SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— L. 431 



work by investigators who have sought knowledge and have found that, 

 through that knowledge, nature can be controlled but not coerced. 



An understanding of the particular methods by which scientific knowledge 

 has been gained should become part of the mental equipment of the ordinary 

 person. The reactions between scientific progress and the structure of 

 society should be pointed out. 



The critical powers should be trained so that the young citizen will be 

 apt to suspect the abundant panaceas of the self-interested and the 

 thoughtless. 



Mr. S. V. Brown (11.20). 



What is the cultural and social value of science as at present taught in 

 a day secondary school ? 



In the main, secondary schools cater for three types of pupils : 



(a) Those who eventually become science specialists. 



(b) Those who become specialists in non-science subjects and who will 

 probably receive no instruction in science after the age of 18. 



(c) Those who leave school at 16 plus and whose formal education may 

 then be regarded as finished. 



Of these, class (c) comprises over 90 per cent. 



So far, the secondary school curriculum has been almost entirely based 

 on the needs and requirements of class (a), the future science specialists, 

 and it is very doubtful whether it has much cultural or social value even for 

 them, for we are constantly being reminded that our science specialists are 

 narrow-minded and lacking in general culture. 



As for the rest, there seems no doubt that the course is of negligible 

 benefit in after life as far as the cultural side is concerned. 



The remedy would appear to be to institute a course of general science for 

 all pupils up to the age of 16 plus, followed by a modified specialisation up 

 to 18 plus. The writer favours no specialisation at all during a pupil's 

 secondary school life, believing that the place for specialisation is the 

 University. 



The crux of the whole problem lies in the framing of the general science 

 course. Previous attempts at framing such a course have resulted in pro- 

 ducing something which was ' general ' but was not ' science.' The natural 

 interest, for which science has its growing point, is ' life.' Therefore 

 biology is the regulative science : to it physics and chemistry are, by the 

 normal run of human interest, subordinate and should take second place. 

 They are, when studied, more of a specialised study than is the study of life, 

 being themselves the means and conditions of life : their other and inde- 

 pendent interest is a more recondite study and is not ' general science.' 



General science does not consist of the facts of chemistry, physics and 

 biology studied piecemeal and in watertight compartments, but is to be 

 regarded as a unified and living whole, the theme of which is ' life.' It is 

 the interpretation of the world in which we live and includes not only an 

 understanding of the fundamental principles but also of the attitude and 

 method of science generally. 



Sir Daniel Hall, K.C.B., F.R.S. (11.45). 



The true aim of science is the enrichment of life. It is commonplace to 

 enumerate the gifts of science — communications, light and heat, textiles, 

 food, the saving of manual toil. On the cultural side the gains are no less — 



