﻿Rowland 
  — 
  The 
  Highest 
  Aim 
  of 
  the 
  Physicist. 
  411 
  

  

  provide 
  us 
  with 
  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  natural 
  laws. 
  In 
  this 
  sense 
  

   they 
  were 
  the 
  murderers 
  and 
  robbers 
  of 
  future 
  generations 
  of 
  

   unborn 
  millions 
  and 
  have 
  made 
  the 
  world 
  a 
  charnel 
  house 
  and 
  

   place 
  of 
  mourning 
  where 
  peace 
  and 
  happiness 
  might 
  have 
  been. 
  

   Onlj 
  their 
  ignorance 
  of 
  what 
  they 
  were 
  doing 
  can 
  be 
  their 
  

   excuse, 
  but 
  this 
  excuse 
  puts 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  class 
  of 
  boors 
  and 
  

   savages 
  who 
  act 
  according 
  to 
  selfish 
  desire 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  reason 
  

   and 
  to 
  the 
  calls 
  of 
  duty. 
  Let 
  the 
  present 
  generation 
  take 
  

   warning 
  that 
  this 
  reproach 
  be 
  not 
  cast 
  on 
  it, 
  for 
  it 
  cannot 
  plead 
  

   ignorance 
  in 
  this 
  respect. 
  

  

  This 
  illustration 
  from 
  the 
  department 
  of 
  medicine 
  I 
  have 
  

   given 
  because 
  it 
  appeals 
  to 
  all. 
  But 
  all 
  the 
  sciences 
  are 
  

   linked 
  together 
  and 
  must 
  advance 
  in 
  concert. 
  The 
  human 
  

   body 
  is 
  a 
  chemical 
  and 
  physical 
  problem, 
  and 
  these 
  sciences 
  

   must 
  advance 
  before 
  we 
  can 
  conquer 
  disease. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  true 
  lover 
  of 
  physics 
  needs 
  no 
  such 
  spur 
  to 
  his 
  

   actions. 
  The 
  cure 
  of 
  disease 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  object 
  and 
  

   nothing 
  can 
  be 
  nobler 
  than 
  a 
  life 
  devoted 
  to 
  its 
  cure. 
  

  

  The 
  aims 
  of 
  the 
  physicist, 
  however, 
  are 
  in 
  part 
  purely 
  intel- 
  

   lectual 
  : 
  he 
  strives 
  to 
  understand 
  the 
  Universe 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  

   the 
  intellectual 
  pleasure 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  pursuit, 
  but 
  he 
  is 
  

   upheld 
  in 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  knowledge 
  that 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  nature's 
  secrets 
  

   is 
  the 
  ordained 
  method 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  greatest 
  good 
  and 
  happi- 
  

   ness 
  shall 
  finally 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  human 
  race. 
  

  

  Where, 
  then, 
  are 
  the 
  great 
  laboratories 
  of 
  research 
  in 
  this 
  city, 
  

   in 
  this 
  country, 
  nay, 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  ? 
  We 
  see 
  a 
  few 
  miserable 
  

   structures 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  occupied 
  by 
  a 
  few 
  starving 
  professors 
  

   who 
  are 
  nobly 
  striving 
  to 
  do 
  the 
  best 
  with 
  the 
  feeble 
  means 
  at 
  

   their 
  disposal. 
  But 
  where 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  is 
  the 
  institute 
  of 
  

   pure 
  research 
  in 
  any 
  department 
  of 
  science 
  with 
  an 
  income 
  of 
  

   8100,000,000 
  per 
  year. 
  Where 
  can 
  the 
  discoverer 
  in 
  pure 
  

   science 
  earn 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  wages 
  of 
  a 
  day 
  laborer 
  or 
  cook 
  ? 
  

   But 
  $100,000,000 
  per 
  year 
  is 
  but 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  an 
  army 
  or 
  of 
  a 
  

   navy 
  designed 
  to 
  kill 
  other 
  people. 
  Just 
  think 
  of 
  it, 
  that 
  one 
  

   per 
  cent 
  of 
  this 
  sum 
  seems 
  to 
  most 
  people 
  too 
  great 
  to 
  save 
  our 
  

   children 
  and 
  descendants 
  from 
  misery 
  and 
  even 
  death 
  ! 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  twentieth 
  century 
  is 
  near 
  — 
  may 
  we 
  not 
  hope 
  for 
  better 
  

   things 
  before 
  its 
  end 
  ] 
  May 
  we 
  not 
  hope 
  to 
  influence 
  the 
  public 
  

   in 
  this 
  direction 
  ? 
  

  

  Let 
  us 
  go 
  forward, 
  then, 
  with 
  confidence 
  in 
  the 
  dignity 
  of 
  

   our 
  pursuit. 
  Let 
  us 
  hold 
  our 
  heads 
  high 
  with 
  a 
  pure 
  conscience 
  

   while 
  we 
  seek 
  the 
  truth, 
  and 
  may 
  the 
  American 
  Physical 
  

   Society 
  do 
  its 
  share 
  now 
  and 
  in 
  generations 
  yet 
  to 
  come 
  in 
  

   trying 
  to 
  unravel 
  the 
  great 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  constitution 
  and 
  

   laws 
  of 
  the 
  Universe. 
  

  

  