Decline of Science in England

C >> Charles Babbage >> Decline of Science in England

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REFLECTIONS ON THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND,
AND ON SOME OF ITS CAUSES.
by

CHARLES BABBAGE

DEDICATION.

HAD I INTENDED TO DEDICATE THIS VOLUME, I SHOULD HAVE INSCRIBED
IT TO A NOBLEMAN WHOSE EXERTIONS IN PROMOTING EVERY OBJECT THAT
CAN ADVANCE SCIENCE REFLECT LUSTRE UPON HIS RANK. BUT THE
KINDNESS OF HIS NATURE MIGHT HAVE BEEN PAINED AT HAVING HIS NAME
CONNECTED WITH STRICTURES, PERHAPS TOO SEVERELY JUST. I SHALL,
THEREFORE, ABSTAIN FROM MENTIONING THE NAME OF ONE WHO WILL FEEL
THAT HE HAS COMMANDED MY ESTEEM AND RESPECT.

C. BABBAGE.

DORSET STREET,
MANCHESTER SQUARE,
29th April, 1830.

PREFACE.

Of the causes which have induced me to print this volume I have
little to say; my own opinion is, that it will ultimately do some
service to science, and without that belief I would not have
undertaken so thankless a task. That it is too true not to make
enemies, is an opinion in which I concur with several of my
friends, although I should hope that what I have written will not
give just reason for the permanence of such feelings. On one
point I shall speak decidedly, it is not connected in any degree
with the calculating machine on which I have been engaged; the
causes which have led to it have been long operating, and would
have produced this result whether I had ever speculated on that
subject, and whatever might have been the fate of my
speculations.

If any one shall endeavour to account for the opinions stated in
these pages by ascribing them to any imagined circumstance
peculiar to myself, I think he will be mistaken. That science
has long been neglected and declining in England, is not an
opinion originating with me, but is shared by many, and has been
expressed by higher authority than mine. I shall offer a few
notices on this subject, which, from their scattered position,
are unlikely to have met the reader's attention, and which, when
combined with the facts I have detailed in subsequent pages, will
be admitted to deserve considerable attention. The following
extract from the article Chemistry, in the Encyclopaedia
Metropolitana, is from the pen of a gentleman equally qualified
by his extensive reading, and from his acquaintance with foreign
nations, to form an opinion entitled to respect. Differing from
him widely as to the cause, I may be permitted to cite him as
high authority for the fact.

"In concluding this most circumscribed outline of the History of
Chemistry, we may perhaps be allowed to express a faint shade of
regret, which, nevertheless, has frequently passed over our minds
within the space of the last five or six years. Admiring, as we
most sincerely do, the electro-magnetic discoveries of Professor
Oersted and his followers, we still, as chemists, fear that our
science has suffered some degree of neglect in consequence of
them. At least, we remark that, during this period, good
chemical analyses and researches have been rare in England; and
yet, it must be confessed, there is an ample field for chemical
discovery. How scanty is our knowledge of the suspected
fluorine! Are we sure that we understand the nature of nitrogen?
And yet these are amongst our elements. Much has been done by
Wollaston, Berzelius, Guy-Lussac, Thenard, Thomson, Prout, and
others, with regard to the doctrine of definite proportions; but
there yet remains the Atomic Theory. Is it a representation of
the laws of nature, or is it not?"---CHEMISTRY, ENCYC. METROP.
p.596.

When the present volume was considerably advanced, the public
were informed that the late Sir Humphry Davy had commenced a
work, having the same title as the present, and that his
sentiments were expressed in the language of feeling and of
eloquence. It is to be hoped that it may be allowed by his
friends to convey his opinions to posterity, and that the
writings of the philosopher may enable his contemporaries to
forget some of the deeds of the President of the Royal Society.

Whatever may be the fate of that highly interesting document, we
may infer his opinions upon this subject from a sentiment
expressed in his last work:--

"--But we may in vain search the aristocracy now for
philosophers."----"There are very few persons who pursue science
with true dignity; it is followed more as connected with objects
of profit than those of fame."--SIR H. DAVY'S CONSOLATIONS IN
TRAVEL.

The last authority which I shall adduce is more valuable, from
the varied acquirements of its author, and from the greater
detail into which he enters. "We have drawn largely, both in the
present Essay, and in our article on LIGHT, from the ANNALES DE
CHEMIE, and we take this ONLY opportunity distinctly to
acknowledge our obligations to that most admirably conducted
work. Unlike the crude and undigested scientific matter which
suffices, (we are ashamed to say it) for the monthly and
quarterly amusement of our own countrymen, whatever is admitted
into ITS pages, has at least been taken pains with, and, with few
exceptions, has sterling merit. Indeed, among the original
communications which abound in it, there are few which would
misbecome the first academical collections; and if any thing
could diminish our regret at the long suppression of those noble
memoirs, which are destined to adorn future volumes of that of
the Institute, it would be the masterly abstracts of them which
from time to time appear in the ANNALES, either from the hands of
the authors, or from the reports rendered by the committees
appointed to examine them; which latter, indeed, are universally
models of their kind, and have contributed, perhaps more than any
thing, to the high scientific tone of the French SAVANS. What
author, indeed, but will write his best, when he knows that his
work, if it have merit, will immediately be reported on by a
committee, who will enter into all its meaning; understand it,
however profound: and, not content with MERELY understanding it,
pursue the trains of thought to which it leads; place its
discoveries and principles in new and unexpected lights; and
bring the whole of their knowledge of collateral subjects to bear
upon it. Nor ought we to omit our acknowledgement to the very
valuable Journals of Poggendorff and Schweigger. Less
exclusively national than their Gallic compeer, they present a
picture of the actual progress of physical science throughout
Europe. Indeed, we have been often astonished to see with what
celerity every thing, even moderately valuable in the scientific
publications of this country, finds its way into their pages.
This ought to encourage our men of science. They have a larger
audience, and a wider sympathy than they are perhaps aware of;
and however disheartening the general diffusion of smatterings of
a number of subjects, and the almost equally general indifference
to profound knowledge in any, among their own countrymen, may be,
they may rest assured that not a fact they may discover, nor a
good experiment they may make, but is instantly repeated,
verified, and commented upon, in Germany, and, we may add too, in
Italy. We wish the obligation were mutual. Here, whole branches
of continental discovery are unstudied, and indeed almost
unknown, even by name. It is in vain to conceal the melancholy
truth. We are fast dropping behind. In mathematics we have long
since drawn the rein, and given over a hopeless race. In
chemistry the case is not much letter. Who can tell us any thing
of the Sulfo-salts? Who will explain to us the laws of
Isomorphism? Nay, who among us has even verified Thenard's
experiments on the oxygenated acids,--Oersted's and Berzelius's
on the radicals of the earths,--Balard's and Serrulas's on the
combinations of Brome,--and a hundred other splendid trains of
research in that fascinating science? Nor need we stop here.
There are, indeed, few sciences which would not furnish matter
for similar remark. The causes are at once obvious and
deep-seated; but this is not the place to discuss them."-- MR.
HERSCHEL'S TREATISE ON SOUND, printed in the ENCYCLOPAEDIA
METROPOLITANA.

With such authorities, I need not apprehend much doubt as to the
fact of the decline of science in England: how far I may have
pointed out some of its causes, must be left to others to decide.

Many attacks have lately been made on the conduct of various
scientific bodies, and of their officers, and severe criticism
has been lavished upon some of their productions. Newspapers,
Magazines, Reviews, and Pamphlets, have all been put in
requisition for the purpose. Odium has been cast upon some of
these for being anonymous. If a fact is to be established by
testimony, anonymous assertion is of no value; if it can be
proved, by evidence to which the public have access, it is of no
consequence (for the cause of truth) who produces it. A matter
of opinion derives weight from the name which is attached to it;
but a chain of reasoning is equally conclusive, whoever may be
its author.

Perhaps it would be better for science, that all criticism should
be avowed. It would certainly have the effect of rendering it
more matured, and less severe; but, on the other hand, it would
have the evil of frequently repressing it altogether, because
there exists amongst the lower ranks of science, a "GENUS
IRRITABILE," who are disposed to argue that every criticism is
personal. It is clearly the interest of all who fear inquiries,
to push this principle as far as possible, whilst those whose
sole object is truth, can have no apprehensions from the severest
scrutiny. There are few circumstances which so strongly
distinguish the philosopher, as the calmness with which he can
reply to criticisms he may think undeservedly severe. I have
been led into these reflections, from the circumstance of its
having been stated publicly, that I was the author of several of
those anonymous writings, which were considered amongst the most
severe; and the assertion was the more likely to be credited,
from the fact of my having spoken a few words connected with one
of those subjects at the last anniversary of the Royal Society.
[I merely observed that the agreement made with the British
Museum for exchanging the Arundel MSS. for their duplicates,
(which had just been stated by the President,) was UNWISE;
--because it was not to be expected that many duplicates should
be found in a library like that of the Museum, weak in the
physical and mathematical sciences: that it was IMPROVIDENT and
UNBUSINESSLIKE;--because it neither fixed the TIME when the
difference was to be paid, in case their duplicates should be
insufficient; nor did it appear that there were any FUNDS out of
which the money could be procured: and I added, that it would be
more advantageous to sell the MSS., and purchase the books we
wanted with the produce.] I had hoped in that diminutive world,
the world of science, my character had been sufficiently known to
have escaped being the subject of such a mistake; and, in taking
this opportunity of correcting it, I will add that, in the
present volume, I have thought it more candid to mention
distinctly those whose line of conduct I have disapproved, or
whose works I have criticised, than to leave to the reader
inferences which he might make far more extensive than I have
intended. I hope, therefore, that where I have depicted species,
no person will be so unkind to others and unjust to me, as to
suppose I have described individuals.

With respect to the cry against personality, which has been
lately set up to prevent all inquiry into matters of scientific
misgovernment, a few words will suffice.

I feel as strongly as any one, not merely the impropriety, but
the injustice of introducing private character into such
discussions. There is, however, a maxim too well established to
need any comment of mine. The public character of every public
servant is legitimate subject of discussion, and his fitness or
unfitness for office may be fairly canvassed by any person. Those
whose too sensitive feelings shrink from such an ordeal, have no
right to accept the emoluments of office, for they know that it
is the condition to which all must submit who are paid from the
public purse.

The same principle is equally applicable to Companies, to
Societies, and to Academies. Those from whose pocket the salary
is drawn, and by whose appointment the officer was made, have
always a right to discuss the merits of their officers, and their
modes of exercising the duties they are paid to perform.

This principle is equally applicable to the conduct of a
Secretary of State, or to that of a constable; to that of a
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. Johnson's, that the famous maxim, "DE MORTUIS NIL NISI
BONUM," "appears to savour more of female weakness than of manly
reason." 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 Remarks
CHAP. I. On the Reciprocal Influence of Science and Education.
CHAP. II. Of the Inducements to Individuals to cultivate Science.
--Sect. 1. Professional Impulses.
------ 2. Of National Encouragement.
------ 3. Of Encouragement from learned Societies.
CHAP. III. General State of learned Societies in England.
CHAP. IV. State of the Royal Society in particular.
--Sect. 1. Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society.
------ 2. Of the Presidency and Vice-Presidencies.
------ 3. Of the Secretariships
------ 4. Of the Scientific Advisers.
------ 5. Of the Union of several Offices in one person.
------ 6. Of the Funds of the Society.
------ 7. Of the Royal Medals.
------ 8. Of the Copley Medals.
------ 9. Of the Fairchild Lecture.
------ 10. Of the Croonian Lecture.
------ 11. Of the Causes of the Present State of the Royal Society.
------ 12. Of the Plan for Reforming the Society.
CHAP. V. Of Observations.
--Sect. 1. Of Minute Precision.
------ 2. On the Art of Observing.
------ 3. On the Frauds of Observers.
CHAP. VI. Suggestions for the Advancement of Science in England.
--Sect. 1. Of the Necessity that Members of the Royal Society
--------- should express their Opinions.
------ 2. Of Biennial Presidents.
------ 3. Of the Influence of the Colleges of Physicians and
--------- Surgeons in the Royal Society.
------ 4. Of the Influence of the Royal Institution on the Royal
--------- Society.
------ 5. Of the Transactions of the Royal Society.
------ 6. Order of Merit.
------ 7. Of the Union of Scientific Societies.
CONCLUSION.
APPENDIX NO. 1.
------- NO. 2.
------- 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,--with the conviction
that discussion is the firmest ally of truth,--and 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 student's
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 "List of
Honours," 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:--

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.

One of the great advantages of such a system would be, that no
young person would have an excuse for not studying, by stating,
as is most frequently done, that the only pursuits followed at
Cambridge, classics and mathematics, are not adapted either to
his taste, or to the wants of his after life. His friends and
relatives would then reasonably expect every student to have
acquired distinction in SOME pursuit. If it should be feared
that this plan would lead to too great a diversity of pursuits in
the same individual, a limitation might be placed upon the number
of examinations into which the same person might be permitted to
enter. It might also be desirable not to restrict the whole of
these examinations to the third year, but to allow the student to
enter on some portion of them in the first or second year, if he
should prefer it.

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