Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

Page 27 text:

dtmh and mission of Purdue nyny TIME was when the maturity of a University was con- sidered to be a matter not of a few years but of a cen- tury. Both in Europe and America the element of time in the development of an institution of learning was un- duly exalted. There certainly is a classical flavor which time only can bring, but the educational history of the past quarter of a century has proved conclusively that most signal success may be achieved in the development of universities in a comparatively short time. Since the unprecedented success of the Johns Hopkins University in the East and of the state institutions in the West, it is no longer considered absolutely essential that a great institution of learn- ing should measure its existence by centuries or even by scores of years. Purdue University is now approaching the close of the first quarter-cen- tury of her existence, and during this comparatively brief time she has ac- complished more than was formerly thought possible of accomplishment in a century. The Universities and the press of Europe have naturally been conservative in recognizing the worth of American institutions of learning, but the reader of foreign scientific periodicals must be impressed with the rocognition given to Purdue and her work. Shortly before the founding of Purdue several technical schools, which have since acquired international distinction, were established in the East, but in the West, Purdue seemed to have a large field of her own and a pe-

Page 29 text:

culiar mission to fill. Mr. Morrill clearly saw the need of such institutions when he drafted the bill which gave life to Purdue and the other ' ' land- grant ' ' colleges. It was evident to him and other far-seeing men of the time that the Civil War would be followed by an era of industrial and com- t mercial activity not paralleled in the history of -- ' ' ' J the world. In order to meet this new era and to make the most of it, the establishment of ; schools for scientific instruction in the agricul- tural and mechanic arts seemed necessary. In the development of the State of Indiana and of the middle West, Purdue University has had no small part. The work of Purdue is of a two- fold char- acter. Regular instruction is imparted to students attending the University, while a large amount of scientific work is done for the people of the State. The fact that graduates of Purdue have gone out to honorable and lucra- tive positions all over the country is sufficient evidence of the appreciation of her academic work by those best qualified to judge. The difference be- tween Purdue and most other colleges lies in the fact that in her courses of study emphasis is placed upon applied rather than upon pure science. The advance of human knowledge must depend upon the discovery and formu- lation of scientific laws, but the industrial progress of mankind must depend upon the intelligent application of those laws. There was at the time Pur- due was founded, and there is now, an unusual demand for the application of the laws of science to every-day life. Purdue has endeavored to meet this demand by sending her graduates into professional life and by doing direct scientific work for the people of the state and nation. After centuries of wasteful agriculture, or more properly of earth-butchery, the thinking people of America came to the conclusion that farming in this country would have to be carried , ; on in a more economical and scientific manner. The Purdue A lW Experiment Station and other institutions of like character were the result of this thought. The work of this department of Pur-; due is carried on in such a quiet and unostentatious manner that 5 many of us are not aware of its effectiveness. The value of the: experimental work of the station and of the department of Chemis- try in connection with the sugar-beet cannot be indicated in dollars and cents and can scarcely be appreciated at this time. The prospects are, however, that a new and magnificent indus- try is to be intelligently located in Indiana, due in no small part-- ' ) to the scientific services of Purdue.