832 REPORT — 1902. 



Mathematics, there Is no doubt that this also is a subject of which the relative 

 value as mental training has been greatly over-valued ; moreover that the methods 

 adopted in teaching it have been very faulty : consequently much time has been 

 ■wasted and its true value has not been appreciated, as it has been made to appear 

 unnecessarily difficult and forbidding. The evidence before the Committee against 

 Mathematics being carried too far was very strong. Thus Captain Lee, in 

 examining Major-General Sir C. Grove (speaking of tlie training at Woolwich), 

 said (Q,. fiO-t) : ' There was an immense amount of pure mathematics and so forth, 

 which one never has occasion to utilise afterwards, unless one becomes an 

 Instructor of Cadets at Woolwich, where you teach them the same useless things 

 you have learned yourself.' This elicited from General Grove the reply: 'Well, 

 there is a strange tendency in Mathematics — I do not know why — that wherever 

 you introduce them they encroach horribly. I am always struggling to cut down 

 advanced mathematics.' And more to the same effect. Again, Lieutenant-Colonel 

 S. Moorcs, when asked wliether he considered the syllabus for the enti'ance 

 examinations at Woolwich and Sandhurst to be reasonable (Q. 2,353), at once 

 replied, ' No, sir ; Mathematics are, in my opinion, very much over-valued as a 

 subject for Army examinations, excepting for the Royal Engineers.' 



After all, if reasonable standards were adopted both in JNlathematlcs and Latin, 

 these subjects would not create the difficulty they do in examinations at present 

 by absorbing so much of tlie time in school that no proper attention can be given 

 to subjects in reality at least of equal importance. It should be insisted that 

 fundamentals be thoroughly taught by practical methods, so that the know- 

 ledge acquired maybe real and usable: it is astonishing how far students may 

 be carried in Mathematics, how real and interesting the subject becomes to them, 

 when they grasp the fact that it has a practical bearing. 



While dealing with Mathematics, I cannot refrain from quoting a statement 

 made by Captain Lee (Q. 4,209) with regard to the relative values of this sub- 

 ject and of science to military men, as the opinion he expressed is of very general 

 application. ' I think it is quite true,' said Captain Lee, ' that a great number of 

 Artillery officers do go through their service without using Science, but I think 

 they feel that any science they know proves of much more practical use to them 

 in their profession than the ^Mathematics tliey have learned. As far as I know, 

 in the most scientific branch of the Artillery, the Garrison Artillery, there are 

 practically no occasions where a knowledge of Mathematics is required beyond 

 the Mathematics necessary to solve a simple formula, whereas the lack of know- 

 ledge of Electricity, Steam and Hydraulics is often a serious handicap to the 

 officer.' I will venture to enlarge on this, and say that, assuming Latin, Mathe- 

 matics and Experimental Science were taught equally well, by equally sound 

 methods, and that they proved to be of equal value as forms of mental training 

 (though, of course, developing somewhat different faculties), the training gained 

 through Experimental Science would be far the most valuable because the 

 recipients would be brought thereby most intimately into contact with the 

 world and most fitted to help themselves by having their thought-power 

 developed. Of course this is but an opinion, but one, I venture to think, which 

 many share with me; yet I make no superior claim for the subject and ask 

 only that it should rank equally with literary and mathematical training among 

 the necessary subjects of education. 



It still remains to consider the specific recommendatious of the Committee 

 with regard to Experimental Science, as these are most unsatisfactory. Nothing 

 could be more satisfactory than the manner in which the subject is dealt with 

 by the Committee in their general report, paragraph 20, already quoted (p. 828). 

 But on turning to the scheme of the proposed examination (Appendix A), it 

 appears that not one Experimental Science but two Experimental Sciences are 

 contemplated, viz.. Physics and Chemistry, either of which may be taken in 

 ]5refereuce to Latin and together with English, Mathematics and French or 

 German. A most important issue is involved in this recommendation; it 

 cannot be too strongly opposed. 



It is very strange and proof how little we are accustomed to act consistently 



