VALUE OF SCIENCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19140, 8 October 1936, Page 15

VALUE OF SCIENCE

PROFESSOR'S ADVOCACY APPRECIATION NEEDED That a bettor appreciation audi » wider application of science was needed 'in New Zealand was the view expressed ty Professor 1\ \Y. Burbidge, of the Auckland University, in an address Riven to tile Hamilton. Rotary Club. Professor Burbidge urged that more general scientific subjects should be taught, in the schools, and that the educational system should be. planned to suit the requirements of the country. _ New Zealand was primarily an agricultural country, and more attention should ho giVen to the. teaching of agricultural science, lie said. The New 'Zealand University was modelled on the London University, with a touch of the Scottish institution. In other words, it was an urban university wrongly oriented to an agricultural country. It. had "'" been planned for New Zealand. Dealing with the need for education and science in the Civil Service, Professor Burbidge said the Post and Telegraph Department.-was'becoming efficient because it was employing better educated and scientifically-trained men. lie really thought, however, that the Kailway Department was inefficient. Men employed by the department, had the greatest difficulty in securing leave to attend the university. ; . Professor Burbidge considered that 1 New Zealand was to be well governed it must have an efficient Civil Service, and to have an efficient Civil Service it must pay attractive salaries to scien-tilcally-trai'ned men. The need for scientific knowledge was everywhere apparent in New Zealand.