234 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1394 



turning after many days. The establishment 

 of the' Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, 

 by the munificence of its then chancellor, was 

 a notable achievement. Wliilst in its consti- 

 tution as part of a university discipline it did 

 not wholly realize the ideal of the two presi- 

 dents, under its successive directors. Professor 

 Clerk-Maxwell, the late Lord Eayleigh, and 

 Sir J. J. Thomson, it has exerted a profound 

 influence upon the development of experi- 

 mental physics, and has inspired the founda- 

 tion of many similar educational institutions 

 in this country. Experimental physics has 

 thus received an enormous impetus during the 

 last fifty years, and although in matters of 

 science there is but little folding of the hands 

 to sleep, " the divine discontent " of its fol- 

 lowers has little cause for disquietude as re- 

 gards the position of physics in this country. 

 In the establishment of the National Phys- 

 ical Laboratory we have an approach to the 

 ideal which my predecessors had so earnestly 

 advocated. Other presidents, among whom I 

 would specially name the late Sir Douglas 

 Galton, have contributed to this consumma- 

 tion. The result is a remarkable testimony 

 to the value of organized and continuous effort 

 on the part of the British Association in form- 

 ing public opinion and in influencing depart- 

 mental action. It would, however, be ungrate- 

 ful not to recall the action of the late Lord 

 Salisbury — himself a follower of science and 

 in full sympathy with its objects — in taking 

 the first practical steps towards the creation 

 of this magnificent national institution. I 

 may be allowed, perhaps, to refer to this mat- 

 ter, as I have personal knowledge of the cir- 

 cumstances, being one of the few survivors of 

 the committee which Lord Salisbury caused to 

 be formed, under the chairmanship of the late 

 Lord Eayleigh, to inqviire and report upon the 

 expediency of establishing an institution in 

 Great Britain upon the model of certain state- 

 aided institutions already existing on the con- 

 tinent, for the determination of physical 

 constants of importance in the arts, for investi- 

 gations in physical problems bearing upon 

 industry, for the standardization and verifica- 

 tion of physical instruments, and for the gen- 



eral purposes of metrology. I do not profess 

 to give the exact terms of the reference to the 

 committee, but, in substance, these were recog- 

 nized to be the general aims of the contem- 

 plated institute. The evidence we received 

 from many men of science, from departmental 

 oiEcers, and from representatives of engineer- 

 ing and other industrial establishments was 

 absolutely unanimous as to the great public 

 utility of the projected laboratory. It need 

 hardly be said that the opportunity called forth 

 all the energy and power of advocacy of Lord 

 Kelvin, and I well remember with what 

 strength of conviction he impressed his views 

 upon the committee. That the National Phys- 

 ical Laboratory has, under the ability, organ- 

 izing power, and business capacity of its first 

 director, Sir Richard Glazebrook, abundantly 

 justified its creation is recognized on all hands. 

 Its services during the four years of war alone 

 are sufficient proof of its national value. It 

 has grown to be a large and rapidly increasing 

 establishment, occupying itself with an extra- 

 ordinary range of subjects, with a numerous 

 and well-qualified staff, engaged in determina- 

 tive and research work on practically every 

 branch of pure and applied physics. The range 

 of its activities has been further increased by 

 the establishment since the war of coordinating 

 research boards for physics, chemistry, engi- 

 neering and radio-research. Government de- 

 partments have learned to appreciate its serv- 

 ices. The photometry division, for example, 

 has been busy on experiments on navigation 

 lamps for the Board of Trade, on miners' 

 lamps for the Home Office and on motor-car 

 head-lamps for the Ministry of Transport, 

 and on the lighting of the National Gallery 

 and the Houses of Parliament. Important 

 work has been done on the forms of ships, on 

 the steering and mancBuvring of ships, on the 

 effect of waves on ship resistance, on the in- 

 teraction between passing ships, on seaplane 

 floats, and on the hulls of flying-boats. 



It is also actively engaged in the study of 

 problems connected with aviation, and has a 

 well-ordered department of aerodynamical 

 research. 



It can already point to a long and valuable 



