THE • 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. XXXIV. COLOMBO, FEBRUARY 15th, 1910. No. 2. 



Science and Industry. 



It may appear to some that an apology 

 is needed for the reproduction in 

 an agricultural journal of Professor 

 Sedgwick's eloquent address on " The 

 Relation of Science to Human Life," 

 which will be found on a later page of 

 the present issue. It is true that almost 

 the only direct reference which the 

 speaker makes to agricultural or horti- 

 cultural pursuits occurs in the course of 

 a quotation from "A Winter's Tale"; 

 and the reader whose profession is agri- 

 culture must therefore not expect to find 

 anything bearing practically upon his 

 own pursuits. We do nevertheless most 

 strongly recommend this address to the 

 attention of agricultural readers not 

 only on account of its great general in- 

 terest, but also because it points a moral 

 which cannot be too thoroughly taken to 

 heart by those who have to deal with the 

 methods of applied science, that is to 

 say, with any kind of industry. 



Science, says Professor Sedgwick, 

 simply means knowledge, and to speak 

 of scientific knowledge, as opposed to 

 ordinary knowledge, is to use a redun- 

 dant phrase, always supposing that we 

 are using the word knowledge in its 

 strict sense. To speak of exact science 

 or exact knowledge implies a similar 

 misapprehension. Science or knowledge, 



which is not exact and accurate so far as 

 it goes, is not worthy of being called 

 knowledge or science. 



A distinction is nevertheless almost 

 invariably drawn between scientific and 

 non-scientific knowledge, between scien- 

 tific and non-scientific men. When the 

 case is closely examined, the distinguish- 

 ing features of the man of science are 

 found to be that he applies himself in the 

 first place to a particular branch of 

 knowledge, and that he makes it his 

 special business to extend the boundaries 

 of knowledge within that particular 

 branch. 



Amongst the scientific men themselves 

 two main classses are to be found, namely, 

 those who apply themselves to technical 

 science and to pure science respectively. 

 The former are particularly engaged in 

 adding to knowledge which is obviou&ly 

 useful ; these are the inventors and 

 pioneers in agriculture and other useful 

 technical processes. The students of 

 pure science, on the other hand, seek 

 knowledge for its own sake : the desire 

 to find out something new is with them 

 an all-engrossing motive. 



Now, it is a curious circumstance, and 

 one which it was Prof. Sedwick's main 

 object to impress upon his hearers, that 

 almost all great advances in industry 

 have been based upon discoveries in pure 

 science — upon discoveries made by men 



