164 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES, 
convenience of man’ so well exemplified, and this utilisation has been 
carried forward at ever-increasing speed during the last hundred years. 
If we take the definition of Science as ‘ ordered knowledge of natural 
phenomena and of the relations between them,’ as given by W. C. D. 
Whetham in the ‘ Encyclopedia Britannica,’ we shall easily see how 
transportation has been dependent upon it. 
It may be that some may not agree with this definition of ‘ ordered 
knowledge of natural phenomena,’ but I feel that after thought it will 
be recognised that it covers very completely what we call Science. We 
are rather apt to confuse the knowledge with the means and apparatus 
applied in getting it. Recently I have read an article which called 
attention to the dependence of science upon engineering or mechanical 
achievement, but surely the accuracy we get, the lack of which was 
such a great drawback to the investigations of a century to a century and 
a half ago, is itself based upon ‘ ordered knowledge.’ 
Dealing with transport, it may be said roughly that it is mainly 
dependent upon three things—the method of propulsion, the material 
available for use, and the path over which traction takes place. I cannot 
deal fully even with one of these, and propose to confine my remarks 
to the first two, which are the ones I am best acquainted with. 
It may be said that advance in traction really became rapid when 
methods of propulsion other than those of animals and the force of the 
wind became available. The greatest step forward—wonderful as some 
of the achievements of aeronautics have been of recent years—came with 
the development of the steam-engine. 
Like most great achievements in the world, it was not a lucky 
and sudden discovery of one individual, although here as elsewhere 
we associate the work with the name of one man especially. This 
has usually been the case, and without wishing to detract from the work 
of the individuals who are fortunate enough to utilise the ordered know- 
ledge available to the practical use of man, one must not forget the 
labours of those who have sought out that knowledge and have given it 
freely to the world, thus placing it at the disposal of the one whose 
imagination and creative faculty were great enough to see how it could 
be utilised in the service of man. 
The first attempt at traction by using a steam-engine was a failure 
because of the lack of this knowledge. I refer to the work of Jonathan 
Hulls and his attempt in 1736-7 to apply one to the propulsion of a boat 
on the River Avon in Worcestershire. He failed because of the lack 
of that knowledge, although undoubtedly he possessed the necessary 
imagination. 
Although James Watt is not directly associated with traction, it was 
his application of science to practical use that finally gave the greatest 
impulse to transportation that it has ever had. No advance had taken 
place to Newcomen’s engine of 1720 until Watt’s. work of 1769. His 
knowledge of Black’s work at Glasgow on the latent heat of steam and 
his own experiments with the Newcomen model led to the success of 
his improvements of the steam-engine. His scientific knowledge is 
clearly shown in his patents and publications, for he dealt with steam- 
jacketing in 1769, with expansive working in 1782, and he devised Jhis 
parallel motion in 1784. His direct connection with transport includes 
the reference to a steam-carriage and a screw-propeller in 1784, whilst 
