Apeil 10, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



573 



ment of sckools of research in chemistry, 

 physics, biology, geology and other sci- 

 ences analogous to the staffs of astro- 

 nomical observatories where investigative 

 work is now the declared purpose. 



In the initial stages of the development 

 of this scheme it is assumed that these 

 schools of research must be individual and 

 localized in different institutions, since no 

 institution does now, or probably can in 

 the immediate future, command the means 

 for the establishment of such schools in all 

 the departments that invite investigation. 

 But if one institution were to concentrate 

 upon one science or one limited group of 

 sciences, and another institution upon an- 

 other science or limited group of sciences, 

 the universities of the country might to- 

 gether cover the field effectively. It were 

 much better, to my mind, if the aspirations 

 of a university should take a definite 

 specialized form of this kind in some one 

 or some few lines, than that it should dis- 

 tribute its effort over all lines with inferior 

 success in each because of its limitation in 

 men and means. It is probably not beyond 

 the resources of any great university to 

 secure the development of some one or two 

 effective schools of research if it were con- 

 tent to make a selective effort and were 

 wise enough to do this. 



5. The Evolution of Universities into As- 

 semblages of Research-schools.— MiiYmaXelj 

 it is to be hoped that each of the greater 

 universities ^yiH succeed in developing a 

 large group of research schools, and that 

 with this there wUl come a gradual reor- 

 ganization of the constitution of universi- 

 ties, involving their transition fi'om the 

 function of personal education to the 

 higher function of creative work. The 

 English universities are now essentially 

 aggregates of colleges, each of which is 

 mainly devoted to personal education. The 

 ideal of a university, as here entertained, 



would make the coming university an asso- 

 ciation of colleges of research for the bene- 

 fit of mankind as a whole. In the English 

 university, the several colleges cover essen- 

 tially the same ground and are duplicative 

 in their work and competitive in their re- 

 lations. In the ideal university the col- 

 leges would occupy distinctive fields and 

 be supplementary and stimulative toward 

 each other and in no sense duplicative. 

 Their primary function would be creative 

 work for all mankind rather than didactic 

 or disciplinary work for individuals. 



6. Endowments for Independent Institu- 

 tions of Research. — The preceding discus- 

 sion has related essentially to universities. 

 Aside from organizations under govern- 

 mental patronage, imiversities are at pres- 

 ent the chief agencies of research. It is 

 doubtless quite within the truth to place 

 to their credit by far the largest amount 

 of creative work done independently of 

 government patronage. None the less 

 there is, to my view, a large and special 

 place for independent institutions of re- 

 search and endowments for such inde- 

 pendent institutions are invited by their 

 promise of fruitfulness. Every univer- 

 sity has its special relations with some 

 portion of the social organism by which 

 it is fostered, and to which, because of that 

 fostering, it is in special bonds. While 

 this relationship of support and consequent 

 bondage is one of greatly preponderating 

 good, it is not without its moiety of tram- 

 meling and limitation. In order to fill out 

 the full complement of institutions suited 

 to the most effective promotion of creative 

 work, a class of institutions not subject to 

 these relations is needed. These needed 

 institutions might, indeed, likewise have 

 their own special relationships with their 

 own limitations and trammelings, but they 

 should none the less fill a place not occu- 

 pied by existing universities, nor likely to 

 be occupied by them. More than this, these 



