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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 409. 



notable fouaidation. The immediate prob- 

 lem, to which the editor of Science invites 

 attention, is the inauguration of measures 

 that shall most effectively aid the cause of 

 original investigation; that shall relieve 

 such obstacles as now beset the free devel- 

 opment of the spirit of research in our- 

 midst; that shall encourage and promote 

 the realm of scientific discovery, and give 

 to research as a profession the dignity, 

 appreciation and outward marks of suc- 

 cess to which, as a potent contributor to 

 vital interests of our civilization, it is un- 

 questionably entitled. 



It would be unwise for everyone whose 

 concern in this problem is deep enough to 

 induce him to give expression to it, to sug- 

 gest ways and means of spending the in- 

 come of ten millions of dollars. From 

 what I have been permitted to learn of 

 the intentions of the Carnegie authorities, 

 I have inferred that they would regard as 

 helpful, first, concrete suggestions as to the 

 kind of expenditure which would do most 

 for the cause of research, and the prin- 

 ciples of inclusion and exclusion that shall 

 be operative in determining the field of 

 practical endeavor which the institution 

 shall make its own; and, second, the sug- 

 gestion of special researches for which 

 funds are needed— which this or that in- 

 dividual is ready to undertake, and which 

 an appropriate committee would be willing 

 to endorse. The second portion of this 

 program presents little that is novel; 

 provisions for such endowment of research 

 already exist, though to a very inadequate 

 extent, and the Carnegie Institution will 

 be able to offer more of such assistance and 

 to maintain a directive oversight of such 

 research in a far more comprehensive way 

 than has been possible hitherto. The first 

 part of the problem is at once more funda- 

 mental and more difficult; it requires a 

 broad consideration of the actual condi- 

 tions of research, of the relations of the 



Carnegie Institution to the universities, to 

 the governmental bureaus, to academies, to 

 scientific associations, etc., as well as a con- 

 sideration of the kind of encouragement 

 which research requires, the deficiencies in 

 the organization of research that demand 

 correction, the direction in which future 

 progress is to be shaped. It is to a few 

 aspects of this problem that I shall ad- 

 dress myself. 



The direction in wliich, in my opihion, 

 greatest utility lies is in the endowment of 

 men rather than of projects: Hitherto in 

 grants for research in America the em- 

 phasis has been decidedly in the opposite 

 direction. There are, indeed, some grants 

 to which a condition is attached that no 

 part of the fund shall be used for personal 

 expenses, nor for anything but apparatus 

 and materials. The expert service in- 

 volved, both of the investigator and of such 

 assistance as he might require, must be 

 freely offered. As a consequence, only 

 those who have private means or who hold 

 other positions yielding them alike suffi- 

 cient income for a living and the requisite 

 leisure for investigation, have been able to 

 avail themselves of such aid. There will 

 always be a number of persons of this class 

 ready to engage in most desirable and im- 

 portant investigation, to whom substantial 

 encouragement should be given; this is 

 good as far as it goes, but it does not go 

 far enough. If this were to be the sole or 

 the chief function of the foundation, there 

 would be a Carnegie Fund, but not a Car- 

 negie Institution. There are many investi- 

 gations that require not so much costly 

 apparatus as extensive cooperation; the 

 service of computers; clerical aid; oppor- 

 tunity for conference between leaders in 

 related investigations ; opportunities for 

 travel and collection of material; and be- 

 yond all, leisure, release from instructional 

 duties or other occupation necessary for 

 gaining a livelihood. While research is an 



