOL. 87] 



follows: — (t) a fairly good education; (2) a liking for 

 teaching others; (31 a sound practical knowledge ol the 

 trade or industry which lie has to teach — this must be 

 gained from actual experience; (4) a knowledge ol the 

 glowing tradi literature and of the improvements and 

 changes in the methods and processes of manufacture; 



(5) attendance at class,-- in the trade subject be has to 

 teach; in) .. sound knowledge of the science or art sub- 

 jects cognati to tin- trade or industry; (7) ability to teach 

 both theoretical and practical work ; and (8) ability to 

 ti Mi li with energy and enthusiasm. 



Dr. Nunn admitted at the outset that on one hand 

 the belief was held that all teachers would be the better 

 for training, but that on the other some people regarded 

 ili- ul'. 1 "I training the highest class of technological 

 teai his as almost an absurdity. The latter view, he con- 

 tended, was not based upon their universal efficiency. 

 " Some of these teachers have been and are among the 

 most brilliant masters of the craft of exposition, Others 

 have been so amazingly bad that, like ancient heroes, they 

 have become centres "I legend. Their reputation for 

 boring and bewildering their students has grown into the 

 cherished mythology of the institution which their genius 

 as investigators illuminated." Yet it was the training of 

 the teachers af the other end of the technological hierarchy 

 — the teachers of workshop arithmetic, science, &c, pre- 

 paratory to technical instruction proper — which carried us 

 to the heart of one of the most thorny educational problems. 

 School teaching, especially on the scientific and mathematical 

 side, Dr. Nunn remarked, should aim at illuminating the 

 practical value of knowdedge in relation to adult activitii s 

 in which the boy can imaginatively enter. The following 

 quotation from Dr. Nunn's paper sums up his view of the 

 training of the preparatory teacher : — 



" If there is to be no break between ' general ' and 

 technical education ; if the technical ideal is to rule 

 throughout, then there must also be continuity in the 

 training of the teachers. There should be no teachers of 

 mathematics and science who have not come into real 

 touch with the technical spirit in its new and liberal form, 

 and have not added to their academic equipment the prac- 

 tical outlook and sympathy which it generally lacks so 

 woefully. Side by side with them, for the greater part 

 of their training, should be the teachers whose stronger 

 technical bias marks them out for charge of the prepara- 

 tory technical work of the central elementary and con- 

 tinuation schools. Some actual workshop experience 

 should be an essential constituent of their course of pre. 

 paration. Finally, we should have the technical teacher 

 proper, the man who comes to his class daily from the 

 workshop or the mill. The ideal would be reached where 

 there was the 1 losesl association in training between the 

 man who has real technical knowledge, but is ultimately 

 drawn to teaching, and the man who, having received 

 some training as a teacher, spends the greater part of his 

 life in the actual practice of the trade which he teaches in 

 tn.' lei hnical institute." 



I he general opinion of the members who took part in 

 tin- discussion is well represented by Dr. Walmsley, of the 

 Northampton Polytechnic, who declared that the training 

 of the technical teacher was to be sought, not in the .las- 

 room, but in the workshop. 



The School Attendance Bill 

 On Friday morning the members listened to a most able 

 exposition of the Government's Education (School and 

 Continuation ("lass Attendance) Bill by Mr. P. Sharp, 

 s,, clary to the s t. Helen's Education Committee. Sir 

 H. F. Hibbert, president "I the association, occupied the 

 hoi. and pointed out that the carrying of the Bill into 

 practice would mean large additions to elementary day 

 schools, large addition to the Staff, nnd considerable in- 

 creases in the number "i evening continuation schools. 

 The Bill would involve the abolition of half-time, and its 

 consideration would therefore bristle with difficult points 



so far as Lancashire and Yorkshire w The 



views of the association ari represented in a resolution, 

 passed .11 the suggestion of Mr. Hewitt (Liverpoo 

 seconded by Principal Reynolds (Manchester), to the effect 

 that, " while cordially approving of the general pre 

 of the Bill in the effort to secure continuous education of 



