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Page 2
What will be the fourth advance, and how will it be brought about? To
answer this question we must consider the various ways in which
astronomy, and for that matter any other science, may be advanced.
First, by educating astronomers. There are many observatories where
excellent instruction in astronomy is given, either to the general
student or to one who wishes to make it his profession. At almost any
active observatory a student would be received as a volunteer assistant.
Unfortunately, few young men can afford to accept an unpaid position,
and the establishment of a number of fellowships each offering a small
salary sufficient to support the student would enable him to acquire the
necessary knowledge to fill a permanent position. The number of these
scholarships should not be large, lest more students should undertake
the work than would be required to fill the permanent paying positions
in astronomy, as they become vacant.
In Europe, a favorite method of aiding science is to offer a prize for
the best memoir on a specified subject. On theoretical grounds this is
extremely objectionable. Since the papers presented are anonymous and
confidential, no one but the judges know how great is the effort wasted
in duplication. The larger the prize, the greater the injury to science,
since the greater will be the energy diverted from untried fields. It
would be much wiser to invite applications, select the man most likely
to produce a useful memoir, and award the prize to him if he achieved
success.
The award of a medal, if of great intrinsic value, would be an unwise
expenditure. The Victoria Cross is an example of a successful
foundation, highly prized, but of small intrinsic value. If made of
gold, it would carry no greater honor, and would be more liable to be
stolen, melted down or pawned.
Honorary membership in a famous society, or honorary degrees, have great
value if wisely awarded. Both are highly prized, form an excellent
stimulus to continued work, and as they are both priceless, and without
price, they in no way diminish the capacity for work. I recently had
occasion to compare the progress in various sciences of different
countries, and found that the number of persons elected as foreign
associates of the seven great national societies of the world was an
excellent test. Eighty-seven persons were members of two or more of
these societies. Only six are residents of the United States, while an
equal number come from Saxony, which has only a twentieth of the
population. Of the six residents here, only three were born in the
United States. Not a single mathematician, or doctor, from this country
appears on the list. Only in astronomy are we well represented. Out of a
total of ten astronomers, four come from England, and three from the
United States. Comparing the results for the last one hundred and fifty
years, we find an extraordinary growth for the German races, an equally
surprising diminution for the French and other Latin races, while the
proportion of Englishmen has remained unchanged.
A popular method of expending money, both by countries and by
individuals, is in sending expeditions to observe solar eclipses. These
appeal both to donors and recipients. The former believe that they are
making a great contribution to science, while the latter enjoy a long
voyage to a distant country, and in case of clouds they are not expected
to make any scientific return. If the sky is clear at the time of the
eclipse, the newspapers of the next day report that great results have
been secured, and after that nothing further is ever heard. Exceptions
should be made of the English Eclipse Committee and the Lick
Observatory, which, by long continued study and observation, are
gradually solving the difficult problems which can be reached in this
way only.
The gift of a large telescope to a university is of very doubtful value,
unless it is accompanied, first, by a sum much greater than its cost,
necessary to keep it employed in useful work, and secondly, to require
that it shall be erected, not on the university grounds, but in some
region, probably mountainous or desert, where results of real value can
be obtained.
Having thus considered, among others, some of the ways in which
astronomy is not likely to be much advanced, we proceed to those which
will secure the greatest scientific return for the outlay. One of the
best of these is to create a fund to be used in advancing research,
subject only to the condition that results of the greatest possible
value to science shall be secured. One advantage of this method is that
excellent results may be obtained at once from a sum, either large or
small. Whatever is at first given may later be increased indefinitely,
if the results justify it. One of the wisest as well as the greatest of
donors has said: "Find the particular man," but unfortunately, this plan
has been actually tried only with some of the smaller funds. Any one who
will read the list of researches aided by the Rumford Fund, the
Elizabeth Thompson Fund or the Bruce Fund of 1890 will see that the
returns are out of all proportion to the money expended. The trustees of
such a fund as is here proposed should not regard themselves as patrons
conferring a favor on those to whom grants are made, but as men seeking
for the means of securing large scientific returns for the money
entrusted to them. An astronomer who would aid them in this work, by
properly expending a grant, would confer rather than receive a favor.
They should search for astronomical bargains, and should try to purchase
results where the money could be expended to the best advantage. They
should make it their business to learn of the work of every astronomer
engaged in original research. A young man who presented a paper of
unusual importance at a scientific meeting, or published it in an
astronomical journal, would receive a letter inviting him to submit
plans to the trustees, if he desired aid in extending his work. In many
cases, it would be found that, after working for years under most
unfavorable conditions, he had developed a method of great value and had
applied it to a few stars, but must now stop for want of means. A small
appropriation would enable him to employ an assistant who, in a short
time, could do equally good work. The application of this method to a
hundred or a thousand stars would then be only a matter of time and
money.
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