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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1282 



search laboratories, on such a scale as to over- 

 shadow the output of the universities. And 

 as for applied science, I need only mention 

 a few recent developments, from one field, 

 namely physics; such as: the tungsten lamp, 

 which is worth annually to the country a sum 

 expressed in hundreds of millions; the therm- 

 ionin X-ray tube, which in addition to revolu- 

 tionizing some phases of medical practise, has 

 given to the investigator in pure science an 

 instrument of research the value of which 

 can hardly be overestimated; the wireless tele- 

 phone, the beginnings of which as a factor in 

 our economic life we have not yet begun to 

 appreciate; multiplex telegraphy and tele- 

 phony, by which many messages, part tele- 

 phone and part telegraph, may be sent simul- 

 taneously over the same pair of wires with a 

 consequent reduction in the cost of operation; 

 improvements in the methods of maintaining, 

 measuring and recording high temperatures, 

 so important in many industrial processes; 

 the high potential kenotron, a device which 

 will probably clear Pittsburgh and every other 

 city of its cloud of black smoke; a clearer 

 understanding of the requirements of the hu- 

 man eye in the matter of artificial illumina- 

 tion; these, and countless other devices, all 

 coming from outside of universities, may well 

 raise the question as to whether we can now 

 say that the university is the home of science, 

 either pure or applied. If the university is 

 the home of science, then it must be said that 

 science is a large part of the time away from 

 home, and even when at home occupies only a 

 corner of the attic. If the universities would 

 keep science at home they must provide the 

 main suite on the first floor. 



In other words, looking at it from what- 

 ever standpoint you please, it is certainly true 

 that pure science as well as applied science 

 has outgrown the universities. Unless there- 

 fore we wish to apply a purely arbitrary 

 definition to " original investigations in sci- 

 ence " we must extend the active influence of 

 Sigma Xi beyond imiversity centers. The 

 fact that the investigator in applied science 

 is given equal recognition with the investi- 

 gator in pure science at once indicates that 



the society raises no questions as to what use 

 shall be made of the results of the investiga- 

 tion. It should likewise make no difference 

 where the work is performed, whether in a 

 government laboratory, an industrial laboratory 

 or a university laboratory, so long only, as the 

 investigator is sincerely looking for " the 

 truth." 



So far as formalities are concerned, this 

 extension can be very simply made, for it is 

 only necessary to make active members the 

 ten thousand (approximately) non-active mem- 

 bers, who collectively represent practically 

 every industry, and every educational institu- 

 tion in the country. We would then have 

 available adequate machinery for spreading 

 the society's ideals so as to cover the whole 

 field of science, and not simply that portion 

 of it which is found in universities. To do 

 this seems to me not simply a duty which we 

 owe to our alumni members, but an oppor- 

 tunity to extend our sphere of influence — an 

 opportunity, the neglect of which would be 

 an unpardonable waste of our "natural re- 

 soiu-ces." 



But it might be asked: what can we do 

 with 12,000 members scattered throughout the 

 country which is not being done by the several 

 engineering and scientific societies. There is 

 this difference: These, in the main are at 

 work advancing knowledge in their respective 

 fields. Sigma Xi, however, includes all sci- 

 ence; and could undertake common problems 

 such as, for example, a campaign to increase 

 the popular appreciation of the value of sci- 

 entific research. Such a campaign would have 

 to be carried on in a very dignified, judicious 

 way, but I believe there is need for it. It is 

 one way to express the contribution of Sigma 

 Xi up to the present by saying that the 

 society has attempted to make science ap- 

 preciated by scientists. The next logical step 

 is to make science appreciated by those who 

 are not scientists: to correct the popular im- 

 pression that it is only necessary for some in- 

 ventor to conceive a new idea, and behold, a 

 wonderful new invention, such as the wireless 

 telephone, springs full grown as from the head 

 of Zeus; to point out the tireless research be- 



