104 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 604. 



terminals for the . railroad systems; dams, 

 reservoirs, canals, penstocks, powerhouses 

 for the great hydraulic developments, and 

 for the reclaiming of the arid lands ; ship 

 canals, locks and dry docks for shipping; 

 steel frames, foundations for the modern 

 skyscraper; these are some of the subjects 

 which occupy the attention of the civil 

 engineer to-day. 



The magnitude o-f these works, their 

 cost, and the rapidity with which they must 

 be designed and built, have enormously in- 

 creased in the past thirty years. A more 

 exact knowledge of the properties of all 

 kinds of structural material and of the laws 

 which govern the forces of nature, with 

 which the engineer must work, are de- 

 manded for the economical treatment of 

 these large projects. The percentage of 

 error and the factor of ignorance must be 

 reduced to the lowest terms. 



In physics many important discoveries 

 have been made. Prominent among them 

 has been the establishment of the theory 

 that light consists of electric and magnetic 

 vibrations. 



The discovery of electromagnetic waves 

 which led to the invention of wireless teleg- 

 raphy, by which means within a few weeks 

 a message has been sent across the ocean. 



Discoveries regarding the connection be- 

 tween the all-pervading ether and matter. 



The discovery of the peculiarities of the 

 discharge of electricity through gases which 

 led to the discovery of X-rays. 



The liquefaction of air and gases which 

 led to discoveries regarding the properties 

 of bodies at very low temperatures. 



The discovery of radium and other radio- 

 active bodies and the investigation of their 

 properties which has produced profound 

 changes in our views regarding the con- 

 struction of matter. 



Discoveries of the process of conduction 

 of electricity through gases, liquids and 

 solids. 



Developments in electrical engineering 

 have been almost spectacular in their num- 

 ber and importance, revolutionizing, as 

 they have, means of transportation and for 

 the transmission of speech and power, and 

 for lighting. 



The telephone in 1876. The incandescent 

 lamp in 1879. The commercial develop- 

 ment of dynamo machinery and electric 

 motors. The commercial application of 

 electricity to street railway work, which 

 had its beginning less than twenty years 

 ago. The transmission of power over great 

 distances made possible by the develop- 

 ment of the alternating current trans- 

 former. A catalogue of discoveries and 

 inventions in this field is not necessary, as 

 one sees them on every hand. It may be 

 truthfully said that the department of elec- 

 trical engineering has been created witliin 

 a comparatively few years. It was not 

 until 1896 that our department of elec- 

 trical engineering was separated from the 

 department of physics within which it had 

 its beginning. Now it is one of our great 

 departments, attracting large numbers of 

 students. 



In 1868 the demand for trained chemists 

 in this country was very small. At that 

 time even the iron and steel industries did 

 not perceive the advantage of controlling 

 their various processes by careful and ac- 

 curate analyses. 



Andrew Carnegie was the first steel man- 

 ufacturer who saw the importance of hav- 

 ing trained chemists in his works, and in a 

 short address made several years ago he 

 said that one important cause contributing 

 largely to his success was this fact. Such 

 being the case, there was, at the time the in- 

 stitute was opened, little inducement for 

 students to take up the subject of chem- 

 istry with the idea of following it as a pro- 

 fession, and though in the first catalogue 

 issued the courses of study announced were 

 mechanical engineering, civil engineering 



