NOVEMBEK 26, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



747 



complex concepts. This then may be assumed 

 to be the purpose and intent of the study of 

 the history of science, or as Dr. H. C. Brown, 

 of the philosophy department (Stanford Uni- 

 versity), states it, it shows a growing recogni- 

 tion of the value of mind. Intelligence was a 

 plaything for the ancients, a consolation for 

 the medievals, but an instrument for the 

 modern. 



In the words of Dr. C. E. Mann, of the IJni- 

 versity of Chicago :^ 



One immediate consequence of this sort of his- 

 torical study would "be the much-desired humaniz- 

 ing of science, for we should be compelled to rec- 

 ognize the various ways in which science has co- 

 operated with the other phases of human activ- 

 ities in bringing us into our present condition. 



The theory of Dr. Wilhelm Ostwald^ is that 

 " the history of the sciences offers the best and 

 most authoritative material for the study of 

 law in the evolution of mankind." Further, as 

 Professor Ostwald sees it, the history of sci- 

 ence is not merely history for its own sake, 

 but a new method of study, a new way of 

 getting at the results of research. 



From John Fiske in his study of evolution 

 as a method of study,^ we find these precepts : 



Study the present in the light of the past. The 

 easy work of science is mostly done. Those who 

 would continue work must study, not living ob- 

 jects, but laws that govern them. Whether planets 

 or mountains or molluscs or subjunctive modes, or 

 tribal confederacies, be the things studied, the 

 scholars who have studied them most fruitfully 

 were those who have studied them as phases of 

 development. Their work has directed the cur- 

 rents of thought. 



Ostwald* emphasizes the importance of his- 

 torical study as an interpreter of the inter- 

 relationship of science and life: 



1 ' ' The History of Science, an Interpretation, ' ' 

 Pop. Sci. Mo., April, 1906, Vol. 76. 



2 See introduction to his book, ' ' Die Entwick- 

 lung der Electrochemie. " 



3 Quoted from excerpts in Dr. D. S. Jordan 's 

 "Syllabus on Evolution," 1895, pp. 4-5. 



* Quoted from a review of his book, "Die Ent- 

 wieklung der Electrochemie" (Leipzig, J. A. 

 Earth), in The Nation, Vol. 90, p. 637, June 23, 

 1910. 



The nineteenth century was too full of creative 

 work in the various fields of science to give his- 

 torical studies their full play. The new century, 

 on the other hand, though it has achieved already 

 some very remarkable results in the way of posi- 

 tive additions to our knowledge of the forces of 

 nature, will offer a larger field for historical stud- 

 ies, for the reason that the practical value of such 

 studies will be more clearly demonstrated. The 

 author deprecates the idea that pure science can 

 have no connection with life. The great investi- 

 gators, he says, "were almost without exception 

 in their younger days passionately enthusiastic 

 over some concrete, practical aim, and it was in 

 the course of the further and higher development 

 of these problems (which indeed followed rapidly 

 upon one another) that they themselves attained a 

 wider and higher point of view. The tree of 

 knowledge raises its crown high in the ether of 

 pure science, but it is rooted in the firm ground 

 of human needs and activities. 



Pres. Henry S. Pritchett,"* after discoursing 

 upon the progress of science in past ages, and 

 especially upon the larger aspect of science 

 from the middle of the nineteenth century to 

 the beginning of the twentieth, brings out the 

 fundamental contrasts which stand out most 

 prominently : 



First, the last fifty years have seen a greater 

 betterment of the theoretical basis of physical sci- 

 ence. Second, this development has been marked 

 by a notable stimulation of scientific research, a 

 differentiation of scientific effort, and the creation 

 thereby of a great number of special sciences or 

 departments of science. Third, the possession of 

 a secured theoretical basis and the intellectual 

 quickening which has followed it have resulted in 

 the application of science to the arts and to the 

 industries in such measure as the world has never 

 before known. These applications have to do with 

 the comfort, health, pleasure and happiness of the 

 human race, and affect vitally all the conditions of 

 modern life. Fourth, perhaps in many respects 

 the most significant of all, is the effect which has 

 been produced upon the religious faith and the 

 philosophy of life of the civilized world by the 

 widespread introduction of what may be called 

 the modern scientific spirit. 



Lastly, here we may add perhaps the most 

 fundamental principle, which should also be 

 vital indeed in the purpose of the study of the 



5 Atlantic Monthly, November, 1907, p. 614. 



