THE SUPERIOR BRAIN

Evening Star, Issue 16037, 14 February 1916, Page 1

THE SUPERIOR BRAIN

BRITISH SCIENCE AND /METHODS. At the opening; meeting of the Royal Society of Arts in London, Mr Dugald Clerk, chairman for tho year, devoted his address to a defence'of England's position under the title of <; English and German Methods Contrasted." 0 Hesaid that engineers, chemists, literary men, politicians, and an admiral had all protested in effect that our methods were inferior to the Germans'. According to this- school of thought wo could only bo saved from national, industrial, and scientific extinction by humbly following the German load and copying_ her institutions as closely as our limited intelligence permitted. 'Was all this true? It was quite true that Germans now manufactured more steel pr annum than ourselves, that thoy supplied us with dyes for use in our textilo industries, that they organised industry for the purpose of raising prices, and carried out the Kartell system so as to produce powerful combinations of separate business organisations. It was true also that for many years they had directed their organisations to the purpose of war. It was also true that Lord Fisher effected the great North Sea concentration of our fleet: and that England designed tho Dreadnought type of battleship, and invented numberless mechanisms to make it a success. While German chemists predominated in dyes, whole districts of Germany depended for the prosperity of their textile mills on yarn spun in Lancashire, and on machinery made there. A number of German industries absolutely depended on England for their success. If comparative magnitude of industries *va. ; ; to be taken a.i a standard of success, then England could point to her shipbuilding, marine ongineeriny, her ocean-carrying trade, her cotton a:;.I woollen textile industries, her huge coal-mining industry, and others i.u v.iiieh she was supreme in the vrorid. l":io br/ting c.cie.utiiic work of England ■■■. as. always brilliant, farreaching, and early in the held. Practically ail fundamental discoveries in science h.i;i originated in England, France, or Italy. Germany's scientific work v.v..v undoubtedly important, but it was always of what may be called the " pedestrian " type, hard-working and plodding, but -nth little foresight or brilliancy. (!■• compared •!-,.■ :•<•■ hievemouts of .licithm and Goro.i:,ji.-; hi

scientific research :ind invention—particularly in electricity, including u i; in steam power, rnilwr.y l:;ii!..vi::.';, ;i>i<l airplane produetii.<:i. and s;iid the inevitable conclusion hj" Hiri/ed at, w;is that England ooinpaivd io advantage with Germany ::; ail the arts of peace. In war, as in peace, judged by success, England's methods were not inferior to those, of Germany. The German brain was, according to .Buckle, deductive, while the English brain was inductive. The deductive brain, allied to stupidity and a curious irrelevance, was characteristically German, and often produced absurd results. The inductive system treated formal logic with contempt, and this was characteristic of the English intellect. English inventors had been almost invariably inductive. All the appearance called "unpractical," "illogical," or "muddling through," was but appearance. "England is not unpractical," Mr Clerk concluded; "she is the most practical nation in the world. She is not formally logical, but she is idealistic, her ideal being that of freedom for her sons and for the whole world of nations, small and large alike." The ©ye of the vulture is so constructed that it is a high-power telescope, enabling the bird to see objects at an almost increditable distance. During some recent explorations at Porqpeii, an ancient kitchen was unearthed. In the fireplace there, was a kettle on the grate, just as it was left 1 ; 800 odd years ago by some cook residing in that old city.