On the Character of Physical Science and on the Philosophic Method of the Advancement of Science

0\

TllB CllARACTJ:ll OF J>IlYSJ('AL SCTEl{CE AND ON TIlE PHILOSOJ>HIC l\(/i;7'HOD OF TllJ!J AD1'ASCEMENT OF_SCIRNCE.

ADDRESS OF

PROF. ROBERT If. TlfURSTON, VICE

PRESIDENT,

SECTION

A,

BEFORE THE

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE

ADVANCE~IENT

OF SCIENCE,

AT 'l'lIE

St. Louis Meeting, August, 1878.

{I"rom tile j'l'oceellillga of thc Amcr. ABi'iOC. fOI' the Atlv. of Science, Yol. XXVII.]

}'HIN'I h1> A 'j ' 'l'I1le SAI,If.M )'HJ<:tiS.

187~.

ON THE CHARACTER OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE A N D ON THE PHILO. SOPHIC METHOD OF Tfllt ADVANCElIIENT OF SCIENCE.

A DDRESS OF

PROF. ROBERT 'H. TIIURSTON, VICE

PRESIDENT,

SECTION

A,

B E FORE THE

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE

ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, • ..

AT THE

St. Louis Meeting, August, 1878.

•

..

[From the Proceedings of the ArneI'. Assoc. fo r the Auv. of SCience, Vol. XXVII .]

SAL I~M

l'lUN'J'I. 1> A'l'

'J'l ll~

:

SAL l~ M

1878.

l'JUt:SS.

ADDRESS BY

PROFESSOR ROBERT H. THURSTON, VICE PRESIDENT, SECTION A.

LADIES AN D G ENTLUI EN : -

I HAVE chosen a subj ect for this occasion which may appear a novel one t o many among my audi ence; bnt it is one which has seemed to me pecul iarly suited to be the theme of the annual address of a Vice-Preside nt of the AS SOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 01<' SCIENCE. I hope th at its novelty may not d etract from its interest. I propose to in d icate ' t he existence of a S CI E NC E OF THE ADVANCEMENT 01<' S ~ ENCE , ex hibitin g some of the facts npon whk h it is based, ennnciating some of the l:tws and the pl'inciples of that science; and thus, as well as I may, presentin g its philosophy . I propose to show, as co ncisely as possible, where and when this philosophy had its origin, and what has been the method of its g ro wth. I desire to show what s houl d to-clay be done for this sci(!ll cc, to indi cate what scem to me t he best methods, and what sys te m is likely to facilita.to most effectively its progress. foieic llcc- whi <:h hali hecn defilled by Fleming ns H knowlc(lge , cert ai n allel c\' itle llt ill itHclf, 01' hy the principles from which it is dl!d ll ccd or with whi ch it is certainly COll l ll~ ete(l" 路路 -- consists 0(' two r ~u t". As ~ il' Will iaul IIallliltoll has stlltell it, seicnce is n ,. (,01Up ll'm e Jlt of cog llitioll s , havillg ill poillt of' fOl'lll tho elinrnetel' of logicnl p el'fec tiou, nlld ill poillt or Illnttcl' the chnnwtcr of' I'co.l (a)

ADDRESS OF

truth." While it is the fOllndation of all al't, it is itself founded upon a precise and sure knowledge of certain of the great facts of nature, and upon man's power of detecting ,and of revealing the great truths which have been established by the Creator of the uni verse. Thes3 two parts are:1st. Those pearls of truth which man has been able to gather, and 2nd. Those chains of laws and principles upon which those facts are strung, and by which they are firmly connected, as the pearls of a lady's necklace are bound together by the silYer thread or the golden wire which gives the precious treasure its continuity.

All science is thus made up from the infinite number of facts which are comprehended in the universe of the lmown, and the to-be-known. Its existenee is assured by tbe immutability of all those principles of l~hilosophy which are woven into the connecting chain.

The man of science,-the philosophel' whose task it is to create and to advance all 1ll1man knowledge of the great king(lom of nature,- is, therefore, a discoverer of facts, an observer of pbenomena, a student of nature's laws. He is a systematic recorder of fact and a codifier of laws. He gathers the pearls of truth and collects the silken threads that we term principles, spins them into the cords, and works them into the chains upon which he strings his pearls; ' and thus a science is formed.

Thus, centuries before the Christian era, the" wise men of the East" were stuclying the motions of the stIll'S, and of the sun and its attenuant lesser lights, and were reco~illg observed astronomical facts which twenty centuries later have been correlated by recently determined law.

Thus, Kepler, month after month, and year after year, for the whole period of an cclipse-eycle, assuming one mathemnticnl lnw aftcr another to be applicable to the relation of pel'io(lic times of orbital revolution to the mean distances of the circling planets from theil' ccntml sun, trie(l to fit already discoyercd fads to his vurious tbrcads of prineiples ; and, after long years of' trial, fOllnd th(~ right tllrend at last, stJ'ung his pl'al'ls upon it, nnd proelninwd tIle gt'('at law wldeh I\('wtOll ('Ollfirlll('(l WhOIl, takillg; nnotht'l' path, corn-bUllg 11Irg( ~ J" fads with hroader }lrillt!iples, the grcnt philo!>iopliel' pl'ov(!cl to the world the oJlJuipl'escllcc of tiw law of gl':witatiOJJ .

VICE PRESIDENT THURSTON.

5

Thus, again, those great astronomers and wonderful mathematicians, LeYerrier, and Adams, seizing upon this Newtonian factthe indefinite range of the force of gravity, and of the law of gravitation,-proyed the, till then, unknown fact of the existence of an enormons planet, unseen 路by any telescope, far beyond the supposed limits of our solar system, ' and even pointed to tile very spot, in all the wide extent of the heavens, in which tile new celestial world ,vas to be seen.

But, although scientific work has been in progress during so many centuries, it was . only in the time of Galileo, and when, two centuries ago, his contemporary, "Bacon, at la ~ t, a mighty man, arose, 'Vhom a wise KilTg and nature chose Lord Chancellor to both their laws,"

and 'when the experimental philosophy of the first and the modernized Aristotelian philosopby of the second united to form a perfect whole- it, was only then that the existing system of natural philosopby and physical sciences had a beginning.

As the peripatetic philosopher had, two thousand years before, adopted the so-eallecl路 modem system in his teachings, Aristotle may, with most propriety, be called the father of that inducti philosophy of which Bacon was the first of later disciples and expounders, and under which Galileo was the first modern worker - tbe first systematic experimentalist.

It was only after this system of real philosophy had become accepte(l by learned men tbat it became possible for the various brandIes of modem scicnce to take shape. It was only then that the discoveries of Galvani, the inventions of Volta and of Von Guericke, and the facts record cd by Gilbert, the investigations of Oersted and of Frallklin, and the researches of the multitude of their illu strious successors in the present generation could give form to the now well-developed tlepartlllent of electrical science.

It ..vas ollly arLer this era that the application of qnantitatiYe mcLlI0<lH of' nllalYAis hy Lavoisier, the greatest of eilemists, could cnal)le his ('Olll"rel'eH alld his slIccessors to combille the f':wts 1'0C'it.(!cl hy al<:hellli Bts of' the earlier period, the disco\'crics of Priestly fllHl of Hehe<'\e alld of Cavelldish alld of the latel' ehcllliHts, with th e law s (:illllwialed by Boyle and Daltoll tllHl AYogndro, to form U 6YB lI' 11I of' ch<:lJIieal philw:lOphy whit-h, Htill n~()\Vedl'y illl'ol\lpll'to aud ev c II emile, Co\'(~I'S , llu\'cl'tiwiess, UlIC 0(' the mOISt llwguitkclIt

,re

6

ADDRESS OF

fields of physical science. It was only after the inductive method had become recognized as the only effective method of acquiring an exact and connected kllowledge of the phenomena and the laws of nature, that mathematical sciences - although originating as they did in an unlmown antiquity, and given form by an Indian philosopher and a black sla,路e, by the Romans, the Greeks, and the Arabians, shaped and perfected in later times by Descartes, Newton;'and Leibnitz-could be made applicable to investigations by natural philosophers in every department of their magnificent work.

The richest fruits of this great system are familiar to all and haye nearly all been developed within the memory of many to whom these words are addressed. The facts revealed by the researches of Rumford, Davy and Joule have been grouped and systematically united by the laws revealed by Rankine, Thompson, Clansius, and othel: scarcely less eminent men; and the science of thermodynamics, which has thus beeil created, has been applied and put to the proof by Him, and a hundred othel' distinguished engineers of our own time.

Finally, it is only now l hat it has become. evident that this last is but another branch of the universal science of Energetics which go\'el'lls all effective forces in all departments of science. The man is yet to be found, who is to combine all the facts of this latest and most comprehensive of al.! scicnces into one consistent and symmetrical wl101e, and to illustrate its applications in all methods of exhibition of kinetic energy.

Tbe grand pl'inciple which we are just beginning illClistinctly to percei ve and to recognize as underlying every branch of knowledge and as formi ng the foundation of all positi ve science seems, when statetl, to be simply an axiom. The bcriptllrul d.eclaration tbat the world shall endure nnLil its 1\1:1ker shall decree its destruction Ly Omnipotence is Lut a statement ot' a principle which is becollling mi)l'e and more generally adlllitted as a scientific truth, viz.: that thc two products of creation, mattcr aml force, and the fruit of their lIllion, ellcrgy, arc indcstrnctiblc.

The grand underlying baHis of all science is IOl1nd,'thcn, in the prill<:iple that :ui that has been created hy illlinitc powcr - matt(\r awl its attribute force, alld all cncrgy -is inde::-ltrnetible hy tinite power, :lIHI hh:dl cOlltilllle to exist HO long u.s the h:Ulll of the ()l'eatol' is withheld from iU; de~tl'lwtiolJ. This law has lllH.'U ~\(l-

VICE PRESIDENT THURSTON.

7

mitted almost from the time of Lavoisier, so far as it affects matter; it has been admitted as applicable to physical energy since the doctrines of tIle conelation of forces and the persistence of energy became accepted by men of science, and we are gradually progressing towards the establishment of a law of persistence of all existence, whether of matter, of force and energy, or of organic vitality, and perhaps even tp its extension until it includes intellectual and soul life.

TIle truths of science are thus coming into evident accord with those doctrines of religious belief which are common to all creeds. vVe are, however, as far as ever from the determination of the question whether those higher forms of force and energy have qnanti valent relations and intertransformability ; although a belief that mind and matter have a certain identity, and that in matter can be discerned" the promise and potency of all terrestrial life," has been avowed, explicitly or implicitly, by more than one great thinker wIlen wandering into the realms of speculation.

Looking back to a beginning, we see, then, that in the beginning there entered upon an existence of indefinite duration a great universe of matter endowed with .its characterizing attriblltesthe forces. These forces, acting upon a definite quantity of matter with definite intensity, give origin .t o a fixed amÂŤunt of actual energy, and become capable of prollneing another fixed quantity of what is now potential energy. Energy thus brought into existence remains constant in total amount as the quantity of created matter remains constant.

The action of these forces upon this matter has given rise to every phenomenon, which has come, or which can come, within the range of scientific inquiry. But all known forces are secn at once to IJc capable of classifil.;ation, according to theil' methods of affecting matter, into three great classes:1. Those forces witlI which we are able to make ourselves so readily alld tllOl'Ollghly familiar that wc nIHl no difficulty in assigning to ea<.:h or them its proper place ill the scheme of scientific fij' stelIlalizatton, awl which we havc found it comparatively ca.sy to di s tillg lli sh by their pcculiar nIHI rcadily obs(~l'vctl effects. 'filetse illelll<le the f'alllilial' phYHic:d for<.:cs, as gr:hitalioll, electrical, ('i1 ellli cal, alld Ilte<.:ilallical forces.

2 . Thn \'ital fOl'<..: c!3- thoso which arc prescrvative of nll life, wh ich produ cc Hlld prolllote tho grO\yth of Ol'gaublUs havillg life,

8

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ADDRESS OF

and which ar.e less easily understood, more difficult to study, and far less subject to the modifying power of llUman action, than are those of the first described class.

3. The forces of the soul and of the intellect-those most wonderful and most mysterious of a1l known forms of force, - forces of the nature of which we know nothing, and of the effects of which. actual and possible, we have the least comprehension.

4. That master-power, Omnipotence, wilich is the source and the sllstainer of all forces and of all existences.

By the study of the universe as it now exists, philosophers are led to perceive that its present state is such as would have resulted had tIle various forms of matter with which we are surrounded, and of which we ourselves are corporeally formell, and had other exislences which we suppose to form a part of our universe, been, at the beginning, so distributed by the Creator and so placed in reference to tile several kinds of forces that the former, acted freely upon by the latter, should, by a continuity of neyer-ceasing; ever-progrcssing change, take those in fini te variations of growth and all til at inconceivable variety of shapes that hrtye been snpposed to have been, by thc process called "evolution,'" brougllt into tIle visible universe; and which still continue to illustrate the , mighty and incomprehensible power of Him who is tile Author and Presel'Yer of all. It is thus apparently under t1~e action of these forces upon this matter that the Creator is forming a universe out of chaos, tbat the seen and the nnseen wondcrs of all worlds are exhibiting the marvellous intricacy of his plans, and the y et more marvellous simplicity of the means by which He accomplishes His inscrutable purposes.

Studying the accessiLle universe as far as we are permitted ill greater cletail, we find that eaeh of the YariOllS kinds of forces set at work to modify the position and charncter of mat,tcr has a spccial part to pIny, a peculiar work to do; ,yc find that the first class has a sph crc of operation which is ('ully within the reach of our scuscs j that the sccoml class 0(' force s is also , to a cl\rtaill ex t cnt, falllilial' to ll S throu gh a knowled gc ot' t,heir~ elreds; hut tho last two of th ese sc vcral classes of 1'01'('('S cxis tillg ill llaturo ure, as y et , (Jllit~ bl'),ond om ken. \Ve arc too uUcrly igllor:\l\t to do Ul ore thalJ f-5 pc clllatc, and 0111' speclllatiolls, likL' lIeurl} nil ~PL'c¡ ul aliol1 Fl, will fiull 110 Jllore dirl'ctly profitabl e re :-Illt than tho~c of our Gn!ck lll'cdcccso ol'f; ill tlml "lI11klIOWaLll!" lil!hl.

VICE PRESIDENT TnURSTON.

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9

There is no beginning, even, in a real scientific, moral, and intellectual IJhilosophy. c have foumi no qnantitative mea~nres of those forces . or of their effects, and no definite principles are known which control their action. Those forces must, seemingly, be left entirely to our Sllccessors. The last named, Omnipo.t ence, is beyond the range of imagination eyen.

But, studying these forms of manifestation of force which are divided between the first two classes just mentioned, we at once perceive a distinction whicl1 is as well defined as is tlle line separating the two classes of phenomena to which they give rise.

The PHYSICAL FORCES- and I intend here to include the mechanical and chemical, as well as tlle forces which are u-sually alone treated of in works on physics- are capable of being obsened, of being distinguished by certain readily defined qualities and of being accurately measured quantitatively. The conditions which lead to their acti \'e display are capable of being exactly ascertained, and the precise results of their operations under any giyen set of conditions .may usually be accurately predicted.

These conditions are subject to certaIn definite morlifications by the power of man, and the changes of effect which will result from such changes of condition may be predicated. The effects \vhich nature produces in certain cases by the action of tllese forces may be modified by man witllOut entirely defeating the original tendency to bring about a certain change of mode of action of existing energy. These forces, acting alone, never give rise to the more intricate f01'111S seen in nature. Theil' highest product in the whole morphological range is a crystal of more or less perfect shape, uut of a form which is always of some simple geometrical class. These forces do not exhibit the play of definitely directed energy tending to effect a perfectly well defined, thollgh remote, result. Theil' effects are the acci<1ental and the incidental, so far as the more ,yoIHlerf'ul alld most intricate ot' the operations of natl1l'C are concC'l'1le(l.

The VITAL FOIWES, on the other hand, effect operations which humall power can ollly touch to illlpede or to destroy. TI\l'y have for their mis~iull the creatioll of stl'aJlgely cOlllplic:atctl and curioll ~ ly oJ'g:lIli:wd struetul'es, ill whieh arc storcd el'rtain definito aI/Willits of <!1It!rgy, ~tIId whieh are gi\'{\n n power of acquiring and of' lIJ1PJyillg cxt.r:tIlPOIIS Cllt'rgy, ill [>l'Obably also defillite lI111ount, to t.he acc:o til pI bIIlllCll t of ce l'lai 11 tasks. l\1'au lIlay llll.>lli (r t hdl'

'V

10

ADDRESS OF

operation and may produce some change in the phenomena which tiley are appointed to bring about j but it is only by deranging their action. He can mar theil' work, but cannot directly aid them, That store of vital energy which was created in the infinite past, and wl1ich is now passing through one after another of the forms of life, new and old, which are daily, hourly, momently, coming into the field of OUl' cognizance, and as constantly disappearing from view, is continually developing organisms of every grade from the simple life-seed, if such exist- from the basic prot<?plasm -to the human ruler of them all, und man can only touch to distort, to stunt, or to destroy, the beautiful, the wonderful. the incomprehensible creation. As all this comes to his ,,~on­ dering mind, he sees that physical life is to man' an existence which he can affect only for evil, and an unimaginable enigma which he can never hope 'to solye.

Of these two sets of forces, the one is hlind and aimless, unintelligent as to the direction of its efforts, indifferent as to its results, and is governed by laws which, under all known conditions, are as simple as they are ilwariable. The othel: set appears to act at all times upon a definite, far-reaching plan, and these forces set themselYes intelligently about the production of the most elegant and intricate of designs, and the elaboration , of the most wonderful ancl mysterious of organisms. It is only in the structures which are their work that the strange, the incomprehensible phenomena of life are exl1ibitcd to the intelligence which vainly encleavors to understand them.

In stndying the universe, therefore, we are naturally le(1 to the eli vision of all human knowledge of that portion witil which we here are conce1'l1ed, into two great departments, and it is this division of the "knowable" part of nature that hus determined the correspondillg division of the Al\1ERlCAN ASSOCIATION FOR TilE ADVANCEMENT Ol!' SC,lENCg into two pl'incipnl sections, to which are l'especti rely assigned the two departments of physical and of biological science.

Having thlls stlrreyed the great field in which we nre all working, we are now prepared to ask:How arc tll('~W two groat depnrtments of science to bc most satisfactorily ol'gltllizc(l for CutlH'O work?

1 [ow is 0111' kllowledge ill both seet.iolls to be most surely und rapidly e." teuded?

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VICE PRESIDENT THURSTON.

11

vVhat is the best way to set about a work, which we may be sure shall never come to an end so long as the worlel endures, with greatest surety that time and energy shall not be wasted in the exploration of devious paths leading to no useful end - Cretan labyrinths to the unhappy explorer or-lost in the indirect attainment of points, to which straight and easy paths may be fonnd?

How shall time and labor, talent and energy, find their highest rew[lol'd; how most greatly benefit the Illlman race?

W' e see ' at once that the methods properly applicable are nearly the same in both departments, but yet that there is a certain difference.

The physical section is distinctively one of experiment, one which does its work by the inductive method. It is almost invariably able to proceed to the solution of the problems which are presented to it by direct experiment, and to apply crucial tests and the tOllchstone of experience in every part of its work.

The other section is as distinctively a department of observation, and the opportunity to solve its problems by deducing conclusions from an experimental basis of fact is far more rare in the biological than in the physical section. It is compelled to rely far more upon simple observation of snch phenomena as nature lllay happen to present, than in the latter. ' Indeed, it is almost never able to adopt the most prompt and most satisfactory of methods. Yet both methods are applicable in some degree in both divisions.

But whether the work to be done falls within the province of the experimental sciences, ot' within that of the sciences of observa- . tion, ded uction always follows observation and experiment, and the requisites for mo;t satisfactory ad vancement of knowledge are, in the main, the same.

To secure most perfectly the advancement of science in all branches, and to attain OllL' ends with a minimum of waste or time and energy, it is evidcnt that the first necessity is a body of skilled workers in each departlllellt proportionate in numbers and in illtellectual powcr to the extent and the di1riculty of the work.

The fir st step is tlte obscrvation of' phenomena with the most pel'f't'et, :tll< 1 cri tical acel! I'll c j', alltl the SLate ment or facts q ll:l.n ti tativdy :wcl with ahsolute pl'eeiHioll, en~ll though, as is orten nceesHlll'ily the case, they arc detached and apparently without lllutunl l'claliou.

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ADDRESS OF

The next requisite is the systematic arrangement and registry of these phenomena of law and of fact.

The third requirement is the grouping of ascertained facts into their natural positions of scientific relation and th~ deduction and expression, mathematically, if po~sible, of the law which binds them into some continuous and defined chain or cluster.

Finally, we must correlate th~se detached masses, thus identified, with the great system of science, or even, if so great an achievement is possible, into the universal, pantological system which comprchends all the phenomena of nature, and which embruces the whole code of natural law-which includes the least atom of the most minute of microcosms, as well as the mightiest of macrocosms or the universe itself, seen and unseen, to its farthest bounds. \Ve necd, therefore, the talents and skill of tbe finest obsel'Yers, perfected by trail1ing und directed by stllc1y,-observers urged to the!r highest work by that enthusiasm which cun only come to that mun on whom has been conferred a power and a genins which make him, despite all obstacles, despite himself even, a successful specialist.

We need the services of him to whom has been gi ven the rare and great power of insight into the mutunl relations of detached phenomena discovered by obsel'\'ers of all countries and of all times as well as in different departments of science, It is for him to lcarn what is contained in that pile of invaluable but incongruous materials, and to reveal to us their relationship, bringing order out of disorder, and stringing the pearls together 011 philosophic tlll'eads. \Ve then requirc thc aiU of men of the same cast of mind, but of even grcater and rarcr intellcct, who shall weave all 0111' systcms of science into one grand, all-comprehending philosophy.

Alrcady has good work bcen clone in the first two direetions of scient.ific labor, and we bave secn llnl.YC anll most noble attempts mucic to uegin even the lust great t.ask, t.he graml alHl1illal work. lt b:u; been by sllell men that science has beCB created, and bas bC(!1I gi veil all its dev('\oplllellt. It is by qllite u. difl'erent (.'lnss of WCJl'k('I'S t.hat a kllowlcc\ge of' Bcielleo all(l of tho benclitg dcri\'l~d fr<J111 that ]olOwlt:cige Ita\'c~ beon gi\'(~n to the people. l\I n ll of' 8!;i(~ lIeO han\ (,I'eaied Sell'IlC'e i but it is the TEA'lIIms ()J~ H C IEN () g who have gin!ll til() i'mils of nil this lahUL' Hnd tho

VICE PRESIDENT THURSTON.

13

product of all this talent and study to the world at large. It is the tencher of youth working in the primary or the high school, in the college, the technicnl school and the university, who has made om' boys and our girls, our young men and our maidens, familiar with the- elements of established science, and who has given us those disciples from among whom have arisen the, men we most delight to honor.

It is true that our greatest men of science have usually been teachers; and it is true that our noblest teachers have often entitled themselyes to enrolment among men of science. Such men haye tnken up two of the most honorable of the professions and have earned for themselves a double share of glory.

Strictly speaking, however, the two fields of labor are quite distinct. To unite tllem is to divide the energies and to distract the mind of one who is fitted to become truly great in only one of the two departments.

A complete system which shall be a real SCIENCE OF THE ADVANC EJ\IENT OF SCIENCE tllus is seen to include:1. Observcrs, discoverers, and collectors of fact,-explorers in the field of research. .

2. Systcmatizers of law and of acquired knowledge,- creators of philosophy.

3. Teachers of science,-exponnders of the law and instructors of students of natural phenomena.

Each of these classes demands, as essential to the propel' performance of its work, a certain, and often a large, amonnt of apparatus, and there arises a necessity therefore for an ample supply or material and assistance from those who are able to do their best work in the colleetion and application to scientific purposes of this needed capita\.

There remains, therefore, an independent class, among whom are cnl'olled sneh men as Von Hensclaer, Cornell, Thayer, \Vashhurn, Lawrence, ~hcfIield, Rose, Stcvens, and others, who have tlJllS won for themsch'cs h01101', and confcrrcd inestimable henefits OJ) their fellow-men.

There is then a class:4. MOil to whom belollgs the honor gained by the ellllowtneut of Hcicn<!c,- plailallthl'opiHtfi whose wOl'k com}>I'(路iH.')uls the nohlclSt of e1llLrities !Lilli is i;lIgg(lstc!cl lIy thc IIlOst illtellig(mt bcnefieeuce.

HC'\'iewillg tile history of' philosophy we have se('u t hat ~cil'n('o bcgall hel' wode Ilt a tilllo so relllote that hel' mLl'licst l'ecordlS w(~re

14

ADDRESS OF

made before the historian was competent to preserve them satisfactodly. The Chaldean astrologers were such a~cut'ate observers, that, as Draper tells liS in his noble work on the llltellectual development of civilization. their estimate of the length of the" Saros," the cycle of' eclipses-a period of more than ninetcen years,was" within nineteen and one-half minutes of the truth." Yet, until the time of the great Ptolemy that essential want, a codification of known astronomical facts and laws, remained a want unsupplied. The East Indians stu~lied algebra, and the Greeks 8tudied geometry, but it required a Diophantus and a Euclid to give form to those branches of mathematical science. Aristotle declared tbe principles upon which all real progress in science must be based; but it was only when Bacon explained those principles, and when Galileo and Newton illustrated their application, and when the art of printing had made explanation anel illustration available, that the growth of natural science actually became perceivable. It was only then that experimental science found practitioners. Previously, all scientific work had been that of observation.

Some of our methods of promoting the advancement of scientific work, however, originated at a time which antedates the Christian era. We filld recorded a (leseri ption of such methods in eady accbunts of tbe great Alexandrian museum, when, after the death of the Greek conqueror of a world, his overgrown realm had been apportioned among bis successors, the greatcst statesman of them all- that Ptolemy to whom was gi \'cn the weal thy province of Egypt - founded the greatest technical school and college of the sciences which bas existed during the whole historic period.

It had for its declared object the collcction of' nil learning, the promotion of the study of all litel'atnrc, and of :til the 'arts and sciences, the stimnlatillg of all research, and the ulhancemcllt of ever,}' l>1':lIl(; h of human kllowledgc.

To sccure the olJjcet for witieh it was ('stahli~hcd, :1gcnts were sent abroad into the witole thell known world t() l'olled Ilooks, :md 8cribcf; were eillplo,)'cd ill the IlIIlS('1l1U at A kX:llldria eopying such as ('ollid be hOlTowed from their OWllel'S bilL Hot purdl:\scd from tlwil' ('Ol'tllllllle POss(,HsorH, nlld ill )'P}lI'OÂŤ(m:illg t'opil'S or tho 0 illt(!lIried {'or di t'i trilJlltioll 01' <!."(:hnll gt' . Phiiosophh'lIl npp:tl'Utll , of tile I'Il1h: IJllt olll'lI lI s(!/'1I1 /'Ol'lIlH th('ll kllOWII, WlIS co1J('dl'd nud iutJ'lIl; ted to Hldll'1I1 OIJlscl'n!l'l:l awl (' ' pt'rim 'lltalist

VICE PRESIDENT

B'URSTOl(.

â&#x20AC;˘ 16

ADDRESS OF

Studying the history of science the student cannot fail to see that tllere have been from the earliest times noble examples of such men as are needed to insure progress. There have been ohseners of phenomena; there have been codifiers of law; there ba\'e existed grand collections of essential material intrusted to tbe care of able men.

But why,-setting aside the obvious political and social hindrances,- has the advance of science in the past been seriously retarded? 'Vhy is the advancement of science to-liay, compal'a_ tively rapid as it undoubtedly is, stilJ so frequently attended with difficulty? Why is progress so irregular and so toilsome? The reason is a simple one.

There has never been created and reduced to practice a systematic method of its promotion. The right men have never been selected witlI discretion, and thoroughly and carefully tl'ained for specific departments of labor in those fields and to that work which most need skilled men. .Men of science have not al ways worked in directions wbich most urgently call for tlleir attention. They have sometimes even followed an unreasoning inclination diverting them into side paths, while the great highways of knowledge stilll'emain un travelled ; and they have thus wasted powers which might have given splendid retums for time and talent properly expended.

TIle Endowment of Research has formed no part of a complete scheme for the achancement of science, or, at least, it has never bad the attention and the time given to its procurement that it should have had. The apparatus and material snpplied to scientific workers, by those to whom they have been compelled to look fot, material assistance, has too generally been insufficient in qnantity, and too incomplete in its character, to permit the most effective use of their time. For all these reasons, and more, we are not to-duJ' prepared to do all that we shonld in promoting the progress of science and of thc at'ts which so greatly depend Upon it.

It is too often the case, also, that the man of science holds him. self entirely aloof from the dllty, to which every consideration ShOlild move him, of niding in every wny which lies in his power in the advallcement of mts by the diseovcl'Y alld ill\'('ntion of method s of tlppIication of scielltific 1000wledge and or philosophy to the jlldll ~triCS and the nibil'S of comlllon lire. 'Vel'\! he to do thi H IIlOJ' (; ge llerally alHl 11IOHt ('on seielltioIlSl y , he would lIot ollly COJJf'CI' IJIHm IJlaJlkill(l still greater olessillgs, out he \Voultl nl 'o

VICE PRE::'IDENT THURSTON.

17

secure to science that assistance from the man of the world and the man of business, upon Which he is, willingly or unwillingly, very greatly dependent. There is certainly no more cheerinosio-n b b than that change which has been going on in these later years: the growing inclination of these two great classes to countenance each other, and to ask and to render mutual aid.

Now we come to the vitally important, the practical, question: What are we to do? 'Vhat methods and plans are to be initiated, and how are they to be carried out by men of science and friends of science to secure its advancement, and to aid the diffusion of knowledge and its application? How can we best acquire knowledge of facts, a ,c omprehension of laws, an understanding of their order and their relations in nature's code? and, if so much is to be permitted us, how may we hasten that great day when the sciences, now apparently isolated and unconnected, shall be seen to form parts of one magnificent system - each interlinked with others and no one isolated - a system to which all are esselltial, as the perfect and symmetrical and endless links of chain armor must combine to make one complete and infrangible whole?

The method to Le adopted is easily stated. It is simple, comprehensi ve, effective. It secures the maximum efficiency of the indiviollal and it includes the creation and the administration of organizations in which numbers assist, by combined effort, the acquirement, and the diffusion, of knowledge, and the application of the sciences to the moral, the intellectual, and the social advantage of humanity.

Tl"\.e SCIENCE OF THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE dictates that we shall seek: 1. To determine what are the most promising and most important directions of exploration in the great universe of the" knowable." , 2. That we shall endeavor to find young men fitted by nature and led by their own inclinations, to become successful observers, disCO\:01'01's and philosophers; such men are as rare as are true poets, - aid them to gain positions in which their talents may haye full scope, and assist them to make known the results of their labor.

3. That we make it a part of onr work to obtain for these investigators the means of research and the material aid which are

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18

ADDRESS OF

neccssitated by that rapid and ever accelerating advance of knowledge for wllich we are so greatly indebted to them; to secure the endowment of schools of science, to obtain a more complete organization for schools alrean}' established and liberal provision of apparatus and material for every investigator.

4. That we seek to improve our metllOds of instruction in science, to introduce into our educational systems a better scientific curriculum and far more extended courses, both of pure and of applied science, and to make the position of a teacher of science a far more desirable one, viewed from the world's stannpoint, tban it bas yet become.

5. That we make the organization and tile operation of our academies of Rcience, and of our societies for the advancement of science, far more thoroughly effective.

6, We bave especially to exhibit the fact that there exists between the man of science and the man of business a community of interests; the fact that he who accumulates wealth is largely indebted for his success to him who is unselfishly revealing those secrets of nature without a knowledge of which he ann the world about him .would be to-day in the lowest state of barbarism and the fact, on the other hand, that it is only by the possession of sueh means as only wealth can furnish that science can have growth,-that the astronomer can study the wonders of the heavens, that the chemist can pursue his researches amol1g the mysteries of molecular combination, or the physicist investigate the beautiful and the most wonderful phenomena which are illustrated in the discoveries and inventions which are now so rapidly succeeding each other.

Men of science and educated men of the world mllst be brought to know more of each other, ali d Hl lbt be held in llOlltls of e\u!::ler relationship, if we are to seCl1l'e the maximum of efficiency in methods of promoting science, and of seclll'ing to mankilHl its greatest benefits. The endowment of schools of' scient:e must precede tile gathering of the fruits of research; but the endowmcnt of schools must be preceded by the enlightclllll<'nt of the 1>088(, 8501'S of wealth, and by the awakening of' their interest in seicu{Hie work. The American Association for the Adnlljl'CnH'ut of Sci(' lJ ce has heen exceptionally fortunate ill H(,(,lIl'illg nil u}lpn'l'iat i(JlI amon g' its members of this COllllll\\l1ity or illtl'\'(~~ts.

0 l'.'. is tiug ol'g allizu.tiol1 hal; clone Illorc - }>('l'hHPS it \\'ould he just tQ

, ' I CE l'H ES IDENT THURSTON.

19 sar none h:u; done as mu ch - to brill O' toO'ctber 1'11 h . ' . ' . b 0 . , armoDlOUs worldng" r('l.ntlO ll s, t hes(' two. c lass es: the men of science and the non- p rofessIO nal l oye l' ~ o f sCIe nce.

'Y I}(,11 ~ll('h n sys l c m o f pro mo tin g the arivancement of science

as I han' ma d e a weak c fTo rt to describe, shall have become famil~ iar to all for who m the philosophy of nature has an interest, and ,viJen incli ,'id ua ls and scientific organizations shall endeavor methorlically to wo rk by it , we s hall, we may expect, see a new revi" al of learn in g . L e t us hope that we may see this Jater intellec_ tual renaissance occulTin g in our own time. Let us hope that a centtl1'Y in whi c h that g r cat investigator, Sir Humphrev Davy ., b rought o ut whnt he claim ed to be his greatest discoyery_ :Michael Far a d ay - s hall see eyen nobler work done by many later D uy,Ys a nel F uradays ; that the century that, in its early years, saw the sple ndi d ac ili e ve me nts of men like Young, like Rumford and Ca ,'el1di~h , l ike L a pl ace , L ag range, Foudel' and Carnot, of men like Gall s and M ag nu s , and like our own lately lost Henry-that this century may y et prove even more prolific of such noble sons.

L et us have fa it h that an age which still bo.a sts of men like T homp o n a nd Joule , H e lmholtz and Kirchhoff, of men like Pierce and the long li s t of hi s s ll ccessors to the presidency of this Association - all o f whom h~t\'e won that distinction by their wOl'ksthat such an age s ha ll see t he science fOllllded by Rankine and his colleagues co rre la t ed to the oth er branches of energetics, slIall see the wOIHlerrul indLJ tri a l r evolution inangnrated by 'Vatt and Stl'pltenson, a nd Fitc h a lld Fulton and ~te\'ens, by Arkwright al1el H owe und R ic ha rd Hoe, and by H('J]r}, and l\Iorse aml \VheatstOlle, cOlllpletely <.'flect ed; a llt! tile people, relieved from the <Ii lrcss('1'; 11l1:lVoiclalll j' a tte lldant ,upon s tich great social changes, IJappily selLletl dow lI to t he p t'ucc ful aud cOlltentea pursuit of tlH'ir I(~gitillwte aims ill lire- to the peaceful acquirellJent of the COl/lrort :tlld luxllries of li fe, of' th e bl ess ings ot' education and cultll!'£:, alJel to tile p ll l'suit or a ll th e relined pleasures which are witiJiIl )"(':1<·11 o( all ellli<J"ht<!II t!d p eopl(>.

We sllall, \\'(~ lIIay he /il ln:, t ll(!lI set' in eae h advancillg year more of the IJI..! lIt'ti('(·IJL ildlll(, J l('(~ or tl w Hd \': llH:(' IlI ClIt or seiellee. Dis('U\cJi(, will HtH'('P('eI ()anlt utll(' I' n it-II (~ \'(' I'- iJH' n':l s iJ\g l'Hpidity; the IJI)\V ilJliPII'lldeliL S('iC'11I'1'8 will i ll !t"' WI'H\'( ' tll l' III ~(' ''' ( 'H 1ll00'C :\Ild JlIUJ(' t.l1I'1·()II~IJI'y, ~l'!lIIIIH".r Hgg l't'gll l i ll g illto u sh:11H'ly :tlld i'l'rll'l't wlwl(·; tl\(' {'lllIlldutil/lI oj' Ewlll)ol or (:il'II ( ' l l will IH'(,OllIO yoady ~

.A.n1)Rlt8! 0

10

qu nt, and s stems of instruction ill be '() ed until the progress of scientific knowledge, among king it, ill be limited only by the rate of advance or est. VB m n 1 eience.

It is not too much to hope, even if it be too much to e p that those among us who may be favored with life to the end 0 the nineteenth century may witness wonders beside which tho of our telephones, and our phonographs, of our microphones and the star-detecting tasimeter, shall seem commonplace, beside which the' Hoe perfecting press," the present locomotive engine and the mightiest of modern steamships, will appear as rude as now do to us the press of Franklin, the halting colliery engine, or John Fitch's steamboats-the wonders of the beginning of this period.

In effecting all these changes, in the production of every improvement, of every adval)ce in civihzation, of everything that aids the human race physically, socially, intellectually, and even morally, the part to be taken by the man of science has an importance which cannot be exaggerated. He is to furnish the worker in every department of life, a knowledge of the facts and of the laws of nature upon which every profession and every trade is based. His is the noble mission to study the works of his Maker.

To him alone is it given to read the great book of nature-the only commentary upon God's written word - and he alone can authoritatively respond to that impressive question, "What hath God wrought?" whether asked by priest or layman or the professional theologian, and whether it has reference to the world visible to the eye and to the processes in operation all about us observable by the senses, or to those opposite infinities which are ouly opened to us by the microscope, and the telescope.

The mission of science is one the scope of which we c fully comprehend and appreciate; but every worker in 8cie e ery lover of nature may at least see that it is importa hould more thoughtfully study philosophic metbo eoliiDO advancement, and se k in every possible :y 0 their work, to encourage the p 10 P of ucators, and to reward him bo og""..,U\.Illa.

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