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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 93. 



cannot be over estimated, not only by uni- 

 fying scientific methods and contributing 

 to the symmetrical progress of science, but 

 also by bringing men of science from all 

 parts of the world into personal contact. 

 A further stage in scientific cooperation 

 has been reached by the decision of the In- 

 ternational Zoological and Physiological 

 Congresses to meet together at Cambridge 

 in 1898. 



The time has now come when an Inter- 

 national Congress for the Advancement of 

 Science is possible. The cooperation be- 

 tween the British, French and American 

 Associations; the successful international 

 congresses in the separate sciences and for 

 scientific bibliography; the establishment of 

 journals, international in circulation, in con- 

 tributions and even in editorship, are steps 

 in a forward movement leading directly to a 

 world's congress of men of science. 



All the arguments that can be urged for 

 national associations for the advancement 

 of science, and for international congresses 

 in the separate sciences, tell in favor of an 

 international scientific congress. Cooper- 

 ation furnishes both the means and the mo- 

 tive for scientific progress. As science be- 

 comes more complex the interrelation of 

 all its parts becomes more evident. It would, 

 indeed, be difficult to mention a scientific 

 question that concerns one of the sciences 

 only. Much good might come from the 

 discussion of purely scientific problems by 

 men approaching them from the most di- 

 verse points of view. 



There are further many questions which 

 may be regarded as external conditions of 

 the progress of science which can only be 

 settled by international cooperation. These 



questions usually concern more than one 

 science and often all the sciences. Such 

 are bibliography, nomenclature, the defini- 

 tion of units, libraries and museums, explo- 

 rations, the teaching of science and many 

 more. Progress results from chance varia- 

 tions and the survival of the fittest, but in 

 a manner wasteful of time and life in com- 

 parison with what may be accomplished by 

 intelligent direction. 



One of the great advantages of gatherings 

 of men of science is the personal contact 

 and acquaintance which they further. This 

 is an important function of local and na- 

 tional societies and could be attained by an 

 international association to a degree other- 

 wise impossible. Such a meeting would 

 be amply justified if only by bringing to- 

 gether the leaders in the different sciences 

 from the different nations. 



Now at the end of the 'nineteenth cen- 

 tury science is the dominant factor in the 

 world. It should be acknowledged as such 

 if only for the more eflBcient performance of 

 its work. An international congress would 

 impress the collective weight of science on 

 the outside world. If the money and men 

 used in preparations for war could but for 

 a few years be used for the advancement of 

 science preparations for war would no longer 

 be necessary. 



The advantages of an international asso- 

 ciation for the advancement of science 

 seem evident, and the difficulties seem 

 slight. The first year of the twentieth 

 century is opportune for the first meet- 

 ing. Many men of science will be in Paris, 

 and if London or Berlin should seem more 

 eligible they could easily gather in one 

 of these cities. The preliminary arrange- 



