A B C of modern socialism

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Before we can rationally consider this proposal we must have some idea of its magnitude. Yes, and behind its magnitude, of its splendour.

Let us first look at the national organisation of pure science. Obviously we mainly depend upon pure science for our applied science. It is always possible that discoveries may be made by blind experiment—Faraday was primarily an experimentalist—but, broadly stated, and especially in chemistry, we industrially rely upon pure science. It is then of prime importance that science shall pursue its researches unrestricted by money or interests, or even religion. The amount we spend on science is considerable. At all our universities, ancient and modern, there are large scientific foundations. There is no need to depreciate the scientific work done. On the contrary, Great Britain has made great contributions to the world’s knowledge. But there is probably not a single professor or teacher who would not declare that science suffers from inadequate means. We might, however, be told that there is a shortage of promising students. Perhaps; but only the merest fringe of our young men and women have had, as yet, a shadow of a chance to prove themselves. Democracy—and only democracy—has infinite human reserves. If we quadrupled our present expenditure on science the benefits would be incalculable, while the cost to each citizen would be about the price of a new hat.

Knowledge and Health We see that the universities, through pure