July 26, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



123 



thing that makes his life richer aud better 

 and his mastery of the subject more com- 

 plete. 



Tliird : There can be no true culture for 

 a man that does not work, that does not 

 put his cultivated powers to some useful 

 service : and here there must be such degree 

 of mastery over the chosen profession or 

 business as will resul): in a special skill and 

 dexterity — a doing of some one thing better 

 than others can do it. A man expresses 

 himself through his work, and whether he 

 will or no, he thus discloses to all who know 

 him his own peculiar qualities. It is this 

 intensity of application, this concentration 

 of purpose and directness of aim, that gets 

 the world's work done. Here in early 

 years the engineering student has the ad- 

 vantage of the student in arts. Study for 

 knowledge's sake may be stimulating to 

 the few, but for the many there is needed 

 the goal of a special calling to secure the 

 close application that results in ability to 

 concentrate one's energy to the attainment 

 of a certain end. But here again comes a 

 danger, that of too early, or over, specializa- 

 tion, and the following of short cuts to pro- 

 fessional life that are advocated b}' some 

 who, in the eyes of the world as w^ell as in 

 their own, have been eminently successful 

 as specialists. Whether these can be called 

 men of culture of the highest attainments 

 is another matter. The extreme specialist 

 maj^ be supreme in his own line of details, 

 but may fail when there comes up a ques- 

 tion involving the relation of his specialty 

 to other things. Even within his own do- 

 main, his conclusions will be modified by 

 his general knowledge and experience. All 

 one-sided people, whether they be linguists 

 or naturalists, poets or merchants, preach- 

 ers or engineers, are quite liable to the 

 forming of erroneous judgments. To the 

 few geniuses, whose capacities and powers 

 seem to be abnormally developed, though of 

 limited scope, much is forgiven ; but for 



the average man of the day there is de- 

 manded an abilitj^ to form good and wise 

 conclusions. 



Fourth : In order to form those that are 

 appropriate and correct there is needed, 

 then, breadth of view — a quality that has 

 been expressed by the word poise. A man 

 of poise, of even balance, will see things in 

 their right relations and due proportions ; 

 he will weigh matters, giving to each com- 

 ponent part its just degree of importance. 

 He will the better understand the motives 

 that underlie other men's actions and the 

 more readily use them to suit his own pur- 

 pose. He will be more apt to rightly inter- 

 pret the new movements in the world of 

 thought or action and can seize opportunity 

 for a personal advantage or a larger sphere 

 of service before others see that there is 

 such. 



This demands a considerable range of 

 knowledge. Not the close mastery of many 

 lines in all their details, but a fair degree 

 of familiarity with their general phenomena 

 and principles ; and there is scarcely any 

 field that will not contribute something to 

 the result. It is admitted at once that the 

 average man is of limited capacity' and 

 unable to grasp a comprehension of all 

 knowledge that may influence his life and 

 work ; what is pleaded for is such degree 

 of breadth as may be needed to make one 

 of great efficiency in his chosen profession 

 and of most value to himself, not only in a 

 financial way, but also in the sense of gain- 

 ing a joyful recognition of the worth of 

 developing all the powers that one has. 



The value of mathematics and the physi- 

 cal sciences with their applications to tech- 

 nical things needs no discussion here, for 

 these are the engineer's tools ; but it is a 

 fair question whether, in our desire to 

 graduate students that can be early useful, 

 we do not place too much stress on tech- 

 nical things to the exclusion of others that 

 give greater breadth of training. We must 



