Decline of Science in England by Charles Babbage (red white royal blue txt) π
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Secretary of the Royal Society, or of an adviser to the
Admiralty.
With respect to honorary officers, the case is in some measure
different. But the President of a society, although not
recompensed by any pecuniary remuneration, enjoys a station, when
the body over which he presides possesses a high character, to
which many will aspire, who will esteem themselves amply repaid
for the time they devote to the office, by the consequence
attached to it in public estimation. He, therefore, is
answerable to the Society for his conduct in their chair.
There are several societies in which the secretaries, and other
officers, have very laborious duties, and where they are unaided
by a train of clerks, and yet no pecuniary remuneration is given
to them. Science is much indebted to such men, by whose quiet and
unostentatious labours the routine of its institutions is carried
on. It would be unwise, as well as ungrateful, to judge severely
of the inadvertencies, or even of the negligence of such persons:
nothing but weighty causes should justify such a course.
Whilst, however, I contend for the principle of discussion and
inquiry in its widest sense, because I consider it equally the
safeguard of our scientific as of our political institutions, I
shall use it, I hope, temperately; and having no personal
feelings myself, but living in terms of intercourse with almost
all, and of intimacy with several of those from whom I most
widely differ, I shall not attempt to heap together all the
causes of complaint; but, by selecting a few in different
departments, endeavour to convince them that some alteration is
essentially necessary for the promotion of that very object which
we both by such different roads pursue.
I have found it necessary, in the course of this volume, to speak
of the departed; for the misgovernment of the Royal Society has
not been wholly the result of even the present race. It is said,
and I think with justice, in the life of Young, inserted amongst
Dr. Johnsonβs, that the famous maxim, βDE MORTUIS NIL NISI
BONUM,β βappears to savour more of female weakness than of manly
reason.β The foibles and the follies of those who are gone, may,
without injury to society, repose in oblivion. But, whoever
would claim the admiration of mankind for their good actions,
must prove his impartiality by fearlessly condemning their evil
deeds. Adopt the maxim, and praise to the dead becomes
worthless, from its universality; and history, a greater fable
than it has been hitherto deemed.
Perhaps I ought to apologize for the large space I have devoted
to the Royal Society. Certainly its present state gives it no
claim to that attention; and I do it partly from respect for its
former services, and partly from the hope that, if such an
Institution can be of use to science in the present day, the
attention of its members may be excited to take steps for its
restoration. Perhaps I may be blamed for having published
extracts from the minutes of its proceedings without the
permission of its Council. To have asked permission of the
present Council would have been useless. I might, however, have
given the substance of what I have extracted without the words,
and no one could then have reproached me with any infringement of
our rules: but there were two objections to that course. In the
first place, it is impossible, even for the most candid, in all
cases, to convey precisely the same sentiment in different
language; and I thought it therefore more fair towards those from
whom I differed, as well as to the public, to give the precise
words. Again: had it been possible to make so accurate a
paraphrase, I should yet have preferred the risk of incurring the
reproach of the Royal Society for the offence, to escaping their
censure by an evasion. What I have done rests on my own head;
and I shrink not from the responsibility attaching to it.
If those, whose mismanagement of that Society I condemn, should
accuse me of hostility to the Royal Society; my answer is, that
the party which governs it is not the Royal Society; and that I
will only admit the justice of the accusation, when the whole
body, becoming acquainted with the system I have exposed, shall,
by ratifying it with their approbation, appropriate it to
themselves: an event of which I need scarcely add I have not the
slightest anticipation.
*
CONTENTS.
PREFACE Introductory RemarksCHAP. I. On the Reciprocal Influence of Science and Education.
CHAP. II. Of the Inducements to Individuals to cultivate Science.
βSect. 1. Professional Impulses.
ββ 2. Of National Encouragement.
ββ 3. Of Encouragement from learned Societies.
CHAP. III. General State of learned Societies in England.
CHAP. IV. State of the Royal Society in particular.
βSect. 1. Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society.
ββ 2. Of the Presidency and Vice-Presidencies.
ββ 3. Of the Secretariships
ββ 4. Of the Scientific Advisers.
ββ 5. Of the Union of several Offices in one person.
ββ 6. Of the Funds of the Society.
ββ 7. Of the Royal Medals.
ββ 8. Of the Copley Medals.
ββ 9. Of the Fairchild Lecture.
ββ 10. Of the Croonian Lecture.
ββ 11. Of the Causes of the Present State of the Royal Society.
ββ 12. Of the Plan for Reforming the Society.
CHAP. V. Of Observations.
βSect. 1. Of Minute Precision.
ββ 2. On the Art of Observing.
ββ 3. On the Frauds of Observers.
CHAP. VI. Suggestions for the Advancement of Science in England.
βSect. 1. Of the Necessity that Members of the Royal Society
βββ should express their Opinions.
ββ 2. Of Biennial Presidents.
ββ 3. Of the Influence of the Colleges of Physicians and
βββ Surgeons in the Royal Society.
ββ 4. Of the Influence of the Royal Institution on the Royal
βββ Society.
ββ 5. Of the Transactions of the Royal Society.
ββ 6. Order of Merit.
ββ 7. Of the Union of Scientific Societies.
CONCLUSION.
APPENDIX NO. 1.
ββ- NO. 2.
ββ- NO. 3.
*
REFLECTIONS ON THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND, AND ON SOME OF
ITS CAUSES.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
It cannot have escaped the attention of those, whose acquirements
enable them to judge, and who have had opportunities of examining
the state of science in other countries, that in England,
particularly with respect to the more difficult and abstract
sciences, we are much below other nations, not merely of equal
rank, but below several even of inferior power. That a country,
eminently distinguished for its mechanical and manufacturing
ingenuity, should be indifferent to the progress of inquiries
which form the highest departments of that knowledge on whose
more elementary truths its wealth and rank depend, is a fact
which is well deserving the attention of those who shall inquire
into the causes that influence the progress of nations.
To trace the gradual decline of mathematical, and with it of the
highest departments of physical science, from the days of Newton
to the present, must be left to the historian. It is not within
the province of one who, having mixed sufficiently with
scientific society in England to see and regret the weakness of
some of its greatest ornaments, and to see through and deplore
the conduct of its pretended friends, offers these remarks, with
the hope that they may excite discussion,βwith the conviction
that discussion is the firmest ally of truth,βand with the
confidence that nothing but the full expression of public opinion
can remove the evils that chill the enthusiasm, and cramp the
energies of the science of England.
The causes which have produced, and some of the effects which
have resulted from, the present state of science in England, are
so mixed, that it is difficult to distinguish accurately between
them. I shall, therefore, in this volume, not attempt any minute
discrimination, but rather present the result of my reflections
on the concomitant circumstances which have attended the decay,
and at the conclusion of it, shall examine some of the
suggestions which have been offered for the advancement of
British science.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.
That the state of knowledge in any country will exert a directive
influence on the general system of instruction adopted in it, is
a principle too obvious to require investigation. And it is
equally certain that the tastes and pursuits of our manhood will
bear on them the traces of the earlier impressions of our
education. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose that some
portion of the neglect of science in England, may be attributed
to the system of education we pursue. A young man passes from
our public schools to the universities, ignorant almost of the
elements of every branch of useful knowledge; and at these latter
establishments, formed originally for instructing those who are
intended for the clerical profession, classical and mathematical
pursuits are nearly the sole objects proposed to the studentβs
ambition.
Much has been done at one of our universities during the last
fifteen years, to improve the system of study; and I am confident
that there is no one connected with that body, who will not do me
the justice to believe that, whatever suggestions I may venture
to offer, are prompted by the warmest feelings for the honour and
the increasing prosperity of its institutions. The ties which
connect me with Cambridge are indeed of no ordinary kind.
Taking it then for granted that our system of academical
education ought to be adapted to nearly the whole of the
aristocracy of the country, I am inclined to believe that whilst
the modifications I should propose would not be great innovations
on the spirit of our institutions, they would contribute
materially to that important object.
It will be readily admitted, that a degree conferred by an
university, ought to be a pledge to the public that he who holds
it possesses a certain quantity of knowledge. The progress of
society has rendered knowledge far more various in its kinds than
it used to be; and to meet this variety in the tastes and
inclinations of those who come to us for instruction, we have,
besides the regular lectures to which all must attend, other
sources of information from whence the students may acquire sound
and varied knowledge in the numerous lectures on chemistry,
geology, botany, history, &c. It is at present a matter of
option with the student, which, and how many of these courses he
shall attend, and such it should still remain. All that it would
be necessary to add would be, that previously to taking his
degree, each person should be examined by those Professors, whose
lectures he had attended. The pupils should then be arranged in
two classes, according to their merits, and the names included in
these classes should be printed. I would then propose that no
young man, except his name was found amongst the βList of
Honours,β should be allowed to take his degree, unless he had
been placed in the first class of some one at least of the
courses given by the professors. But it should still be
imperative upon the student to possess such mathematical
knowledge as we usually require. If he had attained the first
rank in several of these examinations, it is obvious that we
should run no hazard in a little relaxing: the strictness of his
mathematical trial.
If it should be thought preferable, the sciences might be
grouped, and the following subjects be taken together:β
Modern History.
Laws of England.
Civil Law.
Political Economy.
Applications of Science to Arts and Manufactures.
Chemistry.
Mineralogy.
Geology.
Zoology, including Physiology and Comparative Anatomy.
Botany, including Vegetable Physiology and Anatomy.
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