SCIENCE AND PROGRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18679, 8 April 1924, Page 10

SCIENCE AND PROGRESS.

BENEFIT TO HUMAN RACE. ROTARY GLTJB ADDRESS. The address at the weekly meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club yesterday was given by. Professor J. C. Johnson, of the Auckland University College, who took for his subject " Science and Human Progress." Professor Johnson sketched the history of scientific development, giving due weight to the speculations of the ancients and the students of the middle ages, but dwelt mainly upon the advance made since the 18th and 19th centuries, when the invention of precise measuring instruments made accurate analysis possible and enabled the formulation of definite scientific laws. Proceeding, he indicated the progress that had since then been made in medicine, —especially in its antiseptic and aseptic forms and the us* of. anti-toxins—and sanitary science, and pointed out how, paradoxically, the advance in the means of conserving life had been paralleled by the employment of science in the destruction of life on the battlefield. The service of science to the causes of commerce and navigation, tho invention® in' electricity, in means of communication between peoples, and in \.he cae of synthetic dyes and drugs, were duly pointed out. Then the lecturer dealt with the utility to agriculture of soil analysis, thu benefits that the study of genetics, notably through Mendel, had conferred upon the improvement of stock-breeding and the advantage to mankind's food supply of the evolution of dis-ease-resisting wheat. He also referred to the great work done in regard to forestry, veterinary science, dentistry, ethnology, and the study of the habits of man in anthropology. While extolling the service of science to humanity, the professor entered a note of warning as to the danger that scientific development might lead to the overwhelming of the spiritual side of culture. Vocal items by Miss Rosa Kidson and Mr. H. T. Merritt formed the entertainment portion of the proceedings.