August 29, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



327 



cult. We should see to it that the young- 

 men trained in our colleges and universi- 

 ties, upon whom we place the degree of 

 Doctor in Geology, are not crippled by the 

 necessity of making good in later life defect- 

 ive basal training. Any university which 

 gives a man the degree of Doctor in Geol- 

 ogy with a defective knowledge of the basal 

 sciences is wronging the man upon whom 

 the degree is conferred; for this man has 

 a right to expect that his courses shall have 

 been so shaped as to have given him the 

 tools to handle the problems which will 

 arise in his chosen profession. 



It is not necessary that all of the basal 

 work shall be done before a man begins 

 his life work, but at least a large part of 

 this work should have been done before a 

 man is given the certificate that he can do 

 the work of a professional geologist. But 

 in any case studies in the basal sciences 

 should not cease when the professional de- 

 gree is granted. Continued studies not 

 only in the basal subjects but in cognate 

 branches and even those far removed from 

 science should continue through life. The 

 geologist finds that however broad and deep 

 his studies are in basal and cognate sub- 

 jects, he is continually limited by lack 

 of adequate knowledge of them. 



In recent years it has been a mooted ques- 

 tion in colleges and universities as to when 

 specialization should begin, rather imply- 

 ing that when specialization begins broad- 

 ening studies should cease. And, indeed, 

 it is upon this hypothesis that most of the 

 discussion upon this subject has been car- 

 ried on. Some have held that specializa- 

 tion should not begin until late in the col- 

 lege course, or even rather late in a post- 

 graduate course. Others have held that 

 one should early direct his studies to special 

 subjects which he expects to pursue, and 

 give comparatively little time to other sub- 

 jects. The argument for this latter course 

 is that competition is now keen; and if a 



man keeps in the race he must begin to 

 specialize early. It appears to me that 

 both of these answers are inadequate. My 

 answer to the question is that specialization 

 should begin early, but that broadening 

 studies should not be discontinued. This 

 rule should obtain not only through the 

 undergraduate course, but in the post- 

 graduate work and during profession- 

 al life. The specialized work will be bet- 

 ter done because of the broad grasp 

 given by the other subjects. The broaden- 

 ing studies will be better interpreted be- 

 cause of the deep insight and knowledge of 

 a certain narrow field. Thus each will 

 help the other. No man may hope for the 

 highest success who does not continue 

 special studies and broadening studies to 

 the end of his career. 



But is it held that a geologist lacking an 

 adequate working knowledge of basal stud- 

 ies cannot perform useful service 1 No, the 

 domain of geology is so great, the portion 

 of earth not geologically mapped and the 

 structure worl^ed out is so vast, the ore and 

 other valuable deposits which have received 

 no study are so numerous, that there is an 

 immense field for the application of well- 

 established principles. In geology, as in 

 engineering and other applied sciences, 

 there is an opportunity for many honest, 

 faithful men to perform useful service to 

 the world even if their early training and 

 capacity are not all that could be desired. 

 But even the application of old principles 

 to new areas will be well done in proportion 

 as the geologist has training in the basal 

 sciences; and to the man who combines 

 with such training talent must necessarily 

 be left the advancement of the philosophy 

 of geology. The philosophy of geology, the 

 inner meaning of phenomena, was the par- 

 amount consideration to Hutton and Lyell 

 and Darwin. To them facts were useful 

 mainly that they might see common factors, 

 the great principles which underlie them. 



