August 24, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



283 



tion as to facts, and of second-hand opin- 

 ions concerning them, has given place to 

 the direct observation of facts and the ex- 

 pression of individual opinion concerning 

 their significance. As a result, students 

 are sought to be made thinking rather than 

 memorizing machines, with the initiative 

 power developed rather than the imitative. 

 Even in the study of literature, the very- 

 stronghold of the cult organized by the hu- 

 manities, the books about literature have 

 been banished, and the contact is with lit- 

 erature itself The legitimate offspring of 

 the laboratory is the seminar, and even in 

 the most elementary work the laboratory 

 idea of presentation prevails. In short, the 

 introduction of the laboratory started the 

 movement which has resulted in more ra- 

 tional methods of teaching in every depart- 

 ment of college activity. It was my good 

 fortune to be a member of the college asso- 

 ciation of a neighboring State during the 

 whole period of thi , 'volution of methods, 

 and it well exemplified the three successive 

 attitudes of mind which Agassiz said were 

 always apparent when a new and some- 

 what startling conclusion of science was 

 announced. At first people say it is not 

 true ; later it is contrary to religion ; and 

 last everyone knew it before. So in the 

 later stages of my experience I have been 

 interested in hearing that every real teacher 

 uses the laboratory method, and that sci- 

 ence has no special claim upon it. And 

 this is true in the sense that its claim is 

 now merely a historic one. Every result 

 which comes merely from the method may 

 be duplicated by non-scientific subjects, for 

 teaching in general has become scientific. 

 The present and future value of science in 

 education, therefore, cannot come from its 

 peculiar methods, but from something in- 

 herent in the subject itself. I am glad to 

 make this statement emphatic, for it is 

 often said that the mission of science in 

 education is to teach the laboratory method. 



Incidentally it did fulfill this mission, but 

 if that were all it could now be banished 

 without weakening our schemes of educa- 

 tion. 



1. It develops the scientific spirit. — By the 

 scientific spirit I mean a certain attitude of 

 mind. What this attitude is may be indi- 

 cated by noting some of its characteristics. 



(1) It is a spirit of inquiry. — In our ex- 

 perience we encounter a vast body of estab- 

 lished belief in reference to all important 

 subjects, such as society, government, edu- 

 cation, religion, etc. It is well if our en- 

 counter be only objective, for it is generally 

 true, and a more dangerous fact, that we 

 find ourselves cherishing a large body of 

 belief, often called hereditary, but really 

 the result of early association. Nothing 

 seems more evident than that all this estab- 

 lished belief which we encounter belongs 

 to two categories : (1) the priceless result 

 of generations of experience, and (2) heir- 

 loom rubbish. Unfortunately, the discov- 

 ery of the latter has often resulted in weak- 

 ening the hold of the former. The young 

 inquirer, or the non-logical inquirer is in 

 danger of condemning all the conclusions 

 of the past when one is found wanting. 

 Towards this whole body of established be- 

 lief the scientific attitude of mind is one of 

 unprejudiced inquiry It is not the spirit 

 of iconoclasm, as some would believe ; but 

 an examination of the foundations of belief. 

 The spirit which resents inquiiy into any 

 belief, however cherished, is the narrow 

 spirit of dogmatism ; and is as far removed 

 from the true scientific attitude as the 

 shallow-minded rejection of all established 

 beliefs. The childhood of the race accu- 

 mulated much which its manhood is com- 

 pelled to lay aside, and the world needs a 

 thorough going over of its stock in trade. 

 Such work cannot be done all at once, or 

 once for all, for it must be a gradual slough- 

 ing oflf as the spirit of inquiry becomes 

 more generally diffused. It must become 



