August 16, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



197 



produces the best scientific results who does 

 some teaching. To give a course to a group 

 of advanced students requires that a man 

 go over the subject broadly. Even if the 

 course be highly specialized, a man must 

 consider his material, not only in its inter- 

 relations, but its relations to the other 

 branches of his science. One who is a pro- 

 ductive scholar scarcely gives a lecture 

 upon a subject which he is investigating 

 without illumination reaching him upon 

 some point. There is nothing more pro- 

 ductive of ideas than the presence and in- 

 quiries of young and earnest minds. A 

 man who at Washington sits at his desk six 

 days in the week, delving in his subject, 

 often becomes buried in his material. Too 

 frequently he never sees it from the outside. 

 His material masters him instead of him 

 mastering his material. The successful 

 teacher must get outside of his subject, and 

 consider its broader aspects. 



I believe that the productivity of the 

 scientific staff at Washington, even from 

 the point of view of immediate results, 

 would be improved during a given period, 

 if each year the men of reputation were 

 each obliged to give one set of lectures for 

 at least a half year, either upon the subject 

 under investigation, or some part of a sci- 

 ence related to the investigation. The 

 opening of the scientific bureaus at Wash- 

 ington to such students as are sufficiently 

 advanced to take advantage of the material, 

 and affording opportunity to members of 

 the scientific staff each to give a course of 

 lectures, would greatly improve the effici- 

 ency of the bureaus. 



However, in order that the lectures may 

 be successful, it is necessary that they be a 

 part of the official duties of the scientific 

 staff, not extra work for additional com- 

 pensation. At the present time, because of 

 the meager salaries, a number of men be- 

 longing in the departments give lectures in 



George Washington University or other in- 

 stitutions, thereby gaining additional com- 

 pensation. This is an extremely unsatis- 

 factory condition of affairs, in that it re- 

 quires teaching to be done in addition to 

 the day's work at the bureau. In order 

 that lectures shall be efficient and the man 

 who gives them gain the most inspiration 

 and the largest broadening effect from 

 them, they should be a part of his regular 

 work. By the proposed combination under 

 which a relatively small amount of instruc- 

 tional work would be given by any member 

 of the scientific staff, I confidently believe 

 that the work of the various scientific de- 

 partments and bureaus, considering only 

 the point of view of efficiency, would be 

 greatly improved. 



Thus in creating the conditions essential 

 for the special national university which 

 should exist at Washington, we should 

 thereby increase the efficiency of the de- 

 partments. 



An incidental important gain which 

 could come from the adoption of the plan 

 proposed would be the training of men to 

 fill the scientific staffs at Washington. 

 Under present conditions, we know the 

 staff contains many mediocre men. While 

 this is partly due to lack of properly 

 trained men of ability, it is realized that it 

 is also due to niggardly pay, combined 

 with the high cost of living at Washington. 

 Too frequently a man who develops un- 

 usual ability in a bureau either goes to a 

 university where he obtains better financial 

 terms and more favorable opportunities for 

 scientific work; or, because he can not de- 

 cently support a family upon his salary, he 

 goes into some profession or business in 

 which he can apply the knowledge he has 

 obtained in a department. 



THE KEQUIEED MACHINERY 



We now have the fundamental facts be- 



