460 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 690 



devote more than four years to general and 

 fundamental studies. In emphasizing the 

 importance of maintaining our undergrad- 

 uate four-year course I should be sorry to 

 give the impression that that period is con- 

 sidered a fully adequate one. On the con- 

 trary, I believe the institute should at once 

 meet the demand for a broader education 

 of its students by a development of a three- 

 year course in general science, which shall 

 contain, partly as required work, and 

 partly as electives, all or nearly all those 

 subjects of instruction now included in the 

 first two years of the various courses of the 

 institute, so that the latter may be com- 

 pleted in two years more by students who 

 have finished the three-year science course. 

 This plan would enable three years instead 

 of two to be devoted to the humanistic 

 branches of study, to the nature sciences, 

 and to the fundamental physical sciences. 

 It would in large measure provide the 

 breadth of scholarship which the college 

 course is designed to supply, and would do 

 this by the methods and in the atmosphere 

 of the scientific school. Owing to the facts 

 that a long list of electives in general 

 studies is already offered to our third-year 

 students, and that many of the scientific 

 subjects that would naturally be included 

 are already given by one or other of our 

 science departments, this course in general 

 science could be arranged for at compara- 

 tively small additional expense. It would 

 be desirable, however, that one new pro- 

 fessor be appointed, who might ofi'er 

 courses , in philosophy, psychology and 

 logic. 



ADVANCED STUDY AND RESEAECH 



Development is also of the greatest im- 

 portance in the direction of larger oppor- 

 tunities and inducements for research work 

 and advanced studies in the pure and ap- 

 plied sciences which form the basis of our 

 curriculum. An institution of learning 



which does not contribute through the re- 

 searches of its instructing staff and grad- 

 uate students to the advancement of sci- 

 ence can not secure the highest grade of 

 teachers, can not keep its courses of in- 

 struction upon the plane of broad and deep 

 scholarship, and can not retain its educa- 

 tional prestige. I have already spoken of 

 one kind of advanced course which we are 

 already developing — one which would pro- 

 vide the more specialized instruction in 

 engineering subjects which industrial ad- 

 vances are making more and more impera- 

 tive. Such a course, which hardly needs to 

 be of more than one year's duration, leads 

 to the degree of master of science. There 

 is, however, a second kind of advanced 

 course which is even more essential to the 

 development of the highest type of scien- 

 tist or engineer. This is a course in which 

 the student, while pursuing more advanced 

 studies in the underlying sciences, devotes 

 himself mainly to the original investigation 

 of problems in pure or applied science. It 

 is investigation work of this sort which 

 tends to develop the creative power of the 

 man and his ability to handle new prob- 

 lems relating to the improvement of indus- 

 trial processes and engineering methods. 

 Such a course, when of two or three years' 

 duration, may lead to the degree of doctor 

 of philosophy or doctor of engineering. 

 The institute has already made encour- 

 aging progress in this direction; but the 

 number of students engaged in such work 

 has thus far been small. 



REDUCED TUITION AND ADDITIONAL 

 SCHOLARSHIP AID 



Next in importance to this matter of 

 making provision for our immediate needs 

 and future development comes the question 

 of reduced tuition fees or increased schol- 

 arship aid. The high cost of the kind of 

 instruction furnished by the institute 

 made it seem necessary a few years ago 



