what you like. But do not forget that, although we may provide for renewing the atoms that have dissolved away, or for renewing the stars that have died out, there is an inexorable running down of the universe, as the energy is bit by bit degraded from an organised to a more disorganised form. Sub-atomic energy extends the life of the universe from miilions to billions of years; other possibilities of rejuvenation may extend it from billions to trillions. But unless we can circumvent the second law of thermodynamics—which much the same as saying unless we can make time run backwards—the universe is steadily getting nearer to an ultimate state of uniform changelessness. VIII-Some Views on the Teaching of Science. By Professor W. L. BRAGG, O.B.E., M.A., F.R.S. The This address is the outcome of a talk which I gave to the students' Science Federation of Manchester University last year, on "Science teaching and Research." In that talk, I asked the students to forget for a while that we were those hereditary enemies, examiner and examinee, and to give up the idea that it was my duty to cram as much knowledge into them as could be managed in three years, and theirs merely to retain that knowledge for a sufficient length of time to enable them to be successful in a test at the end. degree was not merely to be regarded as a passport admitting them to a profession; we were engaged in a common effort directed towards giving them the best possible training for their future work, and I wanted them to consider what our aim should be in this training, and what methods of attaining it were best. I confessed how much my own ideas on the subject needed definition, and invited a discussion on the points I had raised. My invitation was accepted with enthusiasm and the discussion lasted nearly as long as my talk. I was challenged to raise the same questions with my fellow teachers and with others interested in the future careers of our students, and I wish to take the opportunity of doing so which this Presidential Address affords. I realise that this problem has been discussed in all its aspects by many more competent to do so than myself. I am not going to apologise for raising it again because I think we get so absorbed in the effort to make our teaching efficient that we forget to ask ourselves what the aim of that teaching should be. It is a most difficult question to answer. It is impossible to disregard such criticisms as those which I am going to quote. The first is by J. S. Collins, referring to a saying of Ian Hay's. |