TOIL OF SCIENCE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 64, 12 September 1912, Page 2

TOIL OF SCIENCE

FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD NEW ZEALAND ENTHUSIASTS. Quietly, but systematically and thoroughlyj members of the New Zealand Philosophical Institute work for the benefit of their country. Many of them, at their own expense, labour long hours in the quest of knowledge to give an advantage to people who accept the gift without much thought of the trouble . taken by investigators. The other day the Philosophic Institute of Canterbury celebrated its jubilee, and a prominent member, Dr. L. Cockayne, whose botanical research has made his, name honoured in other countries, referred to the valuable services of a long line .of scientists in- New Zealand. "As to what we do for education," he said, " our branch, together with the other branches of the New Zealand Institute, forms the climax of the education system of the Dominion in the stimulating and practising research, the highest function of This, in older countries, is carried out, in part, by the universities, whereas our colleges are, as yet, mainly teaching bodies. "It is for the public good that science works. Let the scientist cease his labours throughout the world, and civilisation would be at a standstill. Nor could , civilisation remain stationary at its present stage. 'Any civilisation depends upon a sufficient supply of available energy. In the ancient civilisation the leisure for literature and art, which then attained such grandeur, depended on the mechanical energy Bupplied by the above. Our energy now comes from coal. The sunlight which fell on the earth aeons ago stored up in coal has supplied that great Btore of energy which has turned the civilised world into one great manufactory. But the coal supply is not inexhaustible. We are living on our capital, and indeed squandering it. When used up, what is to take its place? Here, in New j Zealand we might have cried, ' Our forests.' But they are nearly gone, shamefully wasted. And this waste goes on to r day." After referring to the possibilities of water-power, Dr. Cockayne referred to the prospect of science developing other sources of power. ".Rutherford," he said, "has shown that the old dream of the alchemists may perhaps be accomplished. If the atom can be broken up the supply of energy set free would be enormous. One tone of radium would do the work of a million and ahalf tons of coal. The energy set free would work the whole of the New Zealand railways for seven years. To transmute the elements seems beyond the wildest dreams of man. But, remember that the ' apparently impossible has become a part of our daily life. Who, then, can declare that any problem, however difficult, is impossible of solution? There was little hint- of the moving picture show in the blackening of a silver salt by light. Obviously the scientist governs the future. Think of the effect o.* our social system of a food cheaply synthesised from air and water. This is done by every green plant daily. Our country's progress and that of the world depends upon the number, quality, and zeal of the men of Science. They must ever remain highly trained ; they are the ultimate makers of our wealth and the rulers of Our destinies. "Research is expensive, and were it not that 90 per cent, of the cost is found by the scientist himself, for his work is all in all to him, it would remain undone, ils this a fair or even a rational state of affairs? Further, when money is voted for science it is frequently misapplied. For any Government, a board of scientific advice is necessary. Happily such a board could easily be < formed in New Zealand ; indeed, it is ready for. the asking in the Council of the New Zealand Institute, which represents all branches of science."