284 
facts have been gathered, in order that 
he may be able to judge whether the re- 
sults obtained by original investigators 
are really facts or only delusions. This 
man must, therefore, necessarily have a 
wider experience and outlook than the first 
observer, and he must possess a sharper 
judgment, which can only be obtained by 
special training. 
Third, the scientific man who, from a 
large amount of material collected and 
correlated by others, shall be able to draw 
correct conclusions, so as to establish the 
laws of nature must necessarily have very 
special qualifications. He must not only 
have a wide outlook and a profound 
learning in his special branch; he must 
in addition be sober-minded, must be 
able to weigh evidence as thoroughly and 
impartially as the best qualified judge, and 
must not only see clearly, but be able to 
‘go behind the returns’ so as to be in a 
position to decide whether the evidence 
presented is relevant to the case in ques- 
tion and if it be, whether it really rep- 
resents facts. Having sifted the evidence, 
he must be capable of so surveying the 
field that the general law of which the 
isolated facts are exponents will reveal it- 
self to his mind. For this latter purpose 
and to prevent visionary conclusions, I take 
it that a rigid training in accuracy and 
sobriety is required. 
It is my contention that a man who has 
received a thorough engineering education, 
and perhaps has added a few years of pro- 
fessional work to scholastic training; is 
as well prepared to take up scientific re- 
search work as anyone coming from our 
universities and colleges. I do not think 
that anyone will deny that the work which 
is required of the engineering student 
in our best colleges tends very largely to 
establish a habit of accuracy, which, as was 
pointed out before, is one of the most essen- 
tial qualifications of a scientific man. There 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. X. No: 244, 
is no study like mathematics, with its 
various applications, to teach a man ac- 
curacy ; and, as this study forms the back- 
bone in all engineering courses, it is only 
to be expected that the engineering stu- 
dent, when he leaves college, shall have 
acquired a habit of mind which makes it 
impossible for him to be inaccurate, either 
in his work or in his mode of expression. 
It is also my belief that the study of 
mathematics teaches truthfulness and so- 
briety of thought. As was explained be- 
fore, the latter I deem one of the most es- 
sential qualifications for the man who is to 
do the highest grade of scientific work. 
Engineering education and the practice of 
the engineering profession will necessarily. 
teach this sobriety of thinking more thor- 
oughly than any other kind of education. 
The object of the engineering professions is 
to utilize the laws and forces of nature for 
the well-being of the human race. Conse- 
quently the engineer must build upon the 
laws of nature, must apply them, and the 
results of such application we see in the 
innumerable achievements of the engineer 
of modern times. The true engineer first 
surveys the field, then makes his plans and 
computations, based upon his observations 
and upon the laws of nature; the result 
of such work is, for instance, either the ma- 
chine which is to do a certain work or the 
bridge which is to carry. the modern heavy 
railway train, or it may be one of those 
monster buildings which within the last few 
years have been erected in the large cities. 
If the preliminary work of the engineer has 
not been accurate, or if he has not applied 
the laws of nature correctly, the result is 
inevitable; the machine will not do its 
work, the bridge will not carry the train, 
or the tall edifice building will not carry 
the enormous weight concentrated in it. 
The punishment will follow the mistake of 
the engineer as surely as the earth keeps 
on moving around the sun. This is the 
