To the Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette
Sir,—The scientific men of this day may well congratulate themselves, whatever Mr. Roscoe may say to the contrary, on having found in Dr. Appleton so eloquent an advocate of their claims. What they could not gracefully say for themselves he has said for them; and even if it be true, as Mr. Roscoe insinuates, that the learned Doctor does not know by his own experience all that is conveyed by the phrase “original research,” and so has no personal interest in the result of his efforts, surly that circumstance only gives him a greater claim to be heard. But there is a danger of which he hardly seems aware—that the very moderation and modesty of his proposal may prove fatal to it. This is not a thing that can be done by halves: a tentative and parsimonious experiment would be almost sure to fail, and then the whole theory would be discredited. I cannot but hope that Dr. Appleton will now essay a bolder flight, and give us a scheme really worthy of the nation and of the age. To begin with, the income offered must be ample: original research can never be carried on as a πάρεργον: the investigator must not only be saved from the necessity of running any other occupation, but he must also be set entirely above the pety cares which make such inroads upon the time and temper of those to whom sceremony is a duty. A thousand a year is the very least sum that can be named for this purpose. This is only for the necessities of life. Books, machinery, chemicals, assistants, &c., must all be liberally provided; and this would require at least a thousand more. But not only must the means provided be ample; ample time must also be allowed; and on this point I venture to think that Dr. Appleton has understated his case. To set a really scientific man to a great investigation and then to demand a tangible result in so short a time as three years is really almost as if the nation were to pension Mr. Holman Hunt and then request him to produce a picture every three weeks. “All great things” (I am quoting from Professor Tyndall’s eloquent address to the British Association) “come slowly to the birth. Copernicus pondered his great work for thirty-three years; Newton for nearly twenty years kept the idea of gravitation before his mind; Darwin for two-and-twenty years pondered the problem of the origin of species.” I do not think that Dr. Appleton would find forty years an excessive period to name. When a man feels that he is secure for such a period as that of an ample income, free from interruption, and furnished with all appliances needful to follow out the bent of his genius, remarkable results may fairly be expected.
One other point remains to be noticed—the question of providing funds. Dr. Appleton’s suggestion, made in the Fortnightly Review, that suitable funds exist at Oxford and Cambridge, is too indefinitely stated to be practicel. To withdraw any large portion of the funds now employed in paying professors and tutors would seriously interfere with the educational work of the place; but no such objection can be urged against the course of abolishing all sinecure and non-resident Fellowships. In many cases, of course, it would be necessary to wait for a vicancy, as vested rights must be respected; still, it may be hoped that some holders would be found who, happy in the consciousness that they were thus aiding a great and glorious work, would be willing to resign at once.—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Rusticus Expectans.
October 28.