SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 1883. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION AT 

 MINNEAPOLIS. 



TiiK number of people who take an interest 

 in scientific discovery is very great. We niaj* 

 assume tliat it far exceeds estimates based on 

 the support given to scientific periodicals and 

 societies. The question is not of thousands, 

 but of liundrcds of thousands. Of a report 

 of Professor Tyndall's lectures on light in 

 New York, there were sold over a half-million 

 copies. That was ten years ago : the popular 

 Interest in science has vastly increased in the 

 interval. This is shown bj" the gain of mem- 

 bership in the American association for the 

 advancement of science, being within the last 

 four years as great as in the previous thirt}-- 

 one years. 



Compared with what may be called the 

 scientific following, the number of workers in 

 science is small. Upon that following the 

 workers must depend for recruits, and, di- 

 rectly- or otherwise, for support. Science must 

 lean on her friends : they are numerous, but 

 few of them give help. There are large and 

 rich communities where the local developments 

 are on a par with the Pickwick club. The men 

 and means for good work are not wanting, but 

 the impulse is. ' Oh for the touch of a van- 

 ished hand,' like that of Louis Agassiz, to 

 warm the dormant interest into life ! 



For this purpose the American association 

 is an effective agency. It unites in one body 

 the workers and those who are not profession- 

 ally engaged in scientific pursuits. Its man- 

 agement should be and is favorable to the de- 

 sires of both classes. In the social features of 

 its meetings, all share alike, and perhaps with 

 equal zest. But the workers regard the meet- 

 ings chiefly as the occasions for hearing and 

 reading ' papers.' Teachers, who form a large 

 part of the membership, seek the most recent 

 things of knowledge to add to their capacities 



No. 28.-1883. 



for instruction. A majorit}- of the attendants 

 at the meetings come simplvwith a wholesome 

 curiosity for the novelties of science. 



The production and deliver}- of ' papers ' 

 at these meetings give rise to some queries. 

 Is there anj' natural reason for expecting 

 genius to burst into blossom in August rather 

 than in any other month ? If a man of science 

 is diligently pursuing some line of research, 

 may not the light that never was on sea or 

 land break upon him in any other of the fifty- 

 two weeks than the olie when he can present 

 it to the annual meeting? If he keeps back his 

 announcement of progress or discovery, or if 

 he brings it forward before he is fully pre- 

 pared, does he not harm the cause of science 

 and himself? 



The ' i)apers ' are of necessity often tech- 

 nical and uninteresting to all except experts in 

 some special line. At one of the meetings a 

 certain mathematician stated the case blunth", 

 thus : " I shall read my paper by title only, 

 as there is nobody but myself here who can 

 understand it." The rapidity with which a 

 crowd of members thins out when the reading 

 of a technical paper fairly- begins, is at least 

 suggestive. Nor should the departing crowd 

 be denounced as simply unworthy of the 

 pearls spread before them. They will staj' if 

 the paper has only a fair trace of popular inter- 

 est. Doubtless man}- of those who leave the 

 association in their first year of membership 

 are disappointed. The}- had hoped for some- 

 thing not quite so 'dry.' Yet, if the reading 

 of i)apers were dropped, the association would 

 fail to gather the w-orkers of science at its 

 meetings. , 



Plans have at times been considered for 

 seciu'ing addresses from men who al-e known 

 as popular speakers, capable of attracting 

 large audiences, especially if aided b}- suitable 

 apparatus for the display of experiment. In 

 various ways such a course might add largely 

 to the resoui'ces and influence of the associa- 



