852 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 492. 



corded, as well as some understanding of 

 the departments of learning closely related 

 to his specialty. The lesson to be read be- 

 tween the lines in these statements is that 

 research does not supplant other means of 

 education, but supplements them and gives 

 them vitality. 



If the primary object of public education 

 is the development of character and the 

 making of good citizens, research must 

 from this point of view also be given a 

 higher place than the mere following in the 

 footsteps of others, since its sole aim is the 

 discovery of truth. The inquiry for truth 

 implies painstaking accuracy, the searching 

 criticism of one 's own work and the seeking 

 of criticism from others, the dissipation of 

 false hypotheses, the cultivation of logical 

 methods, fearless abandonment of long es- 

 tablished prejudices, the acceptance of con- 

 clusions based on oft-repeated experiments 

 no matter how disturbing to former opin- 

 ions, the discounting of mere authority, 

 and other ennobling attributes of the mind. 



In the several particulars just mentioned 

 and more besides, the superior educational 

 value of research over the mere acquiring 

 of knowledge already formulated and re- 

 corded in books seems self-evident. 



Prom the considerations briefly and in- 

 adequately presented on the preceding 

 pages, at least two important conchisions 

 may be drawn: one is that research fur- 

 nishes the only means man has of increas- 

 ing his control over nature ; and the other, 

 that in thus enlarging his sway he culti- 

 vates his own powers and enehances his 

 chances of still greater advancement. Or 

 stated in other words : an increase in knowl- 

 edge adds to man's economic resources and 

 at the same time is an educational exercise 

 which develops the higher faculties of the 

 mind. 



The attitude that the state should hold 

 toward research is thus twofold ; first, to 

 secure for her citizens a knowledge of the 



materials and forces of nature which can 

 be utilized for increasing their comforts 

 and enhancing their happiness ; and second, 

 to supply her students with an efficient 

 means for developing their mental powers 

 and awakening in them a consuming desire 

 for the truth. 



This claim for the educational value of 

 research, as already stated, does not unply 

 the abandonment of present methods of 

 education, but simply the adoption of an- 

 other means of attaining the desired end. 

 While observation should be encouraged at 

 all stages of school and college life, owing 

 to the broad preparation necessary for true 

 research, it can not be expected that the 

 student, unless a genius, will be able to 

 make independent investigations before 

 completing his college studies. The place 

 for definite and final training in research 

 must necessarily be in the university. Such 

 training furnishes the keystone which com- 

 pletes the arch of public education and 

 finishes the structure begun in the grade 

 schools, and must of necessity be fashioned 

 and put in place in the university. It is 

 not until this is done that the university 

 ceases to be a high school of larger growth. 

 In each college of a university a few stu- 

 dents are tisually graduated each year who 

 desire to continue their studies and earn a 

 master's and later a doctor's degree. These 

 few, by a process akin to natural selection 

 or the survival of the fittest, form a class 

 by themselves and in general, owing to 

 exceptional mental endowments, or more 

 than ordinary diligence, are best qualified 

 of all the sons and daughters of a univer- 

 sity to become contributors to the world's 

 store of knowledge, to enter the ranks of 

 teachers, or to assume the duties of the 

 learned professions. It is to the lives of 

 these few that the university looks for her 

 greatest share of refiected honor, and the 

 state for her highest grade of professional 

 men. It is for the encouragement and 



