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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 792 



nomena of our own science so often illus- 

 trate, the solution is as likely to be found 

 in the cumulative action of several small 

 causes, and such I believe to be true of the 

 problem before us. These causes are some 

 four in number, of which the first appears 

 to be this — we are not faithful to the genius 

 of our suiject. 



The genius of science consists in exact 

 observation of real things, critical com- 

 parison of actual results, and logical testing 

 of the derived conclusions. The educa- 

 tional value of science consists in a training 

 in these things, and our teaching should 

 reflect them. Yet in fact in too great part 

 it does not. For one thing we have joined 

 in the rush to render our subjects popular, 

 a spirit which is one of the pernicious by- 

 products of the elective system under which 

 most of us work. Our subjects being elect- 

 ive, students will not take them unless they 

 are made attractive : our success as teachers 

 is largely judged by the number of stu- 

 dents we can charm into our courses: our 

 colleagues stand ready to cry "snap" to 

 any course which grows faster than they 

 can see cause for : therefore the logical pro- 

 cedure for the teacher is to draw great 

 numbers but keep them complaining of the 

 work, and he is the greatest teacher under 

 this system who can attract so many stu- 

 dents that a new building must be provided 

 immediately, while their lamentations over 

 the difficulty of the course are loud enough 

 to reach the ears of all of his colleagues! 

 Now this condition can be attained with 

 c(uantity, though not with intensity, for 

 most students will not elect a course in- 

 volving intensive work which they can not 

 escape, but they are willing to elect one in 

 which the work may be eased by the wits, 

 no matter how copious the irrigation of 

 information may be. Just here indeed is 

 a very fundamental trouble with our educa- 

 tion in general. "We are teaching our stu- 



dents to gobble when they need to be taught 

 to fletcherize. 



Another phase of our treason to the 

 genius of science is found in the belief and 

 practise of some teachers that broad gen- 

 eralizations are the true aim of elementary 

 teaching. I know a recent elementary text- 

 book in which the author laments that 

 "some teachers do not yet understand the 

 importance of imparting to beginners a 

 general rather than a special view point." 

 And I could cite many passages to show a 

 belief of this and some other teachers that 

 subject matter, accuracy in details, and 

 other fundamental verities of science, are 

 not important in comparison with view- 

 points and outlooks on life and that sort 

 of thing. In my opinion there can be no 

 greater educational error. There is no 

 training which American youth needs more 

 than that in a power to acquire knowledge 

 accurately and to work details well. Dis- 

 regard for particulars and a tendency to 

 easy generalities are fundamental faults in 

 American character, and need no cultiva- 

 tion, but, instead, a rigorous correction. 



Another phase of our disregard of the 

 genius of science is found in the bad char- 

 acter of some of our elementary teaching. 

 Our plant physiology in some cases is so 

 erroneous that it is only the general bad- 

 ness of our teaching which saves us from 

 the humiliation of having our errors 

 pointed out by those we are trying to teach. 

 Our elementary experiments ought to be 

 conducted in the spirit of rigid control, just 

 as carefully as in any investigation. The 

 motto in the experimenting recommended 

 by our text-books seems to be, "the easiest 

 way that will give a result in agreement 

 with the book," and we seem not to care 

 whether that result is logically or only acci- 

 dentally correct. In this spirit is the use 

 of make-shift and clumsy appliances in- 

 stead of accurate and convenient ones, 



