October 19, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



589 



edge born. Human enlightenment is a 

 thing of small beginnings ; it is the out- 

 growth of the life of the race, not the 

 magical creation of a few master minds. 

 Many hands have labored to rear the great 

 edifice, and he who has carried a single 

 stone, even a small one, has not lived in 

 vain. 



"Nevertheless, " one may whisper, " What 

 if that stone should turn out to be no stone 

 at all, but a clod of earth, and of no value 

 to the building?" I answer : that is not 

 your affair nor mine. Nature is prodigal of 

 the means by which she attains her ends. 

 We share with men in other walks of life 

 the uncertainty as to the ultimate value of 

 our particular labors. It is plainly neces- 

 sary that there should be physicians and 

 lawyers, and the rest ; yet in view of the 

 ignorance which hems us in, in view of the 

 nearness of our horizon and the impossi- 

 bility of predicting with certainty the re- 

 mote consequences of human actions, who 

 can dare to estimate the total accomplish- 

 ment of this life or that ? We are a part 

 of a great whole ; we must share in the 

 life of the whole ; and those of us who are 

 striving to carry our little grain of truth 

 to the common board must rejoice in the 

 wealth of the community, not grow des- 

 pondent at the smallness of our contribu- 

 tion. 



Let me invite you, then, to enter with 

 joy upon your scientific labors. You can 

 be called to no nobler work, and you must 

 approach it in no doubting spirit. You 

 must be inspired with a reverence for truth, 

 and a faith in its priceless value for human 

 life, that will carry you over periods of 

 doubt and despondency ; a faith that will 

 gild with its mellow light the dry dust of 

 your daily labor, and cast a ray into even 

 those darker chambers in the blind walls of 

 which you, with others, are striving to open 

 a passage to the light of heaven. 



And if you have this faith it will save 



you from that scientific intolerance which is 

 not more tolerable than intolerance of other 

 kinds. Do not narrow the meaning of 

 the word ' science.' Let it be a synonym 

 for openness of mind, patience, freedom 

 from prejudice, a willingness to see the- 

 beauty and admit the importance of truths 

 of many kinds. Do not undervalue the 

 toil of men who delve in obscure corners of 

 fields far remote from your own. The uni- 

 verse is, after all, but one ; there is but one 

 science, in the broadest sense of the word. 

 The vibration of an atom, the unfolding of 

 a flower, the structure of a mollusc, the in- 

 stinct of a brute, and the reason of a man 

 — what is there that does not call for in- 

 vestigation? If I may study the history 

 and trace the development of a group of 

 plants, why may I not investigate, in the 

 same scientific spirit, not merely a group 

 of languages, but a literature or a philos- 

 ophy ? This truth or that truth must not, 

 in our minds, usurp the name of Truth ; 

 and the cause of science is not furthered by 

 an enthusiasm which fails to see how many- 

 sided truth is, and with what different in- 

 struments one may do good work in differ- 

 ent departments. I lay some emphasis 

 upon this point because, with increasing 

 specialization — the natural result of an in- 

 crease in human knowledge — there goes a 

 certain danger. We cannot all work in all 

 fields, of course ; but if we have the truly 

 scientific spirit, we shall value at its real 

 worth faithful work done in every field. 

 Fortunately for you, your association with 

 each other here at the university will tend 

 to open your eyes to the beauty of towers 

 and pinnacles on the edifice of knowledge, 

 which are taking their shape under other 

 hands than your own. 



In the name of my colleagues I bid you 

 welcome to the work of the university ; 

 and I wish you a full measure of success. 

 George Stuart Fulleeton. 



Univeesity of Pennsylvania. 



