GERMAN SCIENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 187, 7 August 1916, Page 4

GERMAN SCIENCE.

So much has been both said and written by Germans themselves on the subject of their marvellous scientific discoveries that it is interesting to analyse some of these claims and see how far they are borne out by the actual facts. It was the custom of the Kaiser previous to the war to be lectured by some distinguished professor every Christmas on the scientific discoveries and developments made in his kingdom during the preceding twelve months. In 1912 this lecture was delivered by Professor Emil Fischer, who claimed no less than fifteen important chemical discoveries as having been made by Germans during the year under review. These claims were subjected to a close analysis by the late Sir William Ramsay, with the result that he wa9 able to show that only four of them were really discovered by Germans, though in the case of the rest Germans had taken the discoveries of others and worked them out for commercial purposes. He contended that German science was not strong in the field of discovery, but that German talent lay rather in appropriating ideas and making money out of 'other people's brains. The four purely German discoveries were tonone, a stuff having the odour of violets and of no very great significance; salvarsan, a remedy which has proved highJy useful, and for which the discoverer, Khrlich, deserves every credit; synthetic caffein, which, however, has not proved a great success; and calcium cyanoniide, an alternative ; method of combining nitrogen for the purpose of obtaining artificial nitrates. In addition, the Germans are entitled to a half share in the discovery of suprarenin, but many medical men doubt whether this is really any advance on the original adrenalin. So that their original fifteen discoveries work out to only four and a-half, and of these only one is of really great importance, the others having only a limited valne. No fewer than eight and a-half of these alleged German discoveries were in reality due to English scientists. Radiothorium, which the Germans claim as the discovery of Otto Hahn, was in reality discovered by Sir William Ramsay, who gave Hahn the material, and told Mm what to do. Hahn worked it out, and did it well, as most Germans do, bat he could never have done this if he had not first been given the material to work on. Mauveine, which has played such an important part in the development of the colour industry, was discovered by an Englishman. Two London analysts, Cross and Bevan, began the manufacture of artificial silk long before the Germans took it up, and in the same way the discovery of electrolytic iron was made possible by the work of Tracey. The electrical osii-iion of nitrogen and the

consequent manufacture of artificial nitrates from the air was based on the early work of Priestley and Cavendish, which was subsequently developed by Crookes and Rayleigh. In this case the Germans can hardly claim that they made it commercially possible, since the first works on a large scale were started at Christiania by two Norwegians named Birkeland and Eyde. Great stress was laid by Professor Fischer on artificial rubber, but this was really discovered as far back as 1888 by Tilder, and, though the Germans have done much in the way of developing the process, yet the best practicable method of making rubber economically is still in the hands of an English firm. In the same way artificial camphor and imitation amber were discovered by a Frenchman and a Belgian, respectively. The process of manufacturing aniline dyes was discovered by an Englishman, but the commercial development of the process has been almost purely German. Ko one would wish to deny that Germany has done wonders in the way of developing scientific discoveries and making them commercially payable, and we have doubtless much to learn from them in the way of technical instruction and the making of education bear more directly on the actual needs of daily life. But it is well to remember that in the field of research English scientists have more than held their own, and it is no fault of theirs if we have left it to other nations to reap the commercial benefits of discoveries made by men of our own race.