Apeil 16, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



385 



this phase in the education of our science 

 students has received so little attention. It 

 leads one also to wonder why so little atten- 

 tion is paid to methods of instruction and to 

 the proper coordination of the college science 

 courses. 



I have said that it is the physicist's obliga- 

 tion to see that the science student — in chem- 

 istry, in medicine, in biology, in psychology — 

 may secure the fundamentals not only of gen- 

 eral physics, but of the physical measurements 

 and methods which will apply to his work. 

 The obligation logically belongs to physics 

 because the courses are courses in applied 

 physics, and because the work of organizing 

 such courses would unquestionably be easier 

 for the physicist than for the non-physical 

 scientist to whom physics is imfamiliar 

 ground. The latter could not be expected to 

 make a good teacher in physical measure- 

 ments. 



There are obstacles to the realization of 

 what has been proposed. Some of them ap- 

 pear formidable, but where the results to be 

 achieved seem so full of possibilities, let us 

 hope that they may not be insurmountable. 

 Some of the obvious difficulties may be men- 

 tioned. The method for their elimination is 

 not so obvious. 



Because of the rapid development of phys- 

 ical methods within recent years, and their 

 rapidly increasing applications, their impor- 

 tance may not have impressed itself fully 

 upon those in charge of the student's train- 

 ing. Perhaps they have thus come to value 

 the time spent by the student upon courses 

 in his own field as far greater than equal 

 periods in the physical laboratory. Among 

 their own specialties they see so many things 

 which the student must have before he is fit 

 for his degree. But is not this a biased view? 



Let us suppose that a student has received 

 a degree in chemistry, but that his work did 

 not include several subjects in chemistry 

 which might have value to him later. He 

 takes a position in a chemical industry. He 

 is surroimded by chemists; has access to an 

 excellent library; his interest in chemistry is 

 foremost among his interests. Under these 



circumstances his educational equipment will 

 not long remain deficient in the subjects 

 which he did not get in college. On the 

 other hand, suppose — and this is usually the 

 case — that he lacks knowledge of physical 

 methods and experience with physical instru- 

 ments. His environment and his interests 

 make it exceedingly difficult to acquire this 

 knowledge and experience, because he is now 

 quite upon his own resources. 



Conditions are much the same with the grad- 

 uate in almost any science, continuing in post- 

 graduate work. Although he is in position 

 to request the information he wants, by apply- 

 ing to the physics department, the physicists 

 have so many of their own problems that, un- 

 less his request is a very moderate one, ha 

 will have indifferent success in securing the 

 needed information. 



In both the cases just suggested, much 

 time and effort would be saved, with better 

 results, had a well-planned course been avail- 

 able for the student. The college physics 

 laboratory is the place where such training 

 should be given. Failing in this, the collies 

 must expect to see the industries adopt the 

 alternative of usurping one of the functions 

 of the college. This raises the question: 

 why is not such a course of training in 

 physics offered by every physics department? 

 The answer is fairly apparent. 



A course like the one suggested, in order to 

 measure up to its fullest possibilities, would 

 require painstaking preparation by the in- 

 structor having it in charge. It would be 

 necessary for him to have an understanding 

 of the problems. He would need to appreciate 

 most fully that, in this particular case, phys- 

 ics is a means to an end, and that the student 

 is interested in physics solely for what it can 

 do for his own, more interesting science. To 

 secure the necessary imderstanding of the 

 problems, he might have to spend considerable 

 time in going through the various scientific 

 journals, to see where and how physical 

 methods are used. Thus he would be com- 

 pelled to sacrifice some of the time which 

 otherwise he might devote to research. But, 

 in giving up some of his research, would he 



