232 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 403 



SCIENCE: 



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Vol. XVI. NEW TOEK, October 34, 1890. No. 403. 



CONTENTS: 



The Civilian Electrician in a Book-Reviews. 



Modern "War 225 



The Relations of Men of Sci- 

 ence TO THE General Public 227 



Notes and News 231 



The Cause op Motion in the 

 Radiometer. Daniel S. Troy 234 



Harvard Historical Monographs 235 

 Letters to the Editor. 



Reversal of Temperature in Lows 



and Highs. H. A. Bazen 236 



Among THE Publishers 237 



THE EELATIONS OF MEN OF SCIENCE TO THE 

 GENERAL PUBLIC. 



[Continued from p. 231.] 



Eeferriog to the tLeoretically extremely interesting spar 

 prism of Bertraud, whicli under certain conditions may be 

 used to detect traces of polarization of liglit, a recent writer 

 remarks, " But for this application, the prism would possess, 

 in the eyes of the true votary of science, the inestimable 

 value of being of no practical utility whatever." 



Much is said, everywhere and at all times, about the pur- 

 suit of science for the sake of science ; and on every hand it 

 is sought to convey the impression that one who has any 

 other object in view in interrogating Nature than the mere 

 pleasure of listening to her replies, is unworthy of a high 

 place among men of science. So old, so universally ac- 

 cepted, so orthodox, is this proposition, that it is with much 

 hesitation that its truth is questioned in this presence. In 

 so far as it means that one cannot do any thing well unless 

 it is done con amove; that pecuniary reward alone will 

 never develop genius; that no great philosopher, or poet, or 

 artist, will ever be other than unselfishly devoted to and in 

 love with his work, — just so far it is true, although it does 

 not, as is often assumed, furnish a motive of the highest or- 



der. It is a trite saying, but perhaps it cannot be too often 

 repeated, that he who lives and labors in the interest of his 

 fellows, that their lives may be brightened, that their bur- 

 dens may be lessened, is, above all others, worthy of the 

 highest praise. By this standard the value of a discovery 

 must at last be fixed ; bearing in mind, of course, that the 

 physical comfort of man is not alone to be considered. 

 Judged by this standard, the work of Newton, of Watt, of 

 Franklin, Eumford, Faraday, Henry, and a host of others,, 

 is truly great. There should be, and there usually is, no 

 controversy as to relative merit between the discoverer 

 of a gem and the artist who polishes and sets it. In sci- 

 ence the genius of the former is unquestionably rarer and 

 of a higher order; but his work will always be incomplete, 

 and in a great degree useless, until supplemented by that of 

 the latter. 



Another demand which the public may justly make upon 

 the man of science is that his interest in public affairs should 

 not be less than that of other men. Through his failure in 

 this particular, science has long suffered, and is suffering in 

 an increasing degree. This criticism is especially applicable 

 in this country, where in theory every roan is supposed to 

 bear his share of the public burden, and to take his part in 

 the performance of public duties. Unfortunately, the atti- 

 tude of the scientific man is too often one of criticism and 

 complaint concerning matters in the disposition of which he 

 persistently declines to interfere. It cannot be denied, I 

 think, that men well trained in the logic and methods of 

 scientific research ought to be exceptionally well equipped 

 for the performance of certain public duties constantly aris- 

 ing out of local, state, or national legislation ; yet the im- 

 pression is well-nigh universal that the scientific man has no 

 genius for "affairs." Indeed, it has been more than once 

 affirmed that he is utterly devoid of administrative or execu- 

 tive ability, and even that he cannot be trusted with the di- 

 rection of operations which are almost wholly scientific in 

 their nature. That there are many examples which seem to 

 justify this belief is too true, but that there are other in- 

 stances in which administrative and scientiiic ability have 

 been combined is also true. Little search is required to re- 

 veal cases in which men of science have so ignored all ordi- 

 nary rules and maxims of business procedure as to merit 

 severe criticism, in which, unfortunately, the public does, 

 not discriminate between the individual and the class which 

 he represents. It seems astonishing that one who is capable 

 of successfully planning and executing an elaborate re- 

 search, in which all contingencies are provided for, the un- 

 expected anticipated, and all weak points guarded and pro- 

 tected, may utterly break down in the management of some 

 much less complicated business affair, such as the erection 

 of a laboratory or the planning of an expedition; and I ami 

 unwilling to believe that such failures are due to any thing 

 other than culpable negligence on the part of the indi- 

 vidual. 



It is generally recognized, that, aside from all questions 

 of a partisan political nature, this country is today con- 

 fronted by several problems of the utmost importance to its 

 welfare, to the proper solution of which the highest intellec- 

 tual powers of the nation should be given. The computa- 

 tion of the trajectory of a planet is a far easier task than 

 forecasting the true policy of a great republic, but those 



