Januaet 21, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



91 



months in practical work under the super- 

 vision of one of the engineers of the corps. 



From these statements it is evident that 

 engineering schools are of later growth 

 than those in the other learned professions, 

 which in Europe have been established for 

 centuries, and in this country long ante- 

 dated the technical schools. It is also clear 

 that engineering societies are mostly of 

 more recent origin than this association, 

 and that they do not insist upon a tech- 

 nical or scientific education as a qualifica- 

 tion for membership. 



It is clear from what has been recited 

 that with the great development of applied 

 science, or engineering, has gone a corre- 

 sponding development of engineering socie- 

 ties. Each separate branch of engineering 

 is represented by a national society, and 

 there are numerous smaller local societies. 

 While in the old days the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science 

 may have had attractions for engineers, 

 and may have given them opportunities 

 for scientific discussion of papers not other- 

 wise to be obtained, even this is question- 

 able, and it certainly is not now the ease. 

 It is safe to say that important engineering 

 papers will not be presented to this society, 

 or if so presented, will fail to be of their 

 due influence. Section D, however, or what 

 has corresponded to it, does not appear to 

 have ever been of great importance in the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. I have examined the records 

 of the association from the beginning and 

 it appears that few, if any, engineering 

 papers of importance have been presented 

 to it, except by title or on abstract, and 

 that these have often been presented in full 

 before professional engineering societies, or 

 in the engineering papers. A majority of 

 the papers before this section have been 

 presented by a very small group of men, 

 including professors in a few engineering 



schools and some men holding government 

 positions. For many years no papers have 

 been printed in full except the vice-presi- 

 dential addresses, and in many instances 

 the other papers have all been printed by 

 title only. Even in the early days, or up 

 to 1880, there were many years in which 

 but one paper on applied science was pre- 

 sented, and there were nine years in which 

 no such paper was presented. Section D 

 was first constituted in 1882, although pre- 

 vious to this date the section of mechanical 

 science had been recognized as a branch of 

 the section on mathematics and physics. 

 About this time Professors Trowbridge, 

 Thurston and others began to take some 

 active interest in the society, and their 

 names with those of Burkitt Webb, Wood, 

 Denton and some others are frequently 

 seen in the list of authors, although none 

 of their papers are printed in full in the 

 proceedings. In five years since 1882 there 

 have been no vice-presidential addresses ; 

 in the majority of the cases such addresses, 

 like the present one, have not been upon 

 engineering or even scientific topics, but 

 have been distinctly general or educational 

 in character. The attendance at the meet- 

 ings of the section has, from what informa- 

 tion I have been able to gather, been small, 

 and the future of the section has long been 

 a matter of doubt. Professor Storm Bull, 

 in his annual address in 1899, expresses 

 his regret at the somewhat prevailing feel- 

 ing that the extinction of the section is 

 imminent. 



What, then, is the function of Section D 

 as related to the profession of engineering? 

 Has it a useful purpose to subserve? 



As a comparatively new member of the 

 association, I venture an opinion on this 

 subject with diffidence, yet as an engineer 

 of some years of experience, and with a 

 somewhat close knowledge of a number of 

 strictly professional societies, possibly it 



