t.

I once heard Lord Rayleigh refer to the necessity of putting one's
subject-matter clearly before an audience, and he illustrated his point
by the following story. Somebody, possibly a lady, came from listening
to a lecture by Mr. So-and-So, and when asked what it was about, replied,
"He didn't say." I shall follow Lord Rayleigh's advice and tell you that
my subject is "Why science should be learned." Why it is worth while for
a boy to give up some of his time to this particular form of knowledge,
and what advantage he may expect to gain from so doing.

There are many possible reasons for a boy's learning science.

I Because he is told to. This is an excellent reason, but
not inspiriting.
II To get marks in an Entrance Scholarship examination. This
is a virtuous reason but not intellectual.
III To gain knowledge which will be of use when he comes to
follow a profession, and wants to know physics in view of
becoming an engineer, or physiology as a part of medical
training. This is a worthy reason, but not a common one.
IV Lastly, a boy may learn science because he wants to;
because he finds it entertaining; because it satisfies an
unreasoning desire to know how things in general work.

This is the best possible reason and the most efficient, and what I
propose, is to inquire whether this wish to know something of science can
be justified.

The word 'science' simply means knowledge, but it is usually applied to
knowledge that can be verified. Thus we learn by heart that Queen Anne
died in 1714. I believe this to be a fact, but I have no means of
verifying it. But if I am told that putting chalk into acid will produce
a heavy gas having the quality of extinguishing a lighted match, I can
verify it. I can do the thing and see the results. I am now the equal
of my teacher; I know it in the same way that he does. It has become my
very own fact, and it seems to have the satisfactory quality that
possession gives. This characteristic of scientific knowledge is not
always recognised. I mean the profound difference between what we know
and what we are told. When science began to flourish at Cambridge in the
'seventies, and the University was asked to supply money for buildings,
an eminent person objected and said, "What do they want with their
laboratories?--why can't they believe their teachers, who are in mos