In the former essays of this volume I have earnestly maintained that scientific culture, rightly understood, is a suitable basis for a liberal education; and I have maintained this thesis without in any way attempting to disparage that literary culture hitherto so generally regarded as the only basis on which the liberal arts could be built. While, however, I have argued that, in the present condition of the world, there is more than one basis of true scholarship, I have fully admitted that for far the larger number of scholars, including all those whose lives are to be occupied with literary pursuits, the old system of education is still the best. Moreover, I have endeavored to point out that scientific culture in no way conflicts with literary culture; that it has a different spirit, a different method, I have used the term scientific culture rightly understood in order to mark a distinction; because a great deal that passes for scientific scholarship in the world does not imply true scientific culture. In all departments of learning, and not less in scientific than in literary studies, erudition does not necessarily imply a high degree of culture. We all value the labors of the lexicographer, and the work may be so done as to task the noblest intellectual power; but there is a higher form of literary culture than that which dictionary-making usually implies. So also in science, no amount of book-learning constitutes what we have called scientific culture rightly understood. For example, the ability to pass an examination on the facts and principles of science is no test whatever of the form of culture we are advocating. Not that we underrate the value of such tests, or of the knowledge they imply; but the ability to master a subject as presented in a text-book, and to state that knowledge in a concise and accurate form, is the normal result of literary, not of scientific So scientific culture implies the ability to interpret Nature, to observe her phenomena, and to investigate her laws. The scholar, to whom Nature presents merely an orderly succession of facts and phenomena, knows nothing of true scientific culture. As there is a spirit in the great writers of classical antiquity which ennobles the study of the forms in which the thoughts of Those who regard science simply as utilitarianism, and who value scientific studies solely because they teach men how to build railroads, to explore mines, to extract the useful metals from their ores, or to increase the yield of agriculture, have an even more imperfect conception of what is meant by scientific culture than those to We are well aware that practical men frequently regard with undisguised contempt the students of theoretical science, and that the greater number of persons seeking a scientific education must look for employment to the practical professions in which this tone too often We can not leave this subject without giving prominence to another thought, which has been ever present with us while writing these pages, if not hitherto distinctly stated. Culture, as we have seen, implies power, and the possession of power also involves corresponding obligations. Among the many blessings which Christianity and its attendant civilization have brought to mankind, the recognition of this principle is most plainly marked. But while this principle is, to a greater or less degree, acted upon in all relations of life, it is enforced by public opinion with special strictness upon those who assume to be the servants of the people. In political life the obligations it imposes are already very generally recognized; and still more strongly are they felt by the ministers of religion. The politician who uses his high position to promote his personal interests may sometimes escape his just deserts; but the clergyman who prostitutes his influence for private gains is universally condemned. So true is this, that a clergyman is debarred by his profession from many of the industries and occupations of life which are regarded as perfectly honorable callings for other men. A clergyman who speculated in stocks, or even engaged in a mercantile pursuit, would, with good reason, lose the respect of the very men who had Now, we hold that the profession of a scientific teacher implies an obligation not less binding than that which rests on the clergyman; and this is especially true if the teacher has been placed in a conspicuous and responsible position before the world. The teacher has been set apart as truly as the clergyman, and, if he uses the influence of his office merely as a means of accumulating wealth, he is not loyal to the profession which he has voluntarily assumed. Let me not be misunderstood. There are a thousand legitimate ways of earning a livelihood and acquiring wealth by means of the knowledge which scientific study gives; and a man has a right to use scientific knowledge for his worldly advancement as freely as any other knowledge. But the man who has accepted the post of a teacher, and receives the support to which his position entitles him, is bound to do the work of a teacher to the best of his ability, and to devote I am well aware that there is another side to this question. In many of our colleges the professor has an inadequate support, and is expected or even invited to It is undoubtedly in consequence of the inadequate support which scientific teachers generally receive in this country that public sentiment tolerates with them practices which sober judgment must condemn; and it must be remembered that under these circumstances a teacher, if he is faithful to the routine of his office, may devote his remaining energies to commercial work, not only without any consciousness of wrong-doing, but even with the approbation of his associates. Hence, it is the more important to establish firmly in the public mind the well-founded opinion that the endowed professorships of our higher institutions of learning are offices of public trust, to be administered solely for the public good. There is no hardship in this position; since perfectly legitimate and honorable avenues are opened to the scientific scholar, on which he may expend his business energies, and, These considerations will appear still more forcible if viewed in relation to the interest of the community in scientific culture to which we have already referred. This interest has not been overlooked, and in recent years a great many projects have been discussed for what is termed the "endowment of research"; and already very considerable funds are held by learned societies of the Old World, and smaller amounts by several societies of this country, which have been devoted to this object. But although means are thus furnished to a limited extent to pay the expenses of scientific investigations, and very considerable prizes are offered for the A more efficient means of cultivating science, and one which is certain, in the long run, to yield a far more An association of scholars acts in many ways to favor either literary or scientific production. In the first place, it leads to competition, which, although a low motive, is a very potent one in all forms of human activity. In the second place, the contact of minds engaged in similar studies leads the student to take a broader view of his subject, and to see it from the various points of view which the criticism of his associates may point out. Above all, work done in such associations is not done without observation, and there are present witnesses to attest the results, and publish them with the authority which is required to insure for them general acceptance. A great deal of scientific work is lost to the world because done in a corner, and buried in the transactions of local societies, from which it is not disinterred until the work has been repeated. The advantages of such association are only too evident to the numerous workers in science at the isolated colleges of this country, who are The teaching which a professorship implies, instead of being a hindrance, ought to be a great stimulus to scientific investigation. Of course, this influence is greatly impaired if, as in many of our colleges, the available energies of the teacher are exhausted by the daily routine of instruction, or by the outside work required to supplement his meager salary. But, if the teaching is only moderate in amount and in the direction of the pro Were it necessary to sustain the opinions here advanced by further illustrations, we need only point to the Royal Institution of Great Britain, which holds foundations like those we have advocated; for the names of Davy, Young, Faraday, Tyndal, and Dewar, are a conspicuous memorial of the very great success of such endowments in advancing physical science. It is obvious, however, that the endowment of professorships and fellowships will be of no value to the community unless it is understood that the incumbents are set apart for their special work; and the suggestion that such positions could be used to favor private ends, or as the basis of mercantile transactions, is sufficient to show how inconsistent such a practice is with the true conception of scientific culture. Our patent laws have a very marked and not altogether a beneficial influence on the scientific culture of the country. It is true that they foster mechanical ingenuity and inventive talent in certain directions, but they also set before the people a very low and mercenary standard of scientific attainment, upon which the popular notion of the utilitarian tendency of scientific studies is to a great extent based. No one can question that the In the first place, it may be questioned whether, in the present condition of our patent laws, they do not hinder more than they foster invention. Any one who has attempted to perfect a machine, or improve a chemical process, knows to what extent he is hampered on every side by patent rights, which often have no value to the holders except that which the new improvement may give to them. Again, the inventions which the patent laws foster are only those having an immediate pecuniary value, and it is often exceedingly simple contrivances—like the needle of a sewing-machine or a gaudy toy—which yield the greatest return; simply because they have been accommodated to present emergencies or to passing popular Now, every scientific investigator knows that the ordinary work of a physical or chemical laboratory frequently demands inventive ability of a high order, and that few important scientific results have been reached that have not involved inventions as worthy of admiration as the sewing-machines and power-looms which are so frequently cited as examples of the beneficent influence of our patent laws; and the question arises, is it for the interest of the community to promote one class of inventions more than the other? Certainly, if we consider either the sacrifice involved, or the ultimate good which eventually results to the community, there can not be a moment's question which class is the most valuable or most worthy of commendation. Yet the patent laws not only give their immense prizes solely to inventions of immediate utility, but also tend to raise a false estimate of the intrinsic value of such inventions in the public mind. Some writers have gone to the extreme of claiming that a man has the same right in his inventions or discoveries that an author has in his books; but this claim will not bear analysis. The first duty of a government is to Moreover, it is seldom if ever the case that a useful invention, meeting a popular want, and therefore having a large commercial value, is in any sense the product of one man. As a general rule, the patentee who enjoys the right to the invention has actually added to the old stock only a single detail. It may be that this detail was the one thing required to make the invention practically useful; but it is certain that the addition could never have been made if the previous knowledge had not existed, and it is at least an open question whether the community ought to grant to the last man an exclusive right to the whole inheritance. Volta discovered—invented, if you please—the mode of generating a current of low-tension electricity, which has been ever since, with certain modifications, in general use; Oersted and AmpÉre discovered the magnetic effects of this electrical current; Faraday, again, learned how to produce an There is of course another side to the question, and I freely admit the difficulty of the problem which our patent laws present; but I feel that in their present condition they do more harm than good, and do injustice more frequently than they protect right. I greatly doubt if it is safe to grant by statute property in any invention or discovery beyond the definite mechanical contrivance in which it is for the time embodied. To grant the sole use of a well-known power of Nature to produce a specific effect, although the effect be a novel one; to give the monopoly of a process of Nature to the man who was In this connection it must be remembered that the discoverer or inventor himself rarely reaps the fruit of his sagacity or skill; but his rights, frequently purchased for a song, are made the basis of great business enterprises in which he has little or no share. On such a slender basis have frequently been built up huge monopolies, in which the patent laws have been made the instruments of oppressive exactions, and have become the nucleus of a most complex system of usages and legal decisions, by which the original intent of the laws has been wholly overlaid, and to a great extent nullified. Certainly, there ought to be some limit to the inventor's claims on a grateful people. Admit to the utmost the inventor's merit; rank him in the fore front of the long procession of the great benefactors of the human race; rank him before Faraday, before Volta, and before Newton; rank him before Washington and the Fathers of the Republic; rank him before the patriots and martyrs who have died in the defense of human rights, or in attestation of the truth: and yet, in virtue of these tran It is not, however, our intention to discuss the abuses of the patent laws, much less to suggest the required remedies. We clearly see the difficulties of the subject, and we perceive that it involves questions, both of political economy and of jurisprudence, with which we are not competent to deal. Our interest is solely to maintain the dignity of scientific culture, and to demand for it the respect to which it is entitled; but which is seriously compromised by the mercenary and utilitarian spirit that the patent laws encourage and make prominent. We are most anxious that the intelligence of our people should fully recognize the fact that, among the students of science in this practical age, there is such a thing as devotion to the truth for the truth's sake; that throughout the length and breadth of these United States may be found many an earnest student of Nature who, under great disadvantages, and often at great personal sacrifice, is devoting the noblest intellectual power, and the highest inventive skill, to the sole end of ad
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