SCIENCE CONGRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22596, 8 December 1936, Page 8

SCIENCE CONGRESS

A most interesting and instructive occasion will be the meeting in Auckland next month of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. In his presidential address to the British Association, Sir Josiah Stamp discussed the impact of science on society, and commented favourably on a suggestion for an inventions clearing-house to coordinate the scientific, social and industrial phases of invention, and to reduce the lag between invention and application. Although Sir Josiah had in mind a permanent organisation, the British Association and its Antipodean first cousin, the Australian and New Zealand Association, periodically perform part of the service he considers desirable. At the forthcoming Auckland meetings, some 250 scientists from all parts of Australia and New Zealand will assemble in plenary and sectional meetings to compare notes. They will exchange information on the latest discoveries in their various fields of study and research, and no doubt there will be opportunities for co-relation of results with a view to fresh advances. Its potential value can hardly be exaggerated, and it is fitting that the New Zealand and various Australian Governments offer the congress their active encouragement. So far as the public is concerned, the date of the meetings falls, rather unfortunately, in the middle of January, but, as Dr. G. Waterhouse has emphasised, to some degree the ultimate success of the congress will depend on the attitude and support of the citizens of Auckland. No doubt they will appreciate the honour done the city and can be relied on to give the congress full support, especially on the social side. The scientists, on their part, hope by delivering popular lectures to interest the public by bringing them into touch with modern thought on scientific problems. '