Catholic Central High School - Banner Yearbook (Fort Madison, IA)

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THE VALUE OF PHYSICS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL Physics, which has been thought dry and uninteresting, is now attracting universal interest due to its rapid growth and striking recent achievements. The student in the High School is presented with subject-matter which touches closely upon his every-day life. Although he has dreamed almost unconscious- ly that stones sink in water, whereas wood floats, he is now stimulated to do some thinking on his own account about the how's and why's of the physi- cal world in which hc lives. As the achievements in Physics have been so varied, the interest of the aver- age student is held by illustration of the principles in industrial appliances, and stimulation is given by the study of the Heroes of Physics whose work has made these possible. Probably the airplane is the most significant and far- reaching of the advances of the twentieth century. After centuries of failure, man has conquered the air and has developed a commercial plane designed for safety, high speed, large load, comfort, and economy. Com. Byrd in his flight across the Atlantic, has contributed to science by his observations of tempera- ture, air pressure ,Wind, fog, sleet, and snow at the different altitudes. Another very interesting feature in physics is the study of electricity and electric appliances. The Hydro-Electric Plant at Keokuk may be visited and an exploration of the working of the Government Locks obtained at the same time. By means of moving pictures these principles are developed and illustrat- ed. Pictures like The Early Life of Edison, with events which led to the for- mation of the first firm of electrical engineersg scenes showing the development of the Mazda lamp, the turbine-generatorsg the transformers, the revelations by X-Ray, wizards of wireless, and other fascinating and illuminating subjects are studied in the High School course of Physics. ' The value of receiving this foundation is well expressed by Millikan in an address before the California Institute of Technology, when speaking of Newton's famous equation of moment, f-ma, he says: Not a single dynamical machine in existence today can be designed with- out its aid, not a steam engine, not an automobile, not a dynamo, not a motor, not an airplane-not a machine or device of any sort for the transformation of work or for utilizing power. Substract merely the result f--ma from modern civilization and that civilization collapses like a house of cards. In view of what physics has done, is doing, and yet can do for the progress of the world, can anyone be insensible either to its value or its fascination? -RAYMOND POHLMEYER '29. N INETY-TWO

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EVER ON WARD Most people think of science as a sort of serious and solemn thing, a strain upon the strongest intellect. Modern industrial life places ns into a sci- entific environment to such a degree, that no one can escape a deluge of scien- tific terms. From miscellaneous reading in the newspapers of the day, says Edwin E. Solsson, Ph. D., Director of Science Service, Washington, the aver- age unscientific reader gets a confused, half-baked idea that Science says: Peo- ple are descended from monkeys, the sun is made of radium, Mars is inhabited by a race .of canal diggers, the earth is getting hotterg the earth is getting cold- er, the earth will be smashed up by running into a comet, the average mental age of Americans is thirteen, the world is going to starve to death from over- population, the world is going to die off from race suicidef It does not require serious scientific study to detect that many of these no- tions are false. Science, however, is always moving onto something new, ever advancing into the unknown. But with each new discovery begins an epidemic of false science. False scientists always try to create a mystery. Scientific fakers today are straining their minds in an effort to tear science away from religion. Science instead of taking God out of the world of existence, brings men into closer relation with Him, says Dr. Michael Pupin, Professor of elec- tro-mechanics at Columbia University. Everywhere, this noted scientist tells us' there is evidence of a divine intelligence. Science, then, is the handmaid of religion. It is making us better Christians. It is teaching men how to co-op- crate more intelligently with God, it is teaching men what G0d's laws are, and how to obey them. Science today is making more progress than ever before. The broad work of the scientist in his laboratory has made human life happier and healthier. Practically everything we eat, touch, or use in daily life is laboratorily control- led. When we look upon the highest attainments of modern engineering, we see science as a background. With these facts in view, we can readily see why science has become such an important factor in the education of the youth of today. In spite of all these proofs around and about us in every-day life, we can hear high-school students expressing their dislike for the study of science. One says, Because some people have to study tl1e sciences seriously, it is no reason why the rest of us should wear out our brains on the stuff. Another says Why am I made to study physics, I don't expect to become an engineer? Still another may say: Am I not wasting my time on chemistry? I do not intend to follow the medical profession. Someone else may as well ask, Why take any kind of exercises? I will never be a professional athlete anyway. It is the duty that every intelligent person owes to himself,-that of learning some- thing of what is going on in fields of labor other than his own! He feels that he must read news items to follow in a small way the course of events at home and abroad or he will miss something. So, too, if he does not follow the pro- gress of science, he is missing a greater something, that mightiprove interest- ing and an important step in his rise to the top. In a word, then, science is always turning over a new leaf,-the chemist is 'making new compoundsg the biologist is developing new forms of plant and animal life, such as never before existed, the astronomer is discovering unknown stars, the physicist is formulating new laws and giving expression to strange conceptions. A thoughtful study of Science, therefore, leaves us no escape from the conclusion that back of everything, there is a definite guiding principle. -GILBERT S. KESSLER. '28 NINETY-ONE

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IMPORTANCE OF CHEMISTRY IN THE HIGH SCHOOL The question, Of what value is Chemistry to the high-school boy or girl is frequently asked and can be readily answered by naming and explaining its four objects: namely, a better appreciation of the student's environment, the securing of new knowledge which can be applied to various fields of human en- deavor, a training in scientific thinking, and the opening of a wealth of unsolv- ed problems of vast importance to human comfort and happiness. , pn As chemistry is a science which deals with changes in the composition of matter, the laboratory work itself is interesting. Then, too, the opportunity giv- en to the student to perform his own laboratory work, will develop his ability to question, will give accuracy to his observations and power to generalize the results of his experiments. He soon realizes that chemistry is fundamental to almost everything that composes his environment. His food, clothing, shelter, the warming of his home, the different implements used in his every-day life, are all based more or less upon chemical principles. - All the industries which transform raw materials into a finished product for human use, are essentially chemical industries. Perhaps the most important change taking place is within our bodies. Here we are scarcely conscious of the changes of food, of fats, starches, sugars, and proteins into living tissues and heat energyg yet it occurs. As all plants require nitrogen, the development of processes for making from the air nitrogen compounds. has been a chemical triumph of great bene- fit to the farmers who are now no longer dependent upon the nitrates of Chile and the potash deposits of Germany. Again, Cottrell has become the nation's benefactor by his work in connection with the Fixed Nitrogen Laboratory in Washington of which he is director, an important position both in peace and war. Dyes of the highest quality are now made in such quantity that we export to other countries after supplying our own needs. Again, it is the chemist who devised methods for preparing the various substances that are used for combat- ing disease, it is the chemist who has prepared the liquid motor fuels that have made possible the airplane, the motor boat and the automobile. The student must, in the study of chemistry, master certain fundamental laws and theories which will give him an appreciation and understanding of the ways by which true science develops. A new world is opened in the study and writing of the chemical symbols, formulae and equations. The modern theories of ionization and atomic structure, are essential for an adequate understanding of modern chemistery. Chemistry touches our lives in so many ways through its applications to industry, agriculture, home activities, medicine, warfare, and the enrichment of life in general, that to omit it from the curriculum would be to deprive the student of one of the most interesting and useful fields of human knowledge. -HELEN CAPWELL, '28. NINETY-THREE