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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 746 



tablished whieli must be fruitful later on. 

 The designers of these laboratories, and 

 the authorities who have ordered their 

 organization and establishment, as well as 

 the industries which have patronized and 

 encouraged them, all deserve the highest 

 praise. It is a step in the right direction, 

 and one which must be taken in other 

 educational institutions, if the proper and 

 most effective training of young men for 

 the industries is to be secured. 



What then should be the attitude of the 

 industries to post-graduate work? I an- 

 swer unhesitatingly — favorable. What 

 should be the attitude of the technical in- 

 stitutions to post-graduate work? I an- 

 swer without hesitation, favorable. Post- 

 graduate work should be earnestly 

 encouraged from both sides, from the edu- 

 cational and from the industrial, and par- 

 ticularly from the latter. It has been 

 fully recognized in the German institutions 

 by providing in the technical schools 

 courses leading to the degree of "doctor 

 of engineering, ' ' and in the universities by 

 the establishment of similar courses and 

 providing for the same degrees. In all 

 educational institutions the attainment of 

 the degree of doctor— a degree not lightly 

 appreciated nor glibly assumed in Ger- 

 many — involves work of investigation 

 leading to I'esults, work devoted to the 

 application of knowledge and the solution 

 of problems. The industries in Germany 

 are wise in choosing for their employees 

 and directors those who have passed 

 through the office of Privatdocent and 

 have had, therefore, experience in the 

 training and management of men. That 

 men may become successful without this 

 very extended and profound training is 

 manifest in this country, and is due largely 

 to the men themselves. But even such 

 men would be better equipped for their 

 work by the training provided by the 

 imdergraduate and post-graduate schools 



and, though frequently compelled by 

 their necessities to enter upon their life 

 work without it, they would save much 

 labor and loss of time to have had it. 

 Many of those who, even with limited 

 training in the schools, have been reason- 

 ably successful in the industries, and in 

 their life work in this country, have a right 

 to speak feelingly and affirmatively upon 

 this point. 



May young men be overtrained 1 Surely 

 — in the laboratories and in the class-room, 

 as in the gymnasium and on the athletic 

 field; and they may be weakened, from 

 a practical standpoint, by their training. 

 Yet even these are often carried by their 

 enthusiasm to eminent success. "Fools 

 rush in where angels fear to tread," ap- 

 plies equally well in the world of science 

 and industry as elsewhere, and the 

 struggle to get out after the rush in has 

 produced some of the best results the 

 world has seen, though the influence and 

 the method may not always have been 

 recognized or acknowledged. Each one 

 who has had experience may furnish evi- 

 dence of this fact. Effort to correct error 

 of one 's own making often leads to splendid 

 results. "Necessity is the mother of in- 

 vention," and the needs of a man in deep 

 trouble make him devise means which 

 otherwise remain dormant and without 

 utilization. Yet errors should be avoided, 

 and the more thorough training should 

 lead to this. 



Will the institutions meet this demand 

 for better trained men? Will the new 

 courses necessary to it be established? Of 

 this there can scarcely be a doubt. The 

 institutions are looking for the sign and 

 will respond to it when it is plain. But 

 what of the industries? Will the leaders 

 make the sign prominent and clear? Will 

 they do their share? Do they know what 

 their share is? And do they appreciate 

 their responsibility? 



