882 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1147 



as physical laws. Amongst his conspicuous 

 achievements is his invention of electric weld- 

 ing about 1880, one of the great inventions of 

 the last generation, and one whose far-reach- 

 ing importance is not yet fully appreciated. 

 His early lightning arrestors disclosed the 

 magnetic means of blowing out an electric arc 

 which has remained to this day an important 

 feature of many electrical devices. His watt- 

 hour meters are still in use for measuring the 

 current delivered by electric companies to their 

 customers, although the first patents thereon 

 were granted a generation ago. Among his 

 many other notable inventions are his con- 

 stant-current transformer, his high-frequency 

 transformer, his alternating-current repulsion 

 motor and his automatic regulator for con- 

 stant-current dynamos. 



It is certain, however, that no mere enumera- 

 tion of inventions suffices as a measure of the 

 man. It does not even suggest the whole story 

 on its strictly scientific side. Many men come 

 to an end of their rope when they have made a 

 specific invention. It is only a few who can 

 correlate a series of inventions into an organ- 

 ized machine that will be effective and econom- 

 ical, and among such men Thomson is trans- 

 cendant. Apart from this, however, as with all 

 scientists of similar quality, the man is far 

 more than the inventor. It would be an im- 

 pertinence on my part to give you the full meas- 

 ure of the man, but perhaps I may be permitted 

 in the few minutes that are left to me to touch 

 on one or two aspects of his personality that 

 are indicative of qualities making powerfully 

 for his own success and contributing largely 

 to his stimulating influence on others. 



Much has happened in recent years to 

 awaken the world to an appreciation of the fact 

 tha't industrial improvement and national well- 

 being depend very largely on the progress of 

 science. Consequently, more attention is be- 

 ing given now than ever before to the prob- 

 lems of the schools of applied science. One of 

 the greatest of the problems that confront these 

 schools is the problem of finding adequate 

 means of encouraging the spirit of scientific 

 research. We must, of course, do this through 

 our teachers and the fundamental problem is 



to find and to attract men who combine two 

 rare qualities, first, the power of extending the 

 boundaries of knowledge and, second, the 

 power of stimulating others to equally effec- 

 tive endeavor. Thomson, had he continued in 

 the schools, would have made the ideal teacher 

 in this respect. He did not so remain, but it 

 is fitting, I think, that people still insist on 

 calling him " Professor." This is a reminder 

 of the fact that he has been and is a great 

 teacher in the sense that I have indicated, al- 

 though happily his influence has not been con- 

 fined to any single school. Throughout his life 

 he has not only done great things himself, but 

 shown an intense desire to help all who are 

 struggling earnestly with a scientific problem. 

 He has proved an inspiration to an ever wid- 

 ening circle of engineers and others who have 

 entrusted him with their secrets and sought 

 his help in overcoming their difficulties. They 

 have done this knowing that they had only to 

 ask in order to get the full benefit of his imagi- 

 nation and his power, and that they need have 

 no misgivings that he would take any advan- 

 tage of their confidence or any credit for their 

 work, for he has no touch of selfishness. That 

 is a great and rare thing in itself, but, of 

 course, there are many other factors that have 

 contributed to the making of the man. Per- 

 haps not the least of these has been his all- 

 roundedness as a man of science. In these 

 days of increasing specialization men's vision 

 is often narrower rather than wider as they 

 advance in years. Thomson so far as his in- 

 terests are concerned has taken the whole field 

 of scientific development for his parish, not, 

 of course, that he cultivated the whole field; 

 but he has an intelligent interest in and an ex- 

 traordinarily wide knowledge of what is going 

 on in almost every portion of that field. 

 Doubtless, this has helped him tremendously 

 even in the narrowest region of a particular 

 specialty. Another great aid to his success 

 has been his thorough appreciation of scien- 

 tific method. There has never been anything 

 haphazard about his processes, although those 

 that do not understand have sometimes said 

 that men like Thomson do things " by in- 

 stinct." What this really means is that such 



