322 Science After the War
university should be devoted to developing their special
capacity to the highest possible level. Such students are
worth while for a real university to educate. They are the
nation’s greatest asset, and money spent on their education
will be repaid many times over.
Purely scientific research, as distinguished from research
in applied science, depends greatly on the interests of par-
ticular scientists. It will go on as before. There is no
reason to suppose that the progress of pure science, after
the war, will differ essentially from that before the v in
universities or elsewhere. An Irish captain was once march-
ing with his regiment on a road leading to Dublin. He
asked an old man how far it was to Dublin. “Eight miles,
yer honor,” was the answer. “Come along, boys,” said the
captain. About an hour later he met another man and asked
again. “Eight miles,” was the answer. “Come along,
boys; we must get a move on,” said the captain. After
another hour he again asked how far it was to Dublin.
“About eight miles, yer honor,” was the answer once more.
“Come along, boys; we are holding our own, anyway,” said
the captain. The march of science goes on, always covering
new ground but never reaching the end of the journey.
During the war several important war problems have
been solved by making use of scientific discoveries which,
when made, had apparently no practical value. Many years
ago an English physicist named Guthrie discovered that
electricity escapes slowly from a red-hot body into the sur-
rounding space. This result is now of great practical im-
portance in wireless telephony and telegraphy and has had
many other uses during the war. That the results of pure
science may possibly in the future find useful application is
not the only reason for research in pure science. It is not
even the most important reason. Research in pure science