University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

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than either could do alone. The time has gone forever when the man of science can remain within the four walls of a College laboratory and solve suc- cessfully problems of practical value. Certain phases of these problems must be settled by the aid of the microscope or by chemical tests, but a complete solu- tion involves, in almost all cases, field study and application. Laboratory methods together with the ever-increas- ing volumes of information have made elective courses in our curricula a necessity, and have created a demand for post-graduate work in all branches of natural scienc e. It is true that there is great diversity of opinion as to what should constitute post graduate work, but it is generally conceded that it should be along the lines of investigation. As a natural result of the enlarged idea of the laboratory combined with the desire for postgraduate work we find a demand for so-called University extension. Knowledge gained through special study along all lines of natural science is now carried from educational centers to homes in all parts of the land iu the form of lectures, printed matter, pictures, views, specimens or manufactured products. The tendency of modern educational work is more and more toward carrying information personally to the masses. This results in a broader knowledge of men and tends to bring educational institutions into closer touch with those whom they are intended to help. Scientific investigators as well as teachers are con- stantly in search of newer and better methods of de- termining and of imparting truth, and this together with the broader laboratory methods now in vogue leads them in scores to visit other countries in search of new apparatus, new methods and new truths. Many, however, are disappointed to find in foreign laboratories no new apparatus, no magic facilities for the solution of difficult problems, and return without realizing the fact that the great benefit to be derived is the contact with other men, and the learning to look at great problems from other than our own accustomed point of view. These, briefly stated, are some of the advances that the present century has witnessed along the line of science teaching. It is impossible to predict the advances that will be made by the coming generation ; undoubtedly, however, they will be as numerous and as striking as those that have already appeared and perhaps even more important; but whatever they may be and to whatever heights they may lead may the old Maryland Agricultural College catch the step and keep pace with the progress of the century. — C. O. TOWNSEND. 17

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tory, among which may be mentioned first, the initial cost of establishing- a well equipped laboratory and the subsequent maintenance of the same; second, doubt in the minds of the educators themselves as to the practicability of the method, coupled with the lack of time for laboratory work in the already crowded curricula. On the other hand, since stu- dents gradually turned their faces toward those insti- tutions where laboratories were provided, they have become to be a necessity in the equipment of all first class institutions. Not onlj ' is this the case with Universities and Colleges but even our best High Schools have wisely adopted the same method. It is true that some of the laboratories are poorlj ' equipped and sometimes still more poorly manned, nevertheless the method has done much not only for the advance- ment of science teaching but also for improvement in the means of expression. It brings the student into closer contact with his subject through all of his senses and leads him to express truth thus learned through the training of the hand as well as bj ' spoken or written word. It is clear that the training of the hand has been too long neglected and it is certainly an encouraging sign of the times that manual training is entering more and more into the curricula of our educational institutions. Every piece of machinery, every intricate mechanicism devised by man, is but the expression of a truth which was first received in the brain and afterwards given to the world through the hand. Therefore without the training of the hand many noble ideas and great thoughts as beau- tiful and as well timed as can be found in the finest poems must have remained unexpressed. We must not maintain a too narrow view of what is meant bj- the word laboratory. Formerly this term conveyed to the general mind four walls within which impracticable human beings evolved, at the expense of time and money, useless theories in regard to mat- ter and energy. Even at the present time there are many so-called practical men who look upon the worker in the laljoratory as a mere theorist, forgetting that many of the benefits, which they as practical men enjoy, are theirs because some theorist was foolish enough to bend for hours over his microscope or to watch through the long hours of the night beside his crucible. But this idea is slowly changing and the world is learning that there is no sharp dividing line between the theoretical and the practi- cal, for what is merelj theoretical to-daj- may become intenselj- jiractical tomorrow. The laboratorj ' in its broadest and highest ' sense is coming to be looked upon as any place where one maj ' come into close contact with his subject. It may be in the work-shop, in the field, in the orchard, in the home or within a college building. With this advance we find the college man working side by side with the practical man of business. Theory and practice have united their forces and are accomplishing infinitely more 16

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By Tbclr Signs Yc Know Them.