October 30, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



629 



and in other subjects. It, however, depends on 

 the man and the circumstances. Some men 

 of character and ability may use their time 

 most profitably in teaching. On the other 

 hand, it may be the duty of some instructors 

 to devote themselves mainly to research, even 

 though they are therefore compelled to neglect 

 somewhat their students. It is the duty of the 

 university professor or instructor in equal 

 measure to advance knowledge, to teach stu- 

 dents and to serve the public. He should 

 undertake what he can accomplish to best 

 advantage. 



3. Research affects methods of instruction 

 directly in so far as it leads the instructor to 

 think more independently and to gain com- 

 mand of his subject instead of depending on 

 text-books. The principal arguments, how- 

 ever, for encouraging instructors to do re- 

 search work are: (1) It is the business of the 

 university to advance knowledge and to train 

 men to advance knowledge; (2) Better men 

 can be obtained if they are permitted to do 

 research work, and (3) This gives an objec- 

 tive criterion of their ability. 



4. Whether the teacher benefits most by 

 research which he conducts alone, by research 

 in which he is assisted by students, or by 

 supervising the research of students, would 

 depend on the circumstances of the ease. An 

 efiicient professor would probably use the three 

 methods. Perhaps on the whole the 'prentice 

 method is the most desirable and the most 

 economical in the production of scientific 

 results. 



5. The extent to which a student is helped 

 by assisting the instructor depends on the 

 kind of work he is set to do, the amount of 

 freedom he is given and his understanding of 

 the problem on which he is working. 



6. The student who engages in research 

 work uses the correct method of learning by 

 mastering one subject and relating other 

 knowledge to it; he gains in interest, in inde- 

 pendence and in power of initiative, and he 

 learns how to do research work. 



7. The result of the instructor's research 

 would usually be to increase his enthusiasm in 

 teaching, which would doubtless apply more 



directly to the subject which he is investi- 

 gating and to advanced classes, but it would 

 tend to hold to a certain extent in all cases. 



8. Both scholarship and research are im- 

 portant, but I regard the latter as the more 

 important. 



9. It is desirable for the student to choose 

 some special subject for work and to connect 

 his other interests with that subject. 



10. It follows from this that in preparation 

 for the master's degree or the doctor's degree 

 it is best to require complete mastery of some 

 subject, other knowledge being related to this, 

 rather than to study the whole field of science 

 as it nlight be represented in a text-book. I 

 regard the preparation of a dissertation as 

 usually desirable. 



11. There is, in my opinion, no fundamental 

 difference between adding to knowledge and 

 applying knowledge in new ways. The dis- 

 tinction is between discovering or applying 

 new methods and applying old methods in the 

 old way. The professional school should be on 

 the basis of the university, not of a trade 

 school. 



12. I regard knowledge as of value only in 

 so far as it is useful. It may, however, be 

 useful as religion or art is useful. All knowl- 

 edge is likely to be of use, and the investigator 

 is justified in carrying on investigations the 

 usefulness of which can not be foreseen. I 

 myself prefer investigations the immediate or 

 remote usefulness of which is evident, though 

 an element of danger enters when the utility 

 may be a financial gain to the investigator. 

 It would be desirable to pay the professor an 

 adequate salary and let any money he earned 

 by the application of science go to his depart- 

 ment. 



13. An instructor in chemistry is usually 

 more usefully employed, even as regards his 

 teaching ability, in conducting chemical in- 

 vestigations than in research as to how to 

 teach chemistry. However, one of the advan- 

 tages of research is that it leads the instructor 

 to consider and adopt improved methods of 

 teaching. 



14. Scientific research is a different problem 

 from helping students. As I understand it. 



