CHAIR OF PHYSICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 564, 20 July 1909, Page 5

CHAIR OF PHYSICS.

WELLINGTON'S NEW PfiOFESSOR. THE EXAMINATION FETISH. COLONIAL STUDENTS AT ENGI2SH UNIVERSITIES. After a successful career st Cambridge, to whioh seat of learning bo tant as an 1851 Exhibition ', soholar,'; Professor T. H: Laby, formerly of the University of Sydney, arrived, at Brisbane by the R.M.S, Mokura Borne days ago, and is now in Sydney on his way to Wellington, N.Z., (states , tho Sydney! "Daily Tolcgrapli" of July 13). There ho will , fill tho Chair of Physics, and an , apprentice-1 ship servod under the great Professor J. J., Thomson should prove of eminent advantage to tho young scholar, who only learned on his arrival in the Queensland capital that tho Sudbury Hardynian Research Prize had boon, addod to his list of hononrs. % * Professor I Laby's own particular oollogo was EinamieL| home of rcscaioh work. Emanuel has gained! , Buch a unique' position that, intending! • students are Hocking tliere, anxious to ebaro' in the distinctions boo offers. Student Llfo. Australian students at tho English' Uni-» versitiea como under Professor Laby's observation. "Tho trouhlo often seenie to bo," ho said" to an ■ interviewer, "that tho Australian expects the Englishman to conform to his ideas and customs, "without being prepared to make oor.cesmnoe in his turn. This is scarcely a logical assumption, and* a now student would do well to acknowledgethe, position and try and become part trndl parcel of tho institution. When ho doew come to this decision th*re are no difßerfticil end tho mon soom to got on together won-, dorfully well, Of'course, it must bo under-/ 'stood that English Universities, or ratheri I should confine myself to Oxford and Cam-', bndgo, do not allow students anything like tho Same liberties as Australian Universities > ' do. During term tho undergraduate atCambridgo is placed under many restrictions. There _ has, moreover, been a dis-' tinct change in manner of recent years as regerds conduct at lectures. Formerly, perhaps, it was thought quite the thing to rag ono's professor or lecturer when he was doing his best to enlighten tho class. Such a thing is getting to bo looked upon as rank bad form." It was a .moot point, in the opinion of i many critics, as to'whether the aspirations of tlie great Empire-builder, Cecil Rhodos, 'Would ho realised in his sohemo for ibring-' ing togothor the youth from distant parts of litnpiro to ono common academic fountain.. Professor Lahy was questioned as to how 1 the schemo was working. Wero tho men,[ * becoming merged in tho general .mass, or had tho formation of a numbor of different' cliques resulted P ' "From personal experience, , I cannot" . answer," he said, "as there aro no Rhodes . ' scholars at Cambridge. This is. I thittk, a matter for distinct regret. Of course,' I speak as a Cambridge man, and may perhaps be prejudiced, but I think Oxonians' * will admit that Cambridgo is tho more pro-' gressivo institution of tho two. But of, course, it is too Into for the matter to bo' rectified now, ,and Cambridge and tho Rhodes . scholar will never bo associated. It will be i' mtorcs'thig to note as to how this different I system will affect the future of the two bodies. I have been told by Oxford men' ' that tho Rhodes scholars are doing well there, Irat their advont has not yet made any tremendous difference." The Examination System. j ' Professor, Laby' has eomo strong rieire on - tho "examination fetish," "Tho etandawl required for a pass in each faoulty at Sydney is higher than that in 'Cambridge, but the honours standard is lower," lie observed. "Here the Australian is faced with difficulty For many reasons, of which not the least is financo, «o is mostly unable to. got to England until older than tie men he, moots in ! academic rivalry. It has been proved by statistics that for examination purposes a i man is at his best at 23. although.it, has novor been assorted 'that his intellect is then ' fully developed or his powers of observation nponod. ■ Yet for purely set examination ' purposes, he will reach' his highest mark at'' that age, Surely this to forcibly illustrate tho very weak point of tho examination system, to some jjooplo a very fetish. Ai university is nbw judged outsido by tho j amount of research work it turns out." The ordinary features are but of local interest: > they may bo very admirablo indeed, but it' is research work that attracts the attention ■ of the Old AA'orld institution. Thd resoarcJ: i degrees at Cambridgo aro a distinct test. , I They aro competed for by picked men from i tho universities of tho Empire, and as only / about 50 per cent, of these pass tho final tost, tho success is by no means easily earned. ' ] Distinguished Colonials. | After paying a warm tribute to his old • chief at the Cavendish Laboratory, Professor • J. J. Thomson, "a professor at tho unpre- I codentodly early ago of 26, and who now, I aftor 2o years labour, is readily aclmow-j lodged 'tho , physicist of Britain," Professor Laby alluded to tho successes achieved by Australians. First Professor ' Grafton Elliot Smith, tbon Professor Rutherford, of , Now Zealand, who left the Dominion for j Cambridge in 1885, and who in his first year there was ,ablo to send tireless telcgraphio signals from the CavendUi Laboratory to his rooms. Later lio made an important discovery in tho certain magnetic property of . ,' iron, which enabled telegraphic messages to be taken in tho absenco or the receiver of the messago, a process now gcncrallv used in wireless telegraphy Since then Profossor Rutherford uas not proved idle, and tho quality of his researches has been startling, more so when taken in conjunction with their quality. Then there was ■ Mr. "T. Q. ; Taylor, whoso success was so recently, ea- | nounced; he has since had his 1851 scholar- ■ ship especially renewed, iuid is now working on a toxt-tiook, more particularly relating to Australia,/ which gives a lot of information ' at present unavailable. Then Mr. R. KloqI man, of Adelaide, whose researches in olcctriI city have been so successful; ho was recently awarded tho M'Kiniion Scholarship, a very high distinction, open to workers in physics, chemistry, geology, and astronomy. And ~ finally Mr. K H. AVollisch, nil old Fort Strcot boy, a first-class honours graduate of' Sydney University, and latterly B.A. (Research), Cambridge. '"Easily the most brilliant Australasian who has been to Cam-., bridge sinco Kiitbciford's time," is the generous way his contemporary and friend sums up his qualifications.