Septembee 24, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



289 



university, at which many Scandinavian men 

 of science were present, and the occasion was 

 marked by the publication of some of Oersted's 

 scientific correspondence. It was during the 

 winter of 1819-20 that Oersted observed that 

 a wire uniting the ends of a voltaic battery 

 affected a magnet placed in its vicinity, and 

 after prosecuting his inquiries some months 

 longer, in July, 1820, he published his Latin 

 tract, " Experimenta circa effectum Con- 

 flictus Electrici in Acum Magneticum." The 

 importance of his discovery received instant 

 recognition. Ampere, Arago and Davy all 

 seized on the idea, and four months after the 

 publication of his tract Oersted was elected a 

 foreign member of the Royal Society and 

 awarded the Copley medal. Efforts to connect 

 magnetism with electricity had hitherto met 

 with little success, and Wollaston, in his dis- 

 course as president of the Royal Society, re- 

 ferring to Oersted's discovery, expressed the 

 hope that " the gleam of light which thus 

 beams upon us may be the dawn of a new day, 

 in which the clouds which have hitherto veiled 

 from our sight the hidden mysteries of light 

 and heat, of electricity and magnetism, may be 

 dispelled." Oersted, who was the son of a 

 country apothecary, originally studied medi- 

 cine, but turning his attention to chemistry 

 and physics while at Copenhagen University, 

 and he held that position until his death in 

 March, 1851, at the age of seventy-three. 

 Known alike for his genial and kindly nature 

 and for his scientific labors, he was the author 

 of some two hundred memoirs, and received 

 many honors at home and abroad. Twenty- 

 five years after his death a bronze statue of 

 him was erected on the old fortification of 

 Copenhagen. 



THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON MATHE- 

 MATICAL REQUIREMENTS 



The Ifational Committee on Mathematical 

 Requirements held a meeting at Lake De- 

 lavan, "Wisconsin, on September 2, 3 and 4, 

 at which a number of reports were discussed 

 and adopted. A report on The Revision of 

 College Entrance Requirements received the 

 greatest amount of discussion. It is hoped 



that this report may be released for publica- 

 tion early in October. It includes a general 

 discussion of the present problems connected 

 with college entrance requirements in mathe- 

 matics, a report of an investigation recently 

 made by the National Committee concerning 

 the value of the various topics in elementary 

 algebra as preparation for the elementary 

 college courses in other subjects and a sug- 

 gested revision of the definitions of entrance 

 units in elementary algebra and plane 

 geometry. A copy will be sent to any person 

 interested upon application to the chairman 

 of the committee. Professor J. W. Young, 

 Hanover, N. H. 



A preliminary draft on mathematics in 

 experimental schools was discussed at this 

 meeting. Mr. Raleigh Schorling of the Com- 

 mittee has spent over a year collecting mate- 

 rial for this report. Miss Vevia Blair of the 

 committee presented her report on the present 

 status of disciplinary values in education. 

 It is expected that this rei)ort also will be 

 released for publication in October. It gives 

 a critical review of the complete literature 

 concerning the experimental work on the 

 transfer of training. 



Professor E. R. Hedrick presented a report 

 which he prepared at the request of the Na- 

 tional Committee on " The Function Concept 

 in Secondary School Mathematics." This re- 

 port also will be published in the near future. 



A preliminary report on junior high school 

 mathematics is in the press of the U. S. Bu- 

 reau of Education and should be ready for 

 distribution early in October. A subcom- 

 mittee under the chairmanship of Professor 

 C. N. Moore in preparing a report on 

 "Elective courses in mathematics in second- 

 ary schools." A committee under the chair- 

 manship of Professor David Eugene Smith 

 is preparing a report on " The standardiza- 

 tion of terminology and symbolism " and Pro- 

 fessor R. C. Archibald is preparing one on 

 " The training of teachers." It is expected 

 that all three of these reports will be pre- 

 sented for the consideration of the national 

 committee in October. 



