Some aspects of the endowment of research.

  • Donaldson, Henry Herbert, 1857-1938.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Some aspects of the endowment of research. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    nent, academies and societies for genera- tions have had at their disposal no incon- siderable sums of money—indeed, in many instances, far greater sums than we are wont to imagine, ^l^e expenditure of these moneys has been mainly for work outside the natural sciences, but even within this latter group biological work has had the lesser share. This is said in no spirit of complaint, but merely to suggest why this condition of affairs in the scientific world at large is so rarely forced on our attention. But there are still other ways in which the exijenses of scientific work have been defrayed. States and nations, as well as individuals, have been contributors. The former have expended really great sums on the various branches of science in the con- duct of surveys, commissions, bureaus, ob- servatories and expeditions. The move- ment has been coextensive with the civilized world, and the outlay much greater than that for the corre.sponding scientific work in institutions of higher learning. On this topic it is not necessary to enlarge, but I will only add that the work accomplished has been enormous and without state aid would have been well-nigh impossible. It is plain, however, that we should dis- tinguish in a general way between govern- mental science work supported from the public funds and the other kinds, repre- sented by university science and that which has developed under the special endow- ments for research, for the responsibilities of the investigation are often very different in the two cases. But these distinctions need not be elaborated, and are here noted merely for the sake of clearness later on. My point is made, if by these remarks your attention is directed to the fact that the endowments, which to-day are to us best known, stand merely as the latest in a long list of gifts left with the hope of aid- ing the advance in knowledge, and if these bequests of the last few years are in any way peculiar, they are chiefly so by the reason of the generosity of the donors and the arrangement of the donations to in- clude biology. Yet, if we take the broadest view of the situation, as represented by the scientific returns, it appears that it is within the universities that the more advanced and fundamental scientific work has been ac- complished. It is possible that this last remark will not command unqualified assent; and yet when the smoke of argument has cleared away it will, I think, remain essentially unmodified. But in reaching your con- clusions, I beg you to remember that in an address like this it is necessary to speak broadly and to trust that one will be gen- erously understood. To present rightly the reasons for uni- versity productiveness, it will be needful first to say a word concerning the normal progress of scientific interest and also to make a little more precise the idea of re- search. As this company is well aware, interest in any scientific field passes through a regular series of progressive phases. At- tention and effort are first concentrated on the collection and classification of the material. This constitutes what may be termed the systematic phase. But only after this portion of the task has been in some measure accomplished, can compari- son and experimentation be undertaken as a basis for inductions which shall yield new knowledge and enlarge our philosophic view. It is the sort of work that characterizes this second phase of our advancing interest which is best designated by the term re- search, and in this paper we use the word in such a sense.