August 28, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



259 



how great is the importance of each branch 

 of physics and the advances that are made 

 every year in new directions, it may also be 

 concluded that more time can be profitably 

 given both to theory and to experimental 

 work. Physics is a fundamental subject 

 whose principles and results are of constant 

 application in every walk of life, and a stu- 

 dent who thoroughly covers a well arranged 

 course has gained a mental discipline and 

 a scientific habit of mind that will be of 

 greater value than the technical details of 

 a purely engineering specialty. 



Undoubtedly the most powerful tendency 

 in engineeeing education has been in the 

 direction of the development of those 

 special technical subjects which may be 

 grouped under the name of Construction 

 and Design. In civil engineering this has 

 led to plans for railroad, water supply and 

 bridge construction ; in mechanical engi- 

 neering to engine and machine design; in 

 mining engineering to projects for mine 

 plants, and in electrical engineering to the 

 design of dynamos and motors. These 

 courses have been demanded by the public 

 and by the students themselves, and have 

 been often elaborated to an extent beyond 

 the best judgment of teachers of engineer- 

 ing. To the extension of such courses 

 there is no limit, but it is a question 

 whether the process has not already gone 

 too far. For instance, it would not be dif- 

 ficult to arrange a course of twenty or 

 thirty exercises on water pipes in which 

 should be discussed all the methods of 

 manufacture and processes of laying cast- 

 iron, wrought-iron lap-welded, steel-riv- 

 eted and wooden mains, together with a 

 comparison of their relative economies un- 

 der different conditions in different parts of 

 the country. These lectures, however, 

 would plainly be of such a technical nature 

 that the advantage to the student would be 

 slight; they would give valuable informa- 

 tion, but little training. 



In all courses in construction and design 

 the practical limit seems to be reached 

 when the exercises are of such a nature as 

 to give more information and little scientific 

 training. The aim of all education, and 

 of engineering education in particular, 

 should be to render the student conscious 

 of his mental power and sure of applying 

 it with scientific accuracy so as to secure 

 economy of construction. Fundamental 

 principles are hence more important than 

 the details of a trade, and all exercises in 

 design should be arranged so that the stu- 

 dent may think for himself rather than 

 blindly copy the best practice of the best 

 engineers. 



The subject of applied mechanics, which 

 occupies an intermediate place between 

 rational mechanics and the work in de- 

 sign, has been so difierentiated that the 

 mechanics of materials is now almost the 

 only topic common to all engineering 

 courses. The strongest line of develop- 

 ment has here been in the introduction of 

 testing machines and in the making of com- 

 mercial tests. This work is of high value, 

 although it may be doubted if the use of 

 one or two large testing machines is as ad- 

 vantageous as that of many smaller ones 

 which are designed especially to illustrate 

 principles. The student of the present day 

 enjoys, however, advantages that were un- 

 known a quarter of a century ago, and the 

 marked progress in applied mechanics from 

 both the scientific and technical point of 

 view is a source of congratulation. 



English and modern languages are gener- 

 ally called culture subjects, and it is well 

 known that of all the topics in the engineer- 

 ing course these are the ones in which stu- 

 dents have the least interest. The great 

 importance to an engineer of being able to 

 clearly and correctly write his own language 

 can scarcely be overestimated. Further it 

 may be said that no engineer can hope to 

 attain eminence unless he can read German 



