PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 
YOL. XXXVII. 1916-17. 
I. — The Relation of Science to Industries and Education. 
Opening Address by John Horne, LL.D., F.R.S., President. 
November 6, 1916. 
At the opening of another session it seems to me not inappropriate to 
refer to the question of the relation of science to industries and to 
education. Not much that is new can be said on this theme. The neglect 
of science by the Government and the people and the persistent indifference 
to scientific training and methods have been exposed by prominent 
scientists for many years. Repeated appeals and warnings have had 
little or no effect. But this world war has, at last, aroused the Govern- 
ment and the practical Briton to realise that success in war and prosperity 
in peace under modern conditions depend upon the application of scientific 
methods, and the development of research in relation to the industries. 
At the conference held in the rooms of the Linnsean Society, London, 
in May 1916, with Lord Rayleigh as chairman, various speeches bearing 
on this question were made with telling effect. It was clearly shown 
that science had not obtained its right place in the educational system 
of the country. It laboured under serious disadvantages in our public 
schools and in the competitive examinations for the Civil Service and the 
Army. The frank confession was made that, in one of our great public 
schools, the recognition of the value of science as part of a school educa- 
tion involved an unpleasant struggle. It was also revealed that some 
of our Government departments had made grave mistakes, resulting in 
serious losses to the country, through lack of scientific knowledge. In 
these cases it would be unjust to blame the individuals, for they are the 
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