914 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XL. No. 1043 



much material worthy of use in the Bfe- 

 moirs, and the editorial board should be 

 constantly on the watch for opportunities 

 to extend the Memoirs and to render them 

 more serviceable to science. 



SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC 



The circulation of the Proceedings would 

 necessarily be limited to scholars and schol- 

 arly institutions — they could not be ex- 

 pected to reach the general public. Here 

 a difficulty remains to be overcome, since 

 the results of original investigations should 

 certainly be made more generally known 

 and more clearly understood than they are 

 at the present time. The average man of 

 science, after sad experience with the daily 

 press, is usually forced to the conclusion 

 that newspaper publication is synonymous 

 with rank sensationalism. Repeatedly told, 

 and not without justice, that his cloistered 

 wisdom should reach a wider world, he 

 sometimes yields to the persistent demands 

 of a reporter. The outcome is too well 

 known to require telling. Even in the case 

 of a really intelligent and conscientious re- 

 porter, who does not distort or exaggerate, 

 the "headline man" may be depended 

 upon to provide a grotesque disguise. A 

 few experiences of this sort suffice for most 

 investigators. They are soon forced to shut 

 out the reporter, and are well pleased when 

 they succeed. Yet they recognize that the 

 exclusion of the public from all contact 

 with their work is neither fair nor desirable. 

 Some way should be found of bridging the 

 gap. 



A plan followed in England by the Royal 

 Society, of circulating brief abstracts on 

 the day when a paper is read, which are 

 afterwards published in Nature (sometimes 

 in condensed form) , is one which we might 

 advantageously imitate. When a paper is 

 accepted by the editorial board for pub- 

 lication in the Proceedings, a brief ab- 



stract, preferably prepared by the author, 

 should be sent to Science (and perhaps 

 also to Nature). At the same time this 

 abstract, or a briefer one in less technical 

 language, might be communicated to the 

 Associated Press. It goes without saying 

 that papers for the Proceedings would 

 differ widely in their availability for pop- 

 ular treatment. Probably only a compara- 

 tively small proportion of them would con- 

 tain results suitable for use by the Asso- 

 ciated Press, but all would doubtless be 

 published in abstract by Science. 

 Through the Associated Press, and also 

 through certain conservative newspapers 

 and magazines, the Academy could thus 

 bring before the public the actual results 

 of scientific research, as distinguished from 

 the false and distorted conceptions of sci- 

 ence which most of our newspapers now 

 disseminate. 



lectures on research 

 The plan of publication outlined above 

 is but one of several methods by which the 

 Academy may enlarge its usefulness. Pub- 

 lie lectures should also be instituted, pri- 

 marily for the benefit of the Academy mem- 

 bers, but also with the expectation of 

 reaching a larger circle. Here the Academy 

 would do well to study and imitate the 

 Royal Institution of London, where original 

 research and the diffusion of knowledge 

 are combined in a very effective manner. 

 In brilliant addresses, illustrated by lan- 

 tern slides and experiments, a long line of 

 illustrious speakers, best typified by Fara- 

 day, have charmed and enlightened the 

 most distinguished audiences. Many of 

 these speakers, including Davy, Faraday, 

 Tyndall, Dewar, Rayleigh and Thomson, 

 have been drawn from the staff of the 

 Royal Institution. But their English con- 

 temporaries, as well as scientific men from 

 all parts of Europe and the United States, 



