of things; and the
enlarging of the bounds of human empire to the effecting
of all things possible."[2]

[Footnote 2: _The New Atlantis_.]

Science sometimes appears so remote and alien to the immediate
concrete objects which meet and interest us in daily
experience that we tend to forget that historically it was out of
concrete needs and practical interests that science arose. Geometry,
seemingly a clear case of abstract and theoretical
science, arose out of the requirements of practical surveying
and mensuration among the Egyptians. In the same way
botany grew out of herb gathering and gardening.

The application of the exact knowledge gained by the pure
sciences, may, if properly directed, immeasurably increase the
sum of human welfare. One has but to review briefly the
history of invention to appreciate this truth with vividness
and detail. The great variety of the "applied sciences"
shows the extent and multiplicity of the fruits of theoretical
inquiry. Astronomy plays an important part in navigation; but
it also earns its living by helping the surveyor and the mapmaker
and by supplying the world with accurate time. Industrial
chemistry offers, perhaps, the most striking examples.
There is, for example, the fixation of nitrogen, which makes
possible the artificial production of ammonia and potash;
the whole group of dye industries made possible through the
chemical production of coal tar; the industrial utilization of
cellulose in the paper, twine, and leather industries; the promise
of eventual production on a large scale of synthetic rubber;
the electric furnace, which, with its fourteen-thousand-degree
range of heat, makes possible untold increase in the effectiveness
of all the chemical industries.

Industrial chemistry is only one instance. The application
of theoretical inquiry in physics has made possible the telegraph,
the telephone, wireless telegraphy, electric motors, and
flying machines. Mineralogy and oceanography have opened
up new stores of natural resources. Biological research has
had diverse applications. Bacteriological inquiry has been
fruitfully applied in surgery, hygiene, agriculture, and the
artificial preservation of food. The principles of Mendelian
inheritance have been used in the practical improvement of
domestic animals and cultivated plants. The list might be
indefinitely extended. The sciences arose as attempts, more
or less successful, to solve man's practical problems. Th