Januaky 19, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



93 



fessoi's to conduct such work in connection 

 with their regular college duties? 



Let us consider the various ways in 

 which a professor in an engineering school 

 may acquire the practical experience which 

 is necessary in his work. 



First, he may be called to a professor- 

 ship from the practical field. 



Second, after teaching for a time and 

 finding how necessary a practical experi- 

 ence is in his work, he may turn to the 

 practical field, and then return to teaching. 



Third, he may undertake practical work 

 in connection with his college duties, and 

 gain his experience in this way. 



Each method possesses its own advantages 

 and disadvantages. Starting with the first, 

 it must be admitted that many of our best 

 instructors have entered the teaching line 

 after they have had experience in the prac- 

 tical field. Such a man has an advantage 

 in being able to make use of this experience 

 immediately, when he starts in at his teach- 

 ing work. There is a disadvantage, how- 

 ever, in the fact that should he have se- 

 cured a mature experience in the practical 

 field, he will necessarily be no longer a 

 yoiing man, and it may be hard for him to 

 teach and to properly adapt himself to the 

 theoretical part of his course. Again, if 

 he has made a marked success in the prac- 

 tical field his financial reward may be so 

 great that he would have to make a con- 

 siderable sacrifice in this respect should 

 he turn to teaching. There are some men 

 who, from their love of teaching or through 

 the infliience of high ideals, have been will- 

 ing to do this, but these are few, and the 

 college obtaining such a man is, indeed, 

 fortunate. This side of the problem is a 

 serious one from the standpoint of the col- 

 lege, because the man it would like to get 

 may be beyond its reach, and those avail- 

 able may have made only a partial success 

 in the practical field. 



If a young man with a limited practical 



experience becomes a teacher, this will be 

 of assistance to him, but not as much as the 

 more mature experience of an older man. 

 In either case, a professor should not as- 

 sume that, having had a practical experi- 

 ence, this is all-sufficient, and that it simply 

 rests with him to base his teaching on the 

 results of this experience. To keep in 

 touch with what is going on it will be neces- 

 sary for him to spend much of his time in 

 studying what is being done in the outside 

 field, or to resort to the third method, and 

 do practical work in connection with his 

 regular college duties. If he does not do 

 this he will soon fall behind-hand, and the 

 efficiency of his instruction will be de- 

 creased. 



The advantages of the second system of 

 securing a practical experience, where the 

 professor leaves- the teaching field, takes up 

 outside work, and then returns to teaching, 

 are that during his practical career he will 

 be very much alive to the points he should 

 look into, and, furthermore, if he returns 

 to teaching he will possess the advantage 

 of having experience both as a teacher and 

 as a practical engineer. We all know that 

 there is much more to the right sort of 

 teaching than a thorough knowledge of the 

 subject to be taught, and that the old say- 

 ing 'a man must be born a teacher' con- 

 tains much truth. It is, indeed, just as 

 necessary that a successful teacher shall 

 have the right qualities as an instructor, as 

 that he shall possess the necessary knowl- 

 edge. The main disadvantage of the sec- 

 ond method is that if a professor makes a 

 success in the practical field his financial 

 reward may, as already stated, be so great 

 that it will be hard to tempt him back to 

 teaching. 



We will now take up the third method, 

 where a professor obtains his practical ex- 

 perience by conducting oiitside work in 

 connection with his college duties. In the 

 first place, let us consider the subject from 



