Appreciation of Science.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 January 1923, Page 3

Appreciation of Science.

s THE NEED STRESSED. WELLINGTON. January 11. At the Town Hall, to-night. Air G. 11. Kidiibs. (Inevtor ol the Australian ln- . ."tit 11 1• - of Science and Hula-try mi president of the Australian Association. ■ feu tile Advancement of Science, delivered hi. presidential address in et nt uexiiiu with the Science Coilgiess now '’meeting I efore a large audi'-nee coin- • posed of visiting scientists and an in,l (crested section of the general pnbi j lie. - ! Taking ns his mhjet “Seienee and Its •(Service to Man," the speaker pointed ; nut the extraordinary accessions to man's knowledge' of Nature during the j last century and the beginning of this mill that in some countries gieat research laboratories, observatories, and tcebnir.nl institutions had been civntud , and lavishly endowed. Air Kuiblis j stateil that- Australasian progress, goed ■ as it had been, must now be measured j by the state of the world to-dav. Worldwide developments and expansions o' vin ii> 1 - populations r'dlrd lor immedt- . ate rmisiderai ion. In icgard in our future in wnrhl politics and of our place ; in scientific effort, the role of systematised knowledge and its application to J human needs had an ever-growing s'gi iiifleaiu-e. This was illustrated by D'o history of modern science. Hi a lengthy ; speech. .Mr Knibhs indicated the clutr- . aeteristies of the highri elements of • -( j.-nee which serve nut merely utihi taiiau puiqioses. namely, the mainten- - mice ol man on the planet, but provided : such maintenance as enabled him In spiritually perceive and iniellertualh ! grasp the beauty. magnificence. and uiaiestv of the whole range of Nature; in fuel. In make him a si relent capable ■' ol appreciating and solving problems apparently most- hopeless. ; Referring first to tbe accessories with I vhe-ii man had furnished himself in Ins search for knowledge, during which such invent iinis as 'he uli ra-niiei nseope. large ; telescope, and N-ra-, spectrograph were j uniituernteii and ch-m iked, lie- sreid-er then look subject bv subject. dealing first with the wonders ni the astronomic 1 world. Koierring to the recent solar eclipse i and the Einstein theory ot relativity. ! M, Kuibbs said: The question being : examined is. how far it is fegilimate to attempt to ex.'lain the pliennmeua by . means ol mathematical equations appli- . cubic to a sitj positilfous dimensional world in whielt one co-ordinate time ■ is stii generis, and is treated as i! j it were ol ihognually related to the rest : YU lien t or Itt.s stiid tital Kin-pin's v.orld is u world o-' mere ligiires. The \. . t. nian titiivei : e'luld form a pie- ' tore at least to God. but according to i Einstein there cannot be any picture j even for (bn! of Einstein's uuiver e. D Robb, who recently discussed the v. hole matter, has summed this up by saying: ‘lt -i-enis i ,>ni !t:i- tin t lie.l evil : the \luiigbty Himself could uiid- r-t and Einstein's tl-temy of relativity." Dr Robb e:iiild n"! help think,ng Dial 1 lafault lay not with lie Almighty, but ' with I be theory. Passing from the world ol tin- infinitely gieat to that "I the infinitely minute. Air Knilths dealt inteiestingly with the modern investigation regarding atoms. Radio-activity and the dis--iutegration ol elements were next di-'-eitssecf wit'-i a won It It of teelinieal knowledge. Dealing with C|Uestions ol seienee' vis a weapon of defence. Air Knibhs pointed cia that recent studies as to population development s of the world .showed that war was inevitable unless na- ■ i i. • i- ; 1 1* 11 ■ ii ted to mutual discipline far surpassing any drenmeil of at the present time. The character of various poisons used in war was referred to. and ii was said that the dye industry was not merely a key industry, but w a- css,-iilin I to safety, and while ' it could manufacture the dyes, per--1 fumes, synthetic drugs, etc., needed for a country it was also cunt imta lly f j available as an explosives and gas lac- ; I lory, for which reason other than pure-; ; ly economic consideration had to he, taken into account, viz., the consideration as to national safety. One of , the poisons used caused inflammation; <•-. the surface of the eye conjunctivitis; it'* one part in -1.000,000 and skin: biifii with one part in f. 000.000. One! ol the worst poisons was know n as the : " Dew ot Death." The need for research was strongly . emphasised. It was not sufficient to make available immense stores of existing information, the development of faculty was also a nuttier of supreme moment. The lavish gilts oi Prince Demidoll'-I.iek Rogers, Roeklcller, Carnegie, tlu; late Prince of .Monaco and ; 7. awlhron were mentioned, also, that ': the British Government had granted million sterling for industrial re- . search associations and otherwise Nearly- D millions for research. Japan had hojli a national research laboratory at it cost of over 2380.R“tb ol w ni: h -n: ike Mikado had contributed £IOO,OOO. In Germany, the Badische Soda-mul-Aiutlin Fab'rik had spent seveuteei'. voiirs and one million sterling in order t,, produce satisfactory indigo. At tin-la-ginning of this c-entury she was pa.'jii,,. anntmllv £OOO.OOO. and at the omluvak of the war was selling ninitially £2.-500,000 worth of dye. fit arguing ti e necessity for research, two illustrations were taken. the "knock in in-t.-nial combustion engines and the use ot lead tetraethyl to prevent the production of light without beat. The ■ luminous efficiency of a firctiy was 00.-> 1 pe" cent, and that of the host electric l:*mj> only 4 jx*r cont. Ml- Kuibbs closed by stressing the need for creating for English-speaking . countries a national appreciation ot ■ - i'-nco. w I deli must commence in ehild- [ 1-nod in order that instinctively Brit- ' "ish people would respond as they do i not nmv to scientific research His. ho"" w»« to ~-e a IJC"' spij-.r hern >n

Australia. AVhile no one knew what t tv on the knee of the gods, there was s .iiiechin;; in the mind and heart ot i very great people that responded to dreams of excellence, and that tnliamed when the vision of the national destiny was before it. “The .Motherland.” he said, "has had a great past. - its offspring in the southern seas illumined by 'the gem-pointed cross’ end ‘the blazing pomp of Orion’ to rise i i material intellectual and moral .reallies-, among the earth’s peoples? E so. the path is strenuous, blit glorias. All the visions of ease and luxury are hut opiates, and they lead ■o destruction. M’r need to gird ourselves for the task and create for Australasia’s sons power to know something of the splendid mysteries of the boundless universe and of our own little world io order that it may use Jo the full the heritage which our nation has given us, and then indeed will science have rendered noble service to 11w. 1 sons of Australasia."