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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. 2XXVII. No. 959 



tical value of research to the comiminity at 

 large; but I shall not take time to enumerate 

 any of these. 



The chief value of science does not consist 

 in the concrete advantages upon which we 

 can readily lay our hands. All the beautiful 

 results of an ideal nature which are accom- 

 plished for the individual researcher also ac- 

 crue in a greater or less measure to the com- 

 munity at large. A new sense of mastery and 

 adequate grasp of things pervades the general 

 mind when the people realize that the thought 

 of their generation is being developed in part 

 by the men who go in and out before them. 

 There is a feeling as of access to the inner 

 circle of thought which is vivifying in its in- 

 fluence, when we know that those with whom 

 we are associated are of the company of truth 

 discoverers. There is a new tone to the com- 

 munity, and a fresh impetus to its study of 

 the wider problems. Can any community re- 

 main the same when it receives a Newton, a 

 Poincare, a James, a vital man of research in 

 any field? 



This is a partial statement of the signifi- 

 cance of research to the contemporary genera- 

 tion. But its influence reaches beyond the in- 

 vestigator's community or the political unit 

 to which he belongs. It overflows into the 

 whole world of thought, and thus contributes 

 with great effectiveness to a modern movement 

 which by many is believed to mark the be- 

 ginning of a new era in human history. I 

 refer to the widespread and universal feeling 

 of brotherhood in man, a feeling of common 

 sympathies and common interests which 

 know no geographical or political or racial 

 boundaries. The spirit of research, by its 

 complete independence of everything which 

 separates man from man, binds together ele- 

 ments of the most diverse origin into a com- 

 mon brotherhood in which all feel the same 

 thrill of discovery, the same consecration to 

 the task of extending knowledge, the same in- 

 centive to labor for human progress. It is the 

 organizations of men of research which have 

 the most effective international congresses; 

 and the spirit which pervades these meetings 



is delightful. May we not see in this a fore- 

 runner of that day when all men will recog- 

 nize the extent of their common interests, 

 however diverse the outward forms of their 

 life or their physical surroundings? 



Whatever is of present advantage reaches 

 out also to the future ; and consequently every- 

 thing which we have said so far may be ap- 

 plied in partial answer to the question, What 

 is the meaning of research to the future of the 

 human race? But such an answer is indeed 

 partial; there are yet other essential things to 

 add before it is made complete. 



If we seek to look into the future we can 

 succeed only by the light which is aflorded by 

 the past. Therefore let us examine briefly 

 certain typical instances illustrating the way 

 in which the research of one period has had its 

 full fruition only in succeeding generations. 

 You will pardon me if I draw these princi- 

 pally from the field with which I am best ac- 

 quainted. 



In the great days of ancient Greece her 

 mathematicians were deeply interested in the 

 study of the various curves which may be ob- 

 tained as the intersections of a circular cone 

 and a plane; and they developed many of the 

 properties which belong to them, especially 

 those of a metric nature. The incentive to 

 this study was the esthetic delight in the body 

 of doctrine itself; no important practical ap- 

 plications of their results were found — none 

 was sought. For many generations this Greek 

 theory of conic sections was transmitted 

 without essential modification and with- 

 out application to practical matters. Finally, 

 through his acquaintance with this theory, 

 Kepler was led to observe that planetary paths 

 are a special kind of conic section; and his 

 famous tliree laws of astronomy were discov- 

 ered and made known. After a further lapse 

 of time, Newton's meditations on Kepler's 

 laws led to his formulation of the theory of 

 gravitation, with the fundamental law of in- 

 verse squares as the basis. This in turn fur- 

 nished the necessary foundation for celestial 

 mechanics, and this magnificent structure was 

 reared by several workers, notable among 



