The Washington herald., 1909-05-04
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

seuger from worlds unknown. the meteor
Z ite. through which astronomy yet hopes
10 solve the problem Of the birth Of the
universe And SOmin NeWcomb. that
plain country lad who has claimed the at
tention Of the whole scientific world by
his researches and his genius. Is one OF
/ the two English-speaking members OF the
I Freroa Academy, the other being Lord
Kelvin.
The expansion OF the membership OF the
I learned societies OF America during the
/ last decade is one Of the hopeful signs
for the future Of American triumphs In
the fields Of scientific discovery. II is
estimated that the membership IN these
societies has increased as much as one
third since the opening OF the century
and many Of the societies themselves
have been born since that time. In addi-
ton 20 this. another hopeful sign is the
growing number OF higher institutions for
scientific work and education England
has not as many; France is outranked by
America; only Germany IS left 10 excel Us
il the number OF such institutions. and
even Germany is gradually being over
taken
IN the past hundred years man has been
amassing new human knowledge al a
greater rate than he has been able to
digest it There are vast stOrehouses Of
il in every center OF learning in the world
that are as Yet unavailable 10 the great
mass OF students Just at The present
time there IS wholesale movement on
foot 10 make it available That is one Of
the works 10 which the Carnegie Institu-
ton OF Washington has committed Itself
It's index medicus. being an index 10 the
current medical literature Of the world. is
an excellent example Its handbook OF
learned societies is another. It's Indexes
10 the economic material Of the United
States Government, and in The archives
OF the various States and cities serve the
students as the blazed way serves the pio-
neer IN the wilderness.
What is perhaps the most remarkable
effort that has vet been put forth 10 make
the stores OF knowledge available IS that
being carried on IN England under the
Royal Society II is a card index OF the
scientific literature OF the world begin
ming with 1901 Some thirty nations are
engaged in The effort 10 make this the
most comprehensive. complete index IN
Christendom. The work is progressing
slowly But when It is completed ft will
be so thorough that nothing more need be
desired There have been many difficult
ties 10 encounter in the laying out and
making OF this index Nations have had
TO be led 20 appreciate its importance. A
million details had 10 be arranged and
provided for And it is interesting 70 note
that II is TO an American that must be
given the credit for the idea Of an inter
nationally-made index OF this nature Il
was Joseph Henry. first head OF the
Smithsonian Institution, who made Il,
His suggestion grew from one stage 20
another until Il has reached its present
proportions.
The outlook for profitable scientific re-
search IN America is regarded as parJicu-
larry bright to-day. WiJh The Wright
Brothers Offering what appears TO be the
real solution OF the problem OF navigat-
ing the air the twentieth century IS
starting out well from the American
standpoint With hundreds Of endowed
institutions bringing the tremendous pres
sure OF unlimited resources, unbounded
zeal and determination. and infinite pa
tience 10 bear on the problems OF science
yet unsolved, there is reason 10 believe
that the next half century VIII leave no
one the right 70 complain that America is
a star Of the second magnitude IN the
armament OF helpful research.
Copyright. Ise. b Frederic J. Haszin)