December 16, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



587 



of some value — presumably more to the in- 

 structor as the nucleus of future courses of 

 the same type, than to the student — it must 

 quite necessarily be regarded as one of the 

 excursions referred to above. 



Another institution gives a lecture course 

 — one lecture a week — under the title of 

 " Science and Scientists." This is open to 

 freshmen and sophomores in Arts and Busi- 

 ness Administration. It undoubtedly serves 

 to show these young people that there have 

 been great factors in human development 

 other than those in which they are special- 

 izing — but it, too, is hardly of sufficient scope 

 to be classified as a history of science. 



In colleges where special attention is given 

 to the preparation of science teachers, it has 

 been natural to introduce into the regular 

 courses of a more or less pedagogical nature 

 quite a bit of historical material. And this 

 is as it should be, for the students here in 

 attendance are presumably somewhat familiar 

 with the science they intend to teach, and 

 can derive the maximum benefit from what- 

 ever historical glimpses they may be offered. 

 If they have a real love for their subject 

 they will fill in many of the gaps with their 

 future reading and thus gradually acquire 

 a measure of the historical sense in no way 

 to be despised as a part of their scientific 

 background. 



There are a number of methods by which 

 historical investigation and instruction may 

 be carried into the general field of science. 

 All have been tried with more than tolerable 

 success. At present we can only refer to 

 them sufficiently to indicate their approxi- 

 mate natures. 



First, there is tlie public lecture course 

 given by men belonging in the institiTtion, 

 or brought in for the occasion. These lec- 

 tures may be in the form of a number of 

 intimate views of a period, of the develop- 

 ment of the science of a certain people, of the 

 growth of a definite line of science, or each 

 in itself may be quite complete, and other- 

 wise wholly disconnected from the others. 

 Whatever the form actually employed, where 

 the speakers know their subjects, make all 



possible use of modern forms of illustration 

 — lantern slides, charts, models, maps, etc. — 

 the impressions gained by the listeners can 

 not be other than lasting and altogether 

 beneficial. 



Where only a small amount of time can be 

 given to the lectures each week, it is possible 

 to carry the course through more than one 

 year and thus cover the ground quite compre- 

 hensively. But such an arrangement usually 

 means that attendance is optional, and with- 

 out great effort it would be difficult to keep 

 up such an interest and receptive state of 

 mind as might obtain at the occasional lec- 

 ture. 



For a long time the seminar method of 

 delving into the history of a science has been 

 familiar. Where weekly departmental meet- 

 ings are open to all who are sufficiently trained 

 and interested to make their attendance 

 profitable, the atmosphere of the gathering 

 may engender real enthusiasm. It may result 

 in an almost religious feeling towards one's 

 beloved science, and hence, is a form of edu- 

 cation which should be encouraged and main- 

 tained regardless of more systematic courses 

 which may profess to cover the same ground. 

 Subjects studied in course can not acquire 

 the quality obtainable in the close commun- 

 ion of a few who have been drawn together 

 because of a common interest in the subjects 

 themselves, quite apart from the idea of 

 payment in the form of credits towards 

 graduation. 



Closely connected with this sort of organiza- 

 tion are the societies or clubs. These may 

 range from the very elementary undergradu- 

 ate groups to the postgraduate societies with 

 or without affiliations extending to other 

 institutions. One of the best examples of 

 what a scientific society may accomplish was 

 afforded recently by the Yale Chapter of the 

 Gamma Alpha Graduate Scientific Faternity, 

 under whose auspices a series of lectures was 

 given. Each speaker was a leader in his 

 line, and each covered in a brief but quite 

 comprehensive way the historical growth of 

 his own branch of science. Thus there were 

 delivered, and later printed, admirable sur- 



