66 



NA TURE 



[July 15, 1922 



the ever-increasing expansion and development of 

 technology and applied science. 



With regard to the question of overlapping it should 

 be remarked that at the recent conference in London 

 of the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland, no 

 nient was more generally applauded than that 

 of Prof. Ripper, of Sheffield, who reminded the con- 

 ference and the public that at present there was no 

 unnecessary overlapping in university studies. Over- 

 lapping there may be, but whether this is unnecessary 

 and wasteful is quite another question and one which 

 cannot be answered by mere statistics. This is where 

 co-operation would be most useful both now and in 

 the future. The Minister of Education was on sound 

 lines when, in addressing the conference, he advised 

 the universities to take counsel with one another and 

 husband their resources. Possible wastefulness due 

 to overlapping ought not to be disregarded at any- 

 time and most certainly not at a time of financial 

 stringency. 



If, for example, each university were to attempt to 

 cover all the main branches of technology, though per- 

 haps the demand for university-trained technologists 

 in a particular field did not reach a score annually, 

 then disappointment and ineffective work must be 

 the result. Obviously where the demand for trained 

 technologists in a particular subject is limited to a 

 comparatively small number, there is distinctly a 

 case for specialising the study in one university. 

 How far universities would attempt to compete with 

 one another in such cases it is difficult to say. But 

 it is worth recalling that, at the conference to which 

 we have already alluded, Mr. Fisher directed attention 

 to the public-spirited action of the University of Leeds 

 a few years ago when glass technology was proposed 

 as a subject for university research. It appears that 

 either Leeds or Sheffield might have been the seat of 

 the new department, but after a ((inference Leeds 

 agreed to the new work being centred in Sheffield on 

 the ground that the Yorkshire glass industry as a 

 whole was more accessible from there than from Leeds. 

 The method of procedure by conference should be 

 noted. 



Cases such as this are obviously cases for special- 

 isation and are perhaps not difficult to settle. It would 

 seem that the limited demand points to concentration 

 and the " regional pull " to the particular university. 

 On the other hand such highly specialised subjects as 

 technical optics, oceanography, hydro-electrics cannot 

 be said to have so localised a regional pull, nor Chinese, 

 Assyriology, and a host of others. Again, departments 

 of study connected with agriculture, forestry, leather 

 industries, dyeing, textile industries, metallurgy, fuel 

 and coal gas industries are already established in one 

 NO. 2750, VOL. I io] 



or more of our universities. If, as is more than likely, 

 any further specialisation of studies is to be made 

 in these departments, especially if it involves con- 

 siderable expense, obviously there would arise an 

 occasion for co-operation among the various univer- 

 sities interested with the view of suitable distribution 

 of the work. 



So far we have been considering the subject of 

 specialisation in universities from the point of view 

 either of the more highly specialised studies or of 

 technology or applied science generally, and have 

 indicated our opinion that in these fields there will be 

 ample scope and real necessity for co-ordination and 

 co-operation. But there is another aspect of the 

 problem which is apt to be overlooked or even in 

 danger of being confused with the one just considered. 

 It has relation to those basic humanistic and scientific 

 studies which are the foundations of the intellectual 

 life of the universities. Among them are included 

 such subjects as the classics. English, history on 

 one side, and mathematics, physics, chemistry on the 

 other. They are found in all our universities, and 

 rightly so, and so long as the university is conceived 

 as " a spirit, a principle of life and energy, an influence 

 . . . caring for the spirit and mind of man, regardless 

 of considerations of utility," so long will they remain 

 there. While, therefore, it is not disputed that the 

 more fundamental of them should be taught in every 

 university, it may be urged in the interests of a specious 

 economy that the prosecution of research in them 

 should be specialised in certain universities. This, we 

 believe, would be a most dangerous principle to adopt, 

 and would be quite contrary to the true spirit of the 

 university. The effect upon the teaching would be 

 little short of disastrous. In its Report of 1921 the 

 University Grants Committee is clear that " sufficient 

 leisure to pursue research is as essential as adequate 

 remuneration,'' and that " no institution claiming 

 university rank can rest content while it fails to pro- 

 vide opportunities for the advancement of knowledge, 

 nor can junior teachers hope to rise in their profession 

 or indeed carrv out their teaching duties efficiently 

 unless such opportunities are open to them." This 

 extract amply confirms the general opinion expressed at 

 the second Congress of the Universities of the Empire, 

 1 921, regarding the great importance and value of 

 research to a university teacher. Without research 

 behind him a university teacher fails in the freshness, 

 mastery, and inspiration required of a good teacher 

 of university students. Whenever such fundamental 

 studies are found in a university some opportunities 

 for research in them should be provided. This may 

 mean overlapping, but it is not overlapping involving 

 wastefulness. 



