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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 864 



able infancy — does not possess commercial 

 value. Until recently indeed any money 

 value of research had not been recognized. 

 In the unappreciative past deplorable in- 

 stances were known of struggles with pov- 

 erty and want, going hand in hand with 

 persistent loyalty to truth-seeking. Now, 

 however, accumulated wealth is giving leis- 

 ure for men to carry on their investigations 

 free from the worries of uncertain liveli- 

 hood. What they receive may not be 

 much, but it is suiScient to permit them to 

 look upon the scramble for wealth without 

 envy or regret. 



Fortunately, the provisions which enable 

 men to pursue careers in science are found 

 mainly in great universities, through which 

 a stream of youth is constantly passing. 

 There men who are moved by the instinct 

 of investigation usually find their most 

 congenial surroundings. Freedom of in- 

 quiry is the ancient tradition of the uni- 

 versity spirit, leisure is recogTiized as a 

 requisite for meditative observation, and 

 the youth who resort to these centers of 

 learning can be awakened to wonder at 

 nature's hidden secrets, and can be stim- 

 ulated to undertake with ardor the struggle 

 to possess them. The peculiar richness of 

 university life flows from memories of the 

 transforming powers of the progressive 

 and original minds who have by their 

 eagerness for the truth and their freedom 

 from worldliness inspired their students 

 with their own ideals. 



The greatest compensation, after all, for 

 the truth seeker is the discovery of the 

 truth. The value of labor that brings a 

 revelation of new knowledge does not 

 cease with the day ; it remains as a perma- 

 nent acquisition for the race. There is 

 really great satisfaction to the investigator 

 in this thought of the "durable results of 

 the perishable years." But not only be- 

 cause of the permanence of truth is there 



pleasure in discovery — it is the marvel of 

 beholding for the first time an unknown 

 aspect of nature that fascinates men of 

 science, and through difficulties and re- 

 peated disappointments holds them to the 

 search. Only he who has had the experi- 

 ence knows the thrill that comes when that 

 which was imagined proves to be true. 

 One who was in Faraday's laboratory 

 when the influence of the earth's magnet- 

 ism on a wire conducting an electric cur- 

 rent was first tested, has written: "All at 

 once Faraday exclaimed, 'Do you see, do 

 you see, do you see!' as the wire began to 

 revolve, and I shall never forget the enthu- 

 siasm expressed in his face and the spark- 

 ling in his eyes." Kepler knew the joy 

 which rewards the scientific discoverer 

 when he completed the evidence that estab- 

 lished his third law of planetary motion. 

 Even one whose pulses have not quickened 

 with the excitement of discovery can un- 

 derstand perhaps how he must have felt as 

 he burst into triumphant exultation: 



What I prophesied two-and-twenty years ago, 

 . . . what sixteen years ago I urged as a thing 

 to be sought, . . . that for which I devoted the 

 best part of my life to astronomical contempla- 

 tions, at length I have brought to light and recog- 

 nized its truth beyond my most sanguine expecta- 

 tions. It is not eighteen months since I got the 

 first glimpse of light, three months since the 

 dawn, very few days since the unveiled sun burst 

 upon me. Nothing holds me; I will indulge my 

 sacred fury. If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you 

 are angry, I can bear it. The die is cast, the book 

 is written, to be read either now or by posterity, 

 I care not which. It may well wait a century for 

 a reader, as God has waited six thousand years 

 for an observer. 



The scientific investigator may not seek 

 particularly for knowledge which can meet 

 at once some material need. Like the ar- 

 tist, he is more prone to direct his efforts 

 towards that which will for the moment 

 properly gratify an absorbing interest of 

 his mind. If the new knowledge has, 



