228 



SCIENCE 



IN. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 816 



fault that must be laid at the door of our 

 education. Why is it that the professors 

 of philosophy, literature and allied subjects 

 in Columbia University are recognized as 

 in interest with, or active forces in, the 

 movements for civic good in New York 

 City, while its professors of engineering 

 are not counted in the same ranks, how- 

 ever great may be their unexpressed indi- 

 vidual interest? Why is it that the pro- 

 fessors of engineering in Harvard Univer- 

 sity and the Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology are constantly called on for 

 expert engineering advice relating to the 

 affairs of city and commonwealth, but are 

 not found in relatively as important asso- 

 ciation with movements relating to the 

 political welfare of the same portions of 

 society? This is obviously not due to the 

 fact that engineers are not experts in so- 

 ciology and political economy, because that 

 fact equally applies to the lawyers, physi- 

 cians, bankers and merchants who take 

 notable parts in such activities. It can be 

 explained only on the ground of lack of 

 interest taken in such questions by engi- 

 neers individually and as a class. This 

 leaves the profession without color of im- 

 pression on such activities. That this is a 

 fault which may be corrected is apparent 

 when one thinks of the number of gradu- 

 ates of the Polytechnic School in France 

 who have not only become distingniished in 

 science and engineering, but have also made 

 strong impression on the nation's affairs. 

 The query at once arises — Have the engi- 

 neering school curricula in this country 

 been adequate in this particular, and have 

 they brought to their students the breadth 

 of himaan vision and the altruistic motives 

 required for these activities 1 If this query 

 is not answerable in the affirmative, we 

 must look earnestly for the most appropri- 

 ate way of correcting our defect. Having 

 scrutinized a situation and discovered a 



defect, engineers find that duty demands 

 that a plan be devised to correct the error. 

 Have we the error and are we devising 

 a useful plan to correct it ? Some not only 

 urge the error's existence, but also advocate 

 a liberal college course antecedent to the 

 engineering course as its cure. The appeal 

 of this plan seems to take strongly with 

 educated people so that the number of 

 college graduates in the junior and senior 

 classes of our better engineering schools is 

 steadily increasing. Forty per cent, of the 

 young men graduating from the electrical 

 engineering course of the JMassachusetts 

 Institute of Technology last June had pre- 

 viously graduated from college and there- 

 after spent from two to three years in the 

 study of electrical engineering at that In- 

 stitute. I believe this is a good token and 

 that the tendency is to be encouraged; but 

 I do not believe that this is the only way 

 to arrive at the results that we desire, or 

 that without careful cooperation it is sure 

 to produce the desired results. We must 

 first take needed precautions to bring the 

 studies into their logical relations in the 

 curricula and to prevent too great time 

 being occupied in the double course. It 

 would be unfortunate for all our engineer- 

 ing students to be prevented from com- 

 pleting their studies and getting into the 

 experiences of their earlier engineering 

 emplojTuents until their twenty-fifth year 

 had been entered or even passed. Circum- 

 stances now make that necessary for many 

 of our students, and it is undesirable to 

 add requirements which would make it 

 necessary for aU of our students. The 

 particularly able may most readily carry 

 the handicap of entering their professional 

 service late, but some at least of them 

 ought to have the opportunity of true 

 graduate study, that is, advanced study of 

 engineering sciences, before they have gone 

 beyond their twenty-fifth year. 



