Monmouth College - Ravelings Yearbook (Monmouth, IL)

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■ ' =5»a5ft. »e- .tsf Pap:e Twenty two Others as a prop. It is most important tliat a student should be trained in concentration, and that he shouhl deveUip tliat mental power to see clearly the relation between cause and efifect. For he by geometric scale Could take the size of pots of ale. And wisely tell what hour th ' day The clock does strike by algebra. Mathematics being an e.xact science, its conclusions can be tested, l eading the student to have confidence in himself. Mathematics jiresents to most students just the kind of difficulty tlie overcoming of which produces that intellectual fiber essential to effective citizenship. Alice Wixbigler. GEORGE W. MARTIN. Department of Biologry. EDWARD O. HEUSE. Department of Chemistry. Biology In all grades of educational training from the kindergarten to the university, there should be a place in the program of studies for biologic practice. Biology today is in the fore-front of all educational advancement, and well should it be so. for it touches the heart of Nature from every angle and concerns the wdiole realm of life, of wdiich we the Human race are its consummation. In addition to its pedagogic value as a study which develops accurate personal observa- tion and independent, original conclusions, Biology is essential in at least two particulars : Useful in the way so often referred to by Huxley, Darwin, Agassiz, and others, as a study that gives us a broader view point of our own life by showing the demands of Nature on all living organisms and the necessary responses that these demands call forth. In other language. Biology is that science which enables us to live more and more in conformity with natural laws. Aside from this, there is another useful feature of the study. It is the commercial or economic aspect. The relation that plants and animals bear to man either as friends or foes is of the utmost importance. Injurious pests, whether plants or animals,

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Page Twenty- Greek It is the aim of the Greek Department to introduce the student to the study of the most wonderful and most expressive language ever spoken by any people. It is our aim to enable him to read with appreciation and pleasure Homer and the New Testament, the greatest treasures of all literature. One year ' s work should enable the student to understand the significance of scientific nomenclature and use intelligently the English dictionary. It is our aim to show, incidentally, the intimate relationship existing between Greek words and many words in the Latin and Teutonic languages, especially the English. — to see, indeed, that English is Greek and that English words cannot be fully comprehended without some knowledge of the Greek language. As to the importance and lasting value of Greek literature, I shall not here make a plea, but content myself with quoting the words of Ma. Eastman, author of The Masses , — testimony coming not from antiquity, nor from the middle ages, but written as late as March twelfth of this present year. He says. If I could add one thing to my education and one only, it would be the ability to read ancient Greek fluently and with intimate under- standing — to feel the words as I feel English words in poetry. The beauty and wisdom of life both reached their height in Athens. They may reach it again sometime, and they may go higher. But in the meantime to be excluded by the barrier of a little language from entering subtly into the passions and thoughts of that great time, is tragic indeed to one who wishes to taste of life to the full. Greek literature ought to be — if it is anything — one of the major experiences of a man, for it contains more clear thinking com- bined with high feeling than any other literature of the world. And it ' s all very easy — it takes only purpose and pep . J. L. V. x Gundy. MATriEMATICS f ALICE WINBIGLER. Department of Mathematics. The purpose of all education is not simply to store the mind with knowledge but to develop power to make that knowledge useful. The Mathematics Department of Mon- mouth College is not at variance from other departments in its beliefs as to the essential elements of education or in its aims as to the development of scholarship, but in common with other departments is seeking to train the student to think and to think to the point ; to think for himself in an independent manner: to stand upon his own feet without using

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Paere Twenty-thi- ,a« cause our country annual losses of millions of flollars. Likewise, the creation, or the in- troduction of friendly or adaptable forms means the accumulation of millions of dollars. In a word, then. Biology, in its full significance, is wrapt U]) in the world of the living and non-living, and sliould be made CDmnicm property in all educatiimal endeavors. For its real purpose is to know Nature, to 1)eciinu- acquainted with the liabits, habitats, and be- havior of plants and animals, to train the obserxational powers, lo cun ' ckcn the judgment, to gain power for indepeiideiu Uioimbt, ami abo e all, lo spnad ami elierish an unswerving love for the truth. George W. M. rtin. Physical Science The aim in this departmmt is not so much to acquaint the stu ient with a large array of facts as it is to lead him to see the relation of these various facts to each other, and to enable him to make use of these relations in a way that develops thinking capacity and ability to handle a problem. In other words, the subject of Chemistry is considered not as a mere mass of facts to be memorized by the student but as a system of knowledge to be more and more completely understood and ajiplied li him. This principle underlies the instruction in all the courses, be it the Freshman in Gen- eral Chemistry as he first meets the field of knowledge; the second year student in Quali- tative and Quantitative Analysis, where extensive application is made of the Theory or Electrolytic Dissociation and the Law of Mass Action ; or the third year student in Organic Chemistry, with its structure theory. Work beyond the Major is offered in . ' dvanced . ' An- alytical Chemistry as it is related to food products, agriculture, and metallurgy. One year of C(dlege Physics is also included in this deiiartment, the topics considered being for the most part the same as are taken up in a High School course. The mathe- matical side of the subject is, however, given much more prominence than would be pos- sible in a beginning course, as are also the more recent ilevelopments of the subject, such as the electron theory and its various applications. Euwaku O. Heusk. M. M. MAYNARD, Department of Engli; L. E. ROBINSON. Department of English. The effort of the English department of the college is, first of all, to induct the mind and habit of the student into tlie practice of writing and speaking his mother tongue sin- cerely and pleasurably. Since to do this involves extended and intelligent study of the meaning ami choice of words, a growing vocabulary, with much reading and observation