1'6I5 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1445 



trained student of history will look foi-ward 

 Tvith a definite expectation of shifting lines, and 

 should be prepared for those situations in 

 whioh judgment may be exercised either to 

 accelerate or to retard the natural movement 

 of progress. The laws of history show us a 

 normal instability which should be recognized 

 and capitalized. We should expect to inter- 

 pret the trend of events. The gift of intelli- 

 gence puts before us the opportunity to help 

 naturally with normal progress. The possi- 

 bility which increased knowledge gives for 

 greater evil does not mean that evil must 

 therefore be done. It is only an evidence of 

 wider range of capacity. It is scarcely con- 

 ceivable that with all the consequences clearly 

 understood real intelligence could permit the 

 following of a path that would lead to its own 

 destruction. 



It is difficult to discuss the influence of cul- 

 ture in the broader sense upon science and 

 research, or the relation of these two elements 

 with the current reversed; but in the hope 

 that the effort will be understood as an at- 

 tempt t<D view the problem constructively, I 

 venture to suggest what seem to be some of 

 the normal interactions. 



Let us assume for immediate purposes of 

 this discussion that the essence of research is 

 the attempt to understand, organize, utilize 

 and increase our store of knowledge. The 

 only persons who are not believers in the 

 value of research are those who studiously 

 keep away from the borders of knowledge. To 

 one who has investigated in any subject our 

 painful limitations are only too evident. The 

 successes of research in every field within the 

 past decade show that the possibilities open 

 more widely with every discovery. One of 

 the most dangerous types of people we may 

 have engaged in handling aftairs of moment 

 is that which assumes all useful knowledge to 

 be comprised within the facts already assem- 

 bled and fails to recognize the possibility of 

 progress in nearly every direction in which we 

 choose to investigate. 



Progress in discovery and in constructive 

 thought has increased our social inheritance 

 so rapidly that the luxuries of one age often 

 become necessities of the next. If life is de- 

 fined as a form of motion, true living in the 



human sense is a state of motion in which 

 the conditions seem not fully satisfied without 

 a kind of advance which we call progress. I 

 doubt whether happiness is possible with- 

 out a sense of accomplishment, either in- 

 dividually or socially. Research by bringing 

 a stream of new materials into application 

 serves as one of the most important agents 

 for making human progress and happiness 

 possible. 



In order that we may know the materials 

 with which we are to work in the future, edu- 

 cation must present organized and simplified 

 knowledge to each incoming generation. In 

 addition to pointing out what is already 

 known it is the duty of the university to indi- 

 cate the direction in which progress may be 

 expected or desired. It is important that spe- 

 cial stress be laid upon the kind of thought 

 and the methods necessary for progress in 

 order that the futiire investigator may do his 

 part. Among the greatest teachers within or 

 without the university we rank those who have 

 set forth not only what is known but also what 

 should be known and should be done. In gen- 

 eral they have shown the way by example as 

 well as by precept and liave been amongr 

 those advancing exploration, discovery and 

 philosophic interpretation. 



I believe that the lessons of history suggest 

 continued advance or progress of the human 

 type, both in social organization and in physi- 

 cal being. Social evolution represents an un- 

 broken train of experience and therefore gives 

 the greatest possibilies for accumulation of 

 power and of opportunity to use it. In this 

 type of evolution research is the most effec- 

 tive instrmnent employed. Physical evo- 

 lution is related to replacement of indi- 

 viduals in the succession of generations. 

 Without physical advance the limits set for 

 mental capacity in individuals will mean the 

 ultimate attainment of a level of social evo- 

 lution beyond whioh we may scarcely reach; 

 but what I see of history expands my optimism 

 to accept the view that nothing within our 

 horizon of information gives evidence that the 

 final stage of physical betterment is yet in 

 sight. I do not believe that with increasing 

 knowledge we shall lose such opportunity for 

 advance as may still be open to us. 



