OCTOBEE 23, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



573 



view of the value of science finds utterance 

 in the glorification of its relation to me- 

 chanical invention and industry in general. 

 I am not one of those who believe that sci- 

 ence has been sullied by this alliance, but 

 I do wish to emphasize the one-sidedness of 

 this point of view. These improvements 

 are applications of science. They have given 

 us much comfort and ease, and they have 

 suggested some of the most interesting 

 fields for purely scientific study though, on 

 the other hand, they have brought in their 

 wake some of the most difficult problems 

 with which society is confronted. How- 

 ever, it is not the material benefits that man 

 now most needs. In these days when most 

 perplexing questions are crowding upon us, 

 it is not so much the results of science as it 

 is the spirit of scientific inquiry and the ap- 

 plication of scientific method that are indis- 

 pensable. To have an array of investiga- 

 tors covering all fields of human knowledge 

 is not sufficient. What is most needed is 

 that the scientific spirit should permeate 

 much further into the rank and file of 

 humanity, that there should he a more gen- 

 eral appreciation of the value of science 

 beyond what it does for our bodily com- 

 fort. 



It is not necessary to dwell at length 

 upon what constitutes the spirit of science 

 and what its methods are. Accuracy in 

 observing and recording natural events is 

 the very foundation of its existence ; power 

 of analysis, sense of proportion of values, 

 and imagination are necessary for its 

 highest achievements. The watchword of 

 science is fair play and fearlessness in 

 recognizing that the rules of the game are 

 inexorable and that any infraction of them 

 leads sooner or later to disaster. It is too 

 much to expect the man in the street to 

 possess scientific imagination and subtle 

 analytic power, but it is not beyond reason 



to hope that there may be found in him 

 ultimately a greater regard for accuracy 

 and fair play in forming opinions to guide 

 his conduct. 



' Modern life is, however, not satisfied with 

 opinions — we have them to satiety- It de- 

 mands action as well as words. This rest- 

 less demand for action reveals undiscrimi- 

 nating and half-baked opinions, and it 

 leads to one individual demanding that 

 others make their own conduct conform to 

 what he thinks is right. 



■ "We are just now in a period of exuberant 

 Hebraism. At least at the present time the 

 Hebraic ideal seems to be the dominant if 

 not the only uplifting force opposing the 

 most sordid materialism. But we need 

 more light — we are in sad need of the 

 genius of Hellenism in general affairs. It 

 is the part of science to breathe this spirit, 

 to provide the basis of action that is right 

 and to discourage doing for the mere sake 

 of doing. If, though, practical life has too 

 much of Hebraism, the very best of science 

 is too much without it. Scientific men must 

 take greater part in the affairs of the 

 world, not only in industry, but also in the 

 idealistic movements of society. The un- 

 relenting abomination of sham, hypocrisy 

 and wilful ignorance which inheres in sci- 

 ence means far more for mankind than the 

 solution of particular problems. Who, for 

 instance, would place the chief value of as- 

 tronomy in its application to the art of 

 navigation, to surveying, or to the prognos- 

 tication of the weather, rather than in what 

 it has done in widening man's horizon and 

 giving right appreciation of the relation of 

 himself and the earth to the universe ? The 

 sublime ideas of infinity of space and time 

 and the beauty of the simple laws of plane- 

 tary motion have had a value to mankind 

 far transcending that of any so-called prac- 

 tical application of stellar science. The 

 theory of evolution is in the eyes of the mul- 



