Page:Science (journal) Volume 1 1883.djvu/11

 AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Vérité sans peur.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1883.

THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN SCIENCE. progress of science in any age is determined largely by the circumstances of its environment. The soil in which it is rooted, the atmosphere from which it draws the materials of its life, and the stimulus of light and heat which it receives, all have a strong determining influence upon its growth. Nowhere, probably, has this influence of the surroundings been more potent than in our own land. The intense activity of our people, the high intellectual, commercial, and social pressure under which they live, their enthusiastic interest in scientific knowledge and the generous liberality with which they foster it,—all these agencies have had a powerful influence in creating the position which American science assumes to-day. We may not, indeed, boast of a scientific record as full and complete as that of other countries; but we may and should take an honest pride in the achievements in pure science which we have already actually accomplished. The names of Agassiz and of Peirce, of Bache, Henry, and Draper, of Hare and Silliman, of Bond, Watson, and Chauvenet, of Rittenhouse and Saxton, of Rogers, Hitchcock, and Cleaveland, are worthy to be enrolled high up in the temple of scientific fame. The work done by these men in the direction of original research will ever stand the test of time, and will always keep their memories green. The leading feature of American science, however, and that which most distinctively characterizes it, is its utilitarianism. True, there are in our country able investigators working in scientific fields which do not offer the promise of material reward; but notwithstanding this, it remains still true that those sciences whose principles are capable of useful application are the most zealously cultivated among us, and attract the largest number of students. Nor is this to be at all regretted. Research is none the less genuine, investigation none the less worthy, because the truth it discovers is utilizable for the benefit of mankind. Granting, even, that the discovery of truth for its own sake is a nobler pursuit, because a less purely selfish one; does it become any the less noble when it is ascertained that the truth thus discovered is capable of important applications which increase tenfold the happiness of human life? It may readily be conceded that the man who discovers nothing himself, but only applies to useful purposes the principles which others have discovered, stands upon a lower plane ^^^^^'^ '^ investigator. But when the investigator becomes himself the utilizer; when the same mind that made the discovery contrives- also the machine by which it is applied to useful purposes,—the combined achievement must be ranked as superior to either of its separate results.

The inventive genius of this country is preeminent. We reap the benefits of it on every side. Our houses are more comfortable, our railways more safe, our fabrics cheaper, and our education more thorough, because of useful inventions. Becoming restive at the slow progress of discovery, the inventor has himself assumed the role of investigator; and the re-ults of his researches appear in the records of the patent-office. In the olden times the investigator was content to make his discoveries, and to publish them, consecrating to science the knowledge thus obtained. His more modern representative carefully treasures what he has discovered, until he has exhausted its practical applications. In consequence, the No. 1. – 1883.