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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1269 



ing and investigation to the subject and to the 

 aptitude of the instructor this would indeed 

 be a generally ideal arrangement, and one by 

 no means beyond the reach of most univer- 

 sities, with due allowance for the " interested 

 students." Every university owes it to itself 

 and to its constituency to maintain a high 

 standard for efficiency, and to attain this a 

 due provision for the encouragement of orig- 

 inal thinking and original endeavor is an im- 

 portant factor. The university also owes it 

 to the nation, for a nation that can secure and 

 maintain supremacy in the intellectual field 

 by its contributions to knowledge, its hand- 

 books and treatises, can profoundly influence 

 the course of thought throughout the world, 

 and commands one of the strong elements of 

 national greatness. Mr. W. R. Whitney, of 

 the General Electric Company, said about two 

 years ago : 



The part of research I am most interested in pro- 

 moting is what we may call the unpaid kind, not 

 because it is cheapest, but because it is most valu- 

 able. It is most neglected, most poorly under- 

 stood, most in need of appreciative support in 

 America. While I am greatly interested in what 

 might be done for science by technical research 

 laboratories in the industries, I am sure that the 

 university must be the important factor in guid- 

 ing the pioneer work if we are to be a suflSciently 

 advancing nation. 



If there be any grain of truth in what was 

 returned upon one of the questionnaires that 

 the university to which we belong, " as an in- 

 stitution [doubtless intending to except the 

 two experiment stations], affords little en- 

 couragement and practically no opportunity 

 for research," then this society should exert 

 itself to help in bettering conditions. I am 

 sure the society stands ready to cooperate with 

 the authorities of the university in carrying 

 out whatever program may be found advisable. 

 The committee in its report has made excellent 

 recommendations looking in this direction. 



In a statement made last May by the Honor- 

 able Elihu Eoot before the Advisory Com- 

 mittee on Industrial Research of the National 

 Research Council he emphasizes the need of 

 encouragement to research and especially urges 



a better organization among scientific workers, 

 more cooperation, and a clearer sense of re- 

 sponsibility, closing with the words, " the 

 prizes of industrial and commercial leader- 

 ship will fall to the nation which organizes 

 its scientific forces most effectively." We need 

 in this institution a more hearty recognition 

 of the importance of research in its reaction 

 upon the individual, of which I have not 

 taken time to speak, in filling a place in the 

 life of the university, and in serving the needs 

 of the nation. If the subject can be estimated 

 at its true value, rather than as an incidental 

 and negligible matter, then time for some 

 work in research for many, if not for all, 

 teachers who may desire it will be forthcoming, 

 even under the most adverse circumstances. 

 One person in answering the question whether 

 investigations are conducted during or out- 

 side of school hours says " both, when I can 

 find time which I can not employ better. 

 ' Le temps le mieux employe est celui qu'on 

 perd.' " With a generally accepted high ideal 

 of the value of research that could well be 

 the test for every piece of scientific investiga- 

 tion. It would duly dignify and evaluate the 

 work. 



Whether time is to be given to piu-e or to 

 applied research can best be left to individual 

 choice. One reply reads : " Interested in com- 

 mercial problems. Do not have much of the 

 scientific spirit of investigation for the pure 

 joy of knowing and of adding to the store of 

 knowledge of the world." But " the pure joy 

 of knowing," the pleasure of accomplishment 

 irrespective of monetary or professional gain, 

 should be the basic incentive for every piece 

 of research, pure or applied. " We are living 

 in the Garden of the Gods, but we are still 

 eating grass," as one writer high in industrial 

 circles visualizes the situation. 



I shall venture to close my remarks with the 

 words of Professor Ogden, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, speaking recently at the installation 

 of new members into this society on the sub- 

 ject of the purpose of research. I shall, how- 

 ever, take the liberty to reverse the accent 

 placed upon the two forms, pure and applied, 

 as better conveying the general trend of opin- 



