November 4, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



647 



It is probable that we do not attract to the 

 scientific career the best possible men. There 

 is perhaps no harm in our fellowships and 

 underpaid assistantships, though a subsidized 

 theological education seems to have drawn in- 

 ferior men to the church. Those who carry 

 on investigation for the benefit of society 

 should be paid for their services by society, 

 and the average doctor's thesis is worth at 

 least $500. We must open the scientific career 

 to many in order to catch in our net the few 

 who count. But large prizes are lacking at 

 both the beginning and the end of the scien- 

 tific career. It is too closely bound up with 

 college teaching and routine administration ; 

 its modest preferments are too often pur- 

 chased by subservience rather than by inde- 

 pendence, by neglect of research rather than 

 by devotion to it. Permanent tenure of office 

 so long as no offense is given, small advance- 

 ments by the favor of a superior, long vaca- 

 tions and retirement on a pension, are not the 

 rewards to attract the best men or to lead men 

 to do their best work. 



The apprentice system in which the be- 

 ginner assists the expert is the best educa- 

 tional method, and if the right spirit exists on 

 both sides it is the method most conducive to 

 fruitful research. But the teaching of large 

 classes of students having no real interest in 

 the subject is not favorable to investigation. 

 It not only takes the time and strength of the 

 teacher, but to lecture continually " als dictirt 

 euch der heilig' Geist " cultivates an attitude 

 of superficial omniscience subversive of both 

 the caution and the daring which should ani- 

 mate the investigator. 



Three fourths of our leading scientific men 

 hold teaching positions and earn their livings 

 by teaching. The accomplishment of research 

 work is usually a factor in the original ap- 

 pointment, and to this extent investigation is 

 encouraged in the graduate schools of our 

 universities. But the reward offered — usually 

 an instructorship at about $1,000 a year — is 

 small, and it is not adjusted to discriminate 

 between men of possible genius and the com- 

 monplace squatter. The appointment once 



received, men are likely to advance by a kind 

 of civil service routine, being on the average 

 assistant professors with a salary of $1,800 at 

 the age of 37 and full professors a little later 

 at a little higher salary. The small advances 

 in salary which may thereafter be given have 

 but little connection with successful research. 

 At the age of sixty-five the professor is no 

 longer regarded as worth his salary, and is put 

 aside on a pension at a time of life when men 

 in other callings earn more than ever before. 

 The only reward open to the professor is the 

 presidency or some other executive position 

 which takes him away from research work. 



Money is certainly not the main thing in 

 the world, but the desire for money is by no 

 means so materialistic as is commonly as- 

 sumed. The pursuit of wealth is an idealistic 

 passion; it is rarely for the gratification of 

 sensual pleasures and usually at the sacrifice 

 of these. It is closely associated with the 

 family — the creation of a home, the education 

 of children, their establishment in life, the 

 transmission of family sanctions and tradi- 

 tions. The pursuit of fame or reputation is 

 usually far more selfish. It is further the case 

 that we measure performance in terms of money. 

 In each career those who do the best work are 

 likely to receive the largest money rewards. 

 These are consequently not only desirable as 

 improving the conditions of living and of the 

 family, in giving security for the future and 

 in providing facilities for further work, but 

 they are also ideal symbols of useful service. 

 If the university president receives three times 

 the salary of the professor and the professor's 

 salary depends on the president's favor, the 

 office of the professor is degraded. If the 

 scientific man in the government service re- 

 ceives the salary of a clerk and is subject to 

 the orders of a superior, he will be treated 

 like a clerk and in the end will deserve no 

 better treatment. As the writer has said:' 

 "Professors and scholars are not sufficiently 

 free or sufficiently well paid, so there is a 



" " The Case of Harvard College," The Popular 

 Science Monthly, 76: 604-614, June, 1910. 



