October 15, 1908] 



NATURE 



615 



technical man. It is evident that the clearer our concep- 

 tion of what we want to produce, the more likely we are 

 to attain io it. In reading and trying to harmonise the 

 various ideals which have been brought before our notice 

 by nianv distinguished writers and speakers, we are forced 

 to the conclusion that no mere specialist can possibly fulfil 

 modern requirements. Looking backward, we can see 

 that formerly the scholar and the man of action were 

 separated in idea and generally in fact. We can realise 

 the change that has taken place, and can perceive that 

 the ideally educated man of the world of to-day must 

 possess, not only powers of thinking, but powers of doing, 

 and must show that he has the will to do honest work 

 both with and for his fellows. 



One case occurs to me as confirmatory of this position 

 as regards the mere specialist — the case of a man extremely 

 successful in a line of life not originally chosen. Our 

 hasty conclusion is usually that his first choice was bad, 

 and bound to end in failure; but another quite possible 

 explanation is that he does well in his second choice, just 

 because, having possessed another point of view, he is 

 more quick to grasp the possibility of those combinations 

 which have eharacterised much of the advance in modern 

 science. 



I fancv there will be little disagreement as to the kind 

 of man we want to produce, but when it comes to agree- 

 ment on right methods we cannot hope to find unanimity 

 of opinion. All we can expect to attain is a working 

 hypothesis, and trust for the rest, first, to what is really 

 the greatest factor in all true education, namely, the 

 personality of the teacher, and next, and scarcely less, to 

 the attitude of the student. .Still, a working hypothesis 

 must be embodied in every curriculum, and, to be really 

 valuable, must be fixed enough to conform to the eternal 

 laws of the mind and elastic enough to admit of constant 

 translation into what we might call the scientific language 

 of the moment. 



Now that scientific training has acquired a foothold 

 which justifies the existence of all the scientific and 

 technical schools of the world, and the establishment here 

 of a college such as we are contemplating, it can afford 

 to spend a little time in adjusting its methods and examin- 

 ing its results. 



What, then, is the general tendency of that which has 

 been called a practical education in either science or 

 technology, namely, an education intended to prepare a 

 man for his life's work by direct methods only, as, for 

 example, if we should try to train a man to be a mining 

 engineer bv giving instruction solelv on those points which 

 would be of immediate commercial value to him ? I think, 

 in comparing results, we must conclude that an education 

 in facts, and even in laws and processes alone, cannot pro- 

 duce what we call the scientific mind. If we are to select 

 the powers of the mind which are most essential to the 

 scientific man, we shall find these generally admitted to 

 be observation, concentration, imagination, the logical 

 faculty, and last, but not least, the power of doing. No 

 matter, then, how good an education may be, if these are 

 not well developed it must be incomplete, and as the 

 scientific man is, after all, first a man and then a man of 

 science, nothing which leaves out of sight his intellectual 

 relations with his fellow-men of this and other generations, 

 nay, furlher. nothing which leaves out of sight his obliga- 

 tion to rule his life in accordance with the highest standards 

 of health, of religion, and of morals, can fairlv be called 

 a good education. Viewed from this standpoint, the task 

 set before itself bv the Imperial College is by no means 

 simple, but I think much may be done bv throwing 

 eiuphasis on processes rather than, or perhnt>s as well as, 

 on results. It may be possible to give credit for evidence 

 of the use of the powers that we seek to produce. For 

 example, let us enter into some detail and see what this 

 would involve. One would think, from most of what has 

 been written on the subject of observation, that the power 

 to observe, which does really seem to follow the system 

 of training by experiment, was a power which, once 

 gained, would necessarily be exerted in any direction; but, 

 MS a matter of fact, do we always find that a botanist, 

 ii:iined to observe, amongst other things, the colours of 

 Hdwers. will alwavs observe the colours, say, of ladies' 

 di esses? Do we find that a geologist, who recognises 



NO. 2033, VOL. 78] . 



every stone in his path, will always and at once recognise 

 different types of men? It is interesting to note, in this 

 connection, an experiioent published in a recent book, from 

 which it appeared that evidence taken from a large number 

 of scientifically trained men showed a considerable number 

 of cases in which important and even typical details were 

 omitted. 



Again, there the diffusiveness caused by the observation 

 of unnecessary detail, which ought to be corrected by 

 what is almost equally necessary to the student — the power 

 of selection which is implied in concentration. No one 

 needs to be persuaded of the value of the logical facility, 

 but we may remark that, although it cannot but be trained 

 bv the study of mathematical problems, yet that in the 

 solution of the problems of life it is very possible to find 

 that personal bias is so strong as to prevent its exercise. 



From these premises we might reasonably argue that 

 more attention should be paid to the application, in different 

 directions, of the observing powers and of the reason. 

 Further, I believe we should do well to admit more 

 generally than we do that in the higher walks of science 

 the reason must often be preceded and supplemented by 

 what we must regard as even a loftier faculty, inasmuch 

 as when present in a high degree it amounts to genius — 

 I mean the imagination. I should like to insist a little 

 on this, because of its great importance. Whether^ from 

 the belief entertained by many that the imagination is not 

 required on the scientific side of education, or from over- 

 haste in education, which is the very natural result of an 

 age of nervous over-pressure, I cannot tell, but the result 

 has been that little provision has been made for its exercise 

 in purelv scientific schools — this in spite of the fact that 

 it seems'to be a natural concomitant to training by experi- 

 ment on account of its close relation to visual memory. 



The imagination could be made of the greatest service 

 in the proper study of science, and would, if rightly used, 

 prevent much of the cramming, against which we are all 

 setting our faces. It should then be possible to train it, 

 even by the study of science ; but a more rapid stimulus 

 would probablv be found in the reading of good literature, 

 history, poetrv, and the study of art in any form— subjects 

 often received by science students with a feeling akin to 

 contempt, as being unworthy the serious attention of a 

 reallv practical man. 



Yet the search for ideal truth, like the search for ideal 

 beauty, requires the imagination as its instrument, and to 

 leave out one of the most important means to the end we 

 wish to reach is clearlv not science ; therefore, I say, let 

 us cultivate the imagination, and if the introduction of 

 other subiects into a scientific course is really the quickest 

 way to that end, let us introduce them into the training, 

 but let us devise means to prevent their becoming merelv 

 a fresh tax upon the students' time. As a matter of 

 practical politics this mav be ensured. I believe, bv study- 

 ing them, not with the view of acquiring knowledge, but 

 strictlv with the view of acquiring a power. 



We' have said that the scientific man should be a man 

 of practical capacity, the man who can Ao, and, if possible, 

 the man who can mafcc — powers which do not always go 

 together. Generally speaking, our schools of science 

 succeed in training the latter, but very little importance 

 seems to have been attached to the necessity of giving any 

 training in the former. Nor does it appear to be safe to 

 leave it to instinct, as the not uncommon proceeding of 

 students, viz. to dawdle through a term and cram at the 

 end, is the very last manner in which it would be desirable 

 to '' put through work " in after life. The power of deal- 

 ing with men in everv relation of life and of learning, to 

 some extent, the responsibilities of citizenship should be 

 provided for in a reasonable degree by encouraging social 

 intercourse, bv the promotion of clubs for mutual improve- 

 ment and recreation, especially those for the discussion of 

 the problems of the dav. In such ways the student iriay 

 learn to handle affairs both of business and of citizenship. 



Of course we cannot make bricks without straw, and 

 we must recognise that if all this is to be done, or even 

 aimed at, it will take time to do it, which brings me_ to 

 the general subject of over-pressure, a burning question 

 in these days, when by perpetual competition, from the 

 very earliest years, we risk snoiliner our best intellects in 

 the' endeavour to quicken the sluggish current of our duller 



