Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-30
SCIENCE IN WASHINGTON.
Wisdom Of Choosing National Capita
as Place Of Meeting.

as Place OF Meeting.
From the New York Tribune.
In the choice Of q place for holding their
annual meetings this week the American
Association for the Advancement Of Science
and the score Of affiliated bodies which
convene at the same time are peculiarly
fortunate. 1t would be hard to find city
in the United States whose public build
ings. scientific bureaus and historic edihces
equal those OF Washington In attractive
ness. Moreover, 1t is the permanent home
of an exceptionally large number Of inves-
tigators. some Of whom might have found
1t difficult to attend meeting anywhere
else. If, in the present instance, the noun
tain has gone to Mahomet, 1t will undoubt.
eddy be the gamer thereby.
The time selected for this weeks grouI
Of conferences Is an innovation. Hitherto
the scientific societies which hold only one
meeting annually have been about evenly
divided In their preferences between win
ter and summer. 1t remains to be seer
whether the change now made by many OF
them will prove wise or not. AS yet the
British Association for the Advancement OF
Science still clings to late summer or early
autumn. The failure Of that organization
to choose cold weather may be due. how.
ever simply to backwardness in taking ur
the question afresh. Possibly. too, the con.
trolling considerations OF convenience may
not be the same on both sides Of the At
lantic. At any rate. the change In this
country is something Of an experiment and
its outcome can only be discovered after
two or three years. If any mistake has
been made the special popularity Of Wash
fngton will more than compensate this year
for the drawbacks to the time now chosen.
Another novelty In the practice Of the
American association Is the elimination Of
certain social features which once formed
part Of its programs. Free excursions to
points Of interest have been abandoned.
Thnr0 mr. M
garden parties given by prominent local
residents Some Of the Independent organi-
Zations-the naturalists and botanists, for
instance-will have dinners and smokers,
but these will be at their own expense and
will not tax local hospitality. In conform
ity with a precedent which he established
some time ago Prof. Newcomb. president
of the Astronomical and Astrophysical So
ciety of America, will give a reception to
the members of that one body. Washing
ton does not entertain the American asso-
citation as such. The reason for initiating
this policy two years ago was desire OF
the management Of that organization to en-
joy greater freedom in picking out place
for its meetings. Such result must ensue
from the assurance given to any city which
1t visits that prominent citizens will not be
expected to do much for their guests. The
step Is a wise one, too, although 1t will tend
to diminish the attendance at the meetings.
It seems to have worked that way at Bel
fast last fall, when the British association
the class Of members who are discouraged
from attending by the abandonment Of
social attractions and cheap excursions
rarely promote scientific progress in any
way. A small body of enthusiastic workers
Is more valuable than q big aggregation Of
sightseers.
The legitimate attractions Of this week
are certainly strong enough to insure pro-
ceedings OF great interest. Asaph Hall, the
retiring president of the American associa-
ton. has been a popular hero ever since he
discovered the moons of Mars. His sue
cessor, Ira Remsen, Is not only at the head
of Johns Hopkins University, but also Of
the American Chemical Society. In the lat
ter capacity he will deliver an address
which cannot fail to possess value for
others besides men of his own profession.
Simon Newcomb who enjoys worldwide
reputa ton among astronomers, is expected
to contribute materially to the success of
thds meeting. The promised lectures Of
Russell and Heilprin on volcanoes should
also prove popular as we'll as able. Ora
ham Bells expected talk on flying machines
will derive interest both from the promt-
nence Of the man and public curiosity con-
corning the subject. Though the full text
Of the vice presidential addresses presented
yesterday is not yet available, there Is rea-
son to believe that these were fully up to
the average Of past years. Leaving out Of
consideration, then, the papers yet to be
contributed by members not holding office,
ample rewards for visit to the national
capital by scientific students this week are
already in evidence.