03^ 



NATURE 



[January i6, 1913 



mental demonstrations, now admitted to be so essen- 

 tial, had scarcely begun to be instituted in the univer- 

 sities. Lord Kelvin's famous physical laboratory, one 

 of the earliest institutions of the kind in this country, 

 was started by him only about the year 1S50, and 

 that of his friend Tait at Edinburgh some years later. 



But the discoveries of modern science last century 

 and the far-reaching effects of their practical applica- 

 tions in everyday life were arousing rapidly increasing 

 attention in the community. Natural knowledge w-as 

 seen to be both of supreme interest in itself and of 

 paramount importance on account of the many ways 

 in which it could minister to the welfare of man. 

 It was impossible that education could long remain 

 unaffected by this widespread appreciation. Alike on 

 the schools and on the universities the force of public 

 opinion began to make itself felt. Ere long a momen- 

 tous step was taken by a Royal Commission which 

 was appointed to inquire into the public schools, and 

 which, in its report, "strongly recommended the 

 introduction and fostering of natural science in these 

 schools." The Public Schools Act, which embodied 

 the recommendations of the Commission, was passed 

 in 1868, and may be regarded as marking the definite 

 starting point of this great reform. 



Of course, the adoption of science teaching in the 

 public schools has not everywhere made the same pro- 

 gress throughout the country. As was to be expected, 

 it has been unequal, depending as it did on the disposi- 

 tion of the authorities at each school, as well as on 

 the accommodation and funds available. In one or 

 two schools the position of science is perhaps nearly 

 as good as is at present required, and the rest are 

 gradually improving. Everywhere the spirit of com- 

 promise and amity has prevailed, and there seems to 

 be on all sides a general desire to meet the require- 

 ments of the science side, so far as the circumstances 

 of each school will permit. 



If from the schools we turn to the universities, 

 we see that the advance of the provision for the 

 sciences has there been still more rapid. Not only 

 have the older seats of learning widened their range 

 of studies and largely increased the facilities for scien- 

 tific research, but newer universities have sprung 

 up in different centres of population, with the 

 dominant purpose of developing scientific training and 

 promoting the prosecution of original investigation. 

 .■\s a further and significant proof that the com- 

 munity at large has aw-akened to the importance of 

 making natural science one of the branches of educa- 

 tion, we must also take account of the multiplication of 

 secondary schools having a scientific element, and the 

 rise of technical schools and colleges. 



This retrospect of the past half-century and the out- 

 look which it discloses for the future cannot, I think, 

 be contemplated without considerable satisfaction by 

 the reasonable advocates of science who are not 

 swayed by an inborn spirit of iconoclasm. The ad- 

 vance which has been made may not have been as 

 rapid as these reformers desire, or as we all hoped for. 

 But it has been real, it is still in progress, and we 

 mav believe that it will now advance more equally 

 and rapidly over the whole country. 



But while I am of opinion that we have cause to 

 rejoice over what has already been accomplished, I 

 do not wish to draw too roseate a picture of the 

 present state of the science teaching in this country, 

 or of the position and prospects of the science-masters. 

 T well know that these teachers are in many cases 

 confronted with serious difficulties which hamper them 

 in their work. They are, so to say, newcomers into 

 the educational system of the country, and the subjects 

 which they teach have consequently neither the pres- 

 tige lor the position held by the long-established 

 NO. 2255, VOL. 90] 



literary studies. Such a state of matters is obviously 

 one that can only be changed by the lapse of time, 

 and let us hope that this lapse will not be prolonged. 

 In the meanwhile, the science-masters, straining every 

 nerve to make their teaching effective, will, by their 

 success in kindling a love of science among their 

 pupils and demonstrating the educational value of 

 their teaching, take the most effectual way to estab- 

 lish the position of science and to further their own 

 claims for consideration. 



The necessity of providing several science-masters, 

 where circumstances permit, raises the difficulty of 

 finding places for them in the already crowded time- 

 table of the school. This is undoubtedly a very serious 

 problem. Each of the various subjects taught contends 

 for what is thought adequate time. And in this com- 

 petition undoubtedly the older subjects in the curri- 

 culum, being already in possession, and having 

 strenuous defenders, are at a considerable advantage 

 over those which have been recently introduced. But 

 the difficulty is one which, in the hands of a sym- 

 pathetic headmaster and _with a spirit of goodwill 

 among the members of his staff, ought not to be 

 insuperable. Even without the curtailment or aban- 

 donment of any of the studies alreadv in the field, it 

 should be possible by tactful rearrangement to secure 

 at least the time demanded for the minimum amount 

 of science teaching which is indispensable. In my 

 opinion this minimum should ensure that every boy 

 at a public school shall be given the opportunity of 

 obtaining a broad general idea of the scope and bear- 

 ings of natural science and of having his apprehen- 

 sion stirred with regard to the manifold interest and 

 charm of nature. This end cannot be properly 

 attained by lectures alone, though these, from an 

 inspiriting teacher and well illustrated with experi- 

 ments or demonstrations, are invaluable. They re- 

 quire, however, to be supplemented with practical 

 work by the pupils, wherein they can themselves 

 handle apparatus, and thus gain a far more vivid and 

 lasting knowledge of physical and chemical laws and 

 processes than can be acquired in any other way. 

 They must also learn the fundamental elements of 

 biology and geology, studying not only with the 

 teacher in the class-room, but with specimens of 

 plants and animals in the laboratory or museum, and 

 where possible in the field. 



The true educator, no matter in wliat branch of 

 discipline lie may be engaged, is not a man whose 

 chief aim is to cram into the minds and memories of 

 his pupils as ample a store of knowledge as these 

 will hold, and whose success is to be judged by the 

 results of competitive examinations. If this is true 

 on the literary, it is not less so on the scientific side. 

 And on the latter the temptation to teach in that 

 unfruitful way is probably greater than on the former. 

 I have known more than one teacher of science 

 possessing a wide acquaintance with his subject, yet 

 quite incapable of making use of it as a stimulating 

 educational instrument. Full of details, he would 

 pour them forth in wearisome iteration, without the 

 guiding thread of logical sequence that would have 

 linked them intelligiblv and interestingly together. 

 Men who have within them no store of living fire 

 are hopelessly incompetent to elicit anv spark of it 

 in their listeners. I hope such men are rarer now 

 than thev were in mv younger days. If they have 

 not passed with the dodo and the gare-fowl into the 

 domain of extinct creatures, they should be xcalously 

 kept out of our public schools. 



In all the educational world I can think of no task 

 more delightful to undertake than that of the science- 

 master. .At the same time there are few which 

 demand so wide a range of qualifications. To reach 



