SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Feidat, August 7, 1908 



CONTENTS 



The Teaching of Mathematics to Students 

 of Engineering: — 



From the Standpoint of the Practising 

 Engineer: Ralph Modjeski, J. A. L. 

 Waddell 161 



From the Standpoint of the Professor of 

 Engineering : PBorESSOB Gaedneb S. Will- 

 iams, Pkofessor Akthub N. Talbot 165 



Graduate School of Home Economics 170 



Caverns in the Ozarks 171 



Press Bulletins of the Forest Service 172 



Scientific Notes and Neivs 172 



University and Educational Neivs 174 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



A Protest: Db. S. J. IMeltzee. A Contin- 

 uous Calorimeter: PEorESSOB H. T. Baenes 175 



Scientific Boohs: — 



Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 

 pedition: Peofessoe Feanz Boas. Huey's 

 The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading: 

 Peofessoe Katmond Dodge 176 



Scientific Journals and Articles 179 



Special Articles: — 



The Liquefaction of Helium. Electromag- 

 netic Mass: Peofessoe Feedeeick Slate. . 180 



The Thirty-eighth General Meeting of the 

 American Chemical Society: Db. B. E. 

 Cubby 184 



MSB. intended for publication and books, etc. , intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N. Y., or during the present summer to Wood's Hole, 



THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS TO 

 STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING '^ 



FROM THE STANDPOINT OP THE PRACTISING 



ENGINEER 



I am honored by being asked to say a 

 few words to you about the results of my 

 experience as to the needs of the teaching 

 of mathematics to students of engineering 

 from the point of view of a practical engi- 

 neer. I have had the good fortune of re- 

 ceiving quite a thorough mathematical 

 training in the Ecole des Fonts et 

 Chaussees of France, and I have also had 

 the good fortune of developing into a fairly 

 practical engineer; my remarks will there- 

 fore be backed by actual experience. 



i\Iathematics is to an engineer what 

 anatomy is to a surgeon, what chemistry is 

 to an apothecary, what the drill is to an 

 army officer. It is indispensable. I think 

 we all agree on this point. 



There is a considerable agitation at this 

 time in France and Germany, especially 

 the former, favoring the limitation of the 



' What is Needed in the Teaching of Mathemat- 

 ics to Students of Engineering? (a) Range of 

 Subjects; (6) Extent in the Various Subjects; 

 (c) Methods of Presentation; (d) Chief Aims. 

 A series of prepared discussions following the 

 formal presentation of the subject by Professor 

 Edgar J. Townsend, Professor Alexander Ziwet, 

 Mr. Charles F. Scott and President Robert S. 

 Woodward. (See Science, July 17, 1908, pp. 69- 

 79; July 24, 1908, pp. 109-113, and July 31, 1908, 

 pp. 129-138.) Presented before Sections D and A 

 of the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science arid the Chicago Section of the American 

 Mathematical Society, at the Chicago meeting, 

 December 31, 1907. 



