I.

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

"THE VALUE OF THE WORK OF THE SCIENTIST TO HUMANITY." By JAMES A. YATES, Normal Training School, Pittsburg.

THE VALUE OF THE WORK OF THE SCIENTIST

TO HUMANITY.

By JAMES A. YATES, M. S., Normal Training School, Pittsburg, Kan. Presidential address, delivered at Emporia, November 29, 1907, before the fortieth annual meeting of the Kansas Academy of Science.

I

INFER that the high ideals of the Academy demand that in this address some of the broader questions that agitate general scientific thought shall be discussed, rather than some phase of a particular field of investigation. Therefore, I have chosen to speak on the general theme, "The value of the work of the scientist to humanity."

The true test of the value of anything is its utility; that which conserves, strengthens and continues life and growth in its highest and best relations, while its disuse weeds out and destroys. It is not of the monetary value of science that I wish to speak. That it has this side, I will call attention to the statement of our commissioner of education, whose investigations show that in 1800 the total productive capacity of each man, woman and child in the United States amounted to ten cents a day. During the period from 1830 to 1850 the productive capacity rose to thirty cents a day for each inhabitant, while in 1900 it had risen to fifty-five cents a day for each inhabitant. With this data, a very easy arithmetical calculation will show that in a single year the increased production brought about by scientific investigations has returned in dollars and cents many times the amount expended for scientific work during the whole of the nineteenth century. The examples are numerous that show that money invested in scientific inquiry yields almost fabulous returns.

The question of what use will any new truth or fact be, is one that quickly flashes through the mind of the masses. Let us all fully understand that every scientific fact is useful now, or will be in the near or remote future, at least, in helping us to understand and utilize the manifold stores of nature, and therefore has a bearing, either near or remote, on the welfare of man. As each brick or stone is of service in a building, so a place will be found for every truth wrested from nature. The proper measure of value is that of service, and that thing is of greatest value which will help man most in

his struggles upward to attain the goal for which he was created.

What have the scientists wrought, when measured by the standard mentioned, that will encourage us to our highest efforts to push forward with stronger determination and greater zeal the work committed to our hands by those who have labored with much success in the past?

Prophecy and revelation are to-day reserved for the scientist, as shown in his work, which involves the gathering of knowledge through observation, its classification, and the deduction of general principles connecting and explaining all the known facts, with the elimination of self, thus establishing the relation among phenomena. It is this kind of work that gives us the profound difference between the work of the nineteenth century and that of all the preceding ones.

One thing of the greatest value which science has taught humanity is the realization and appreciation of its discoveries. In a word, it has given to man a wide, open mind, ready and willing to learn any and all truth, from any and all sources, and to believe that any truth will be strengthened by submitting it to the most rigid and varied tests. It took centuries to convince mankind of the true form and motion of the heavenly bodies, of the great law of gravitation; but only one generation to make the great law of evolution generally accepted.

No one, who has studied the movements of the last century, can fail to be impressed with the large and ever increasing role that modern science has played. Most every phase of our thought and activity has been modified by the new materials introduced, and especially by its changing our viewpoint and our methods of work. Men have ceased to believe that any one man is good authority in every field of inquiry. We have reached a point in advancement where it is necessary to find out what the workers in any particular field say, and upon their conclusions to found our answers to any questions of inquiry in their special line of work. By the work of the scientists of the nineteenth century, every branch of learning and investigation is placed upon an equal footing, and those who would know all the truth must be content with a little knowledge in some one field of investigation, and a faithful reliance upon the workers in other lines for the truth or falsity of any statement in their particular field of work.

The day is past when any one can successfully deny the truthseeker the divine right of freedom to investigate, to put to the test any and all puzzling questions, and to publish his results. This retrospective study shows us that the scientific stimulus is the hunger to know, and its reverence and yearning are always picketed along the borders of the unknown, pioneering, peering into that wilderness where no one ever trod before, while the scientific spirit lingers behind, a promotor of the good, a strong ally to all that uplifts humanity, by keeping close to the facts and finding the proper relation of cause and effect, while its mission is to eliminate that which is untrue and hurtful, to augment all that is good and true, and to find all the avenues of service.

We sometimes hear of two classes of scientists: Those who give special attention to the discovery of the theories and laws of nature, the finding and study of truth in all its relations for its own sake and the advancement of knowledge; and those who emphasize the application of these facts in the various arts and industries. In a word, pure and applied science, the difference being that of emphasis. However, pure science is the foundation upon which all of its products are built, and of necessity must precede and blaze out the way whereby its applications may continue their activity in every sphere of life, giving to it increased vigor and power. As we glance over the history of man and study the factors that have contributed to his present advanced condition, we cannot fail to be impressed with the part that the various sciences have played. Thus, by its fruits we may measure its value.

We find science, in its applications, lifting burdens from the oppressed, placing man upon a higher plane of life with a greater control of the forces and materials of nature at his command, that he may use them for the betterment of his fellows. Science dignifies all the avocations of life, broadens the scope of man's influence, that he may come in touch with man wherever he may be, removes sectionalism and binds every race and nationality, as it were, into a single community. Mountains, deserts and oceans are no longer barriers between races, while the products of any single clime are familiar to all climes; also cheap and rapid transportation facilities, combined with quick and convenient means of communication, along with sanitary and architectural discoveries. and improvements, are relieving our greater centers of con