Rapid Growth Of Science Research Articles

On the Reorganization of Mathematics Education in the Primary School

The new tasks confronting our schools at the present time require a drastic revision of curriculums and syllabuses at all levels of school education. Revision is also called for by the growing contradiction between the rapid growth of science and technology and the limited content of the school courses.

Introduction

A hundred years ago the Society often listened to papers about the ocean, but the rapid growth of science, especially the development of those aspects that can be carried through with the help of laboratory experiments, has led to some neglect of large-scale natural processes, in favour of those that can be more readily formulated and imitated in models. Although aiming at better understanding and use of the world we live in, we have concentrated on the most approachable and profitable aspects; in consequence, studies of the earth, oceans and atmosphere, have become ‘fringe subjects’. But they are staging a come-back. The application of modern theoretical and practical methods to these problems brings results as exciting as any that can be obtained in a laboratory, and just as suitable for Ph.D. courses, which is one of the things that seems to matter, if they were better known. We must be grateful to the Society for giving us this opportunity to talk about the oceans. I am sure the papers will show the wide range of interest and excitement as well as the difficulties.

In-Service Graduate Training

IT IS generally recognized that professional experience really begins when the college or university graduate accepts employment with some agency such as a research or development laboratory. At the best, a college or university can only make a beginning in the student's intellectual and professional proficiency. Even if it could be admitted that maximum competence had been realized at graduation, the rapid growth of science and technology makes it almost impossible for even a specialist to keep abreast of the developments in his particular field of interest. Hence, continuous supporting study becomes necessary for even the most alert and active individuals. It is also recognized that creative thinking develops only in a stimulating environment where there is a philosophical attitude toward research and a quest for new knowledge. Hence, in addition to the important problem of providing further instruction with respect to scientific laws and relations and the interpretation of accumulated data, there is the still more important problem of developing minds eager to explore the frontiers of knowledge. Recognizing the necessity for providing conditions which foster continuous intellectual growth and development, many industrialand governmentresearch laboratories are now providing programs of in-service training for their scientific, technical, and administrative employees. These programs may be seminars provided by the agency itself or regular graduate courses arranged in co-operation with a neighboring college or university. They are designed to overcome the deficiencies in the training of the employee, to keep him abreast of the developments in his special field of activity, and to ensure that his competence be maintained at the highest possible level. They are also intended to foster creative thinking, without which the extension of the frontiers of knowledge is impossible. Because of the recent rapid changes in science and technology, the success of a research laboratory is determined by the employees' ability to analyze and to understand complex and intricate problems, and this ability is contingent on superior fundamental training, well-integrated thinking, sound judgment, and scientific imagination.

PHOTOGRAPHY AS A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT

THE first meeting of the newly founded Association for Scientific Photography was held at the Royal Institution on June 5. Prof. J. Yule Bogue, in his opening address, on applied photography, said that with the rapid growth of science and technology in the last decade, workers, whether they be in the industrial or purely scientific fields, have found it increasingly difficult to keep in touch with the recent advances in fields other than their own. Any particular branch of industry or science is largely dependent for its own advancement upon the progress made in other branches. In order that the maximum benefits may accrue, it is essential that knowledge of these advancements be disseminated as widely as possible. The Association for Scientific Photography has been formed to do this in respect of the development and application of photography as a scientific instrument in industry, technology, medicine and science. The association will assist its members in the solution of problems of development, production and research, by the application of photographic methods. It caters primarily for those who apply or could apply photographic techniques to their work, as opposed to photographers who are interested in the application of their work to scientific problems. It is essential, therefore, that there shall be close co-operation with those concerned with the technical developments of photographic science, so that the results of their work shall be readily available for application by those working in science and industry.

Current Topics and Events

THE British Institute of Philosophical Studies has been formed by a number of professed philosophers together with some leading men of science, public men, and men of affairs. It is the belief of the promoters that philosophy has a larger part to play in the national life than has yet been recognised, both as an education and discipline to the individual, and as the basis of that more synthetic view of knowledge which they take to be the required corrective of the specialism enforced upon students by the rapid growth of science. They think that, in the position which the physical sciences have now reached, the need of a philosophic account of principles and methods is more apparent than it may formerly have been; that there is accordingly more disposition on the part of scientific men to discussions which might, not long ago, have been dismissed as metaphysical; while the philosophers on their side have much to learn of the picture of reality as presented by modern physics. It is considered also that on the side of human relations and social ideals the lack of a common basis is widely felt, and the promoters remember that the systematic exploration of such a basis is a part of the historic task of philosophy. Recognising the existence of an excellent philosophical faculty in the University of London, the Institute will cater specially for the non-academic student, but this does not mean the casual visitant to more or less popular lectures. Lectures with a wide appeal are certainly included in the plan, but the aim is rather to establish systematic courses extending over a considerable period, combining tutorial work or small discussion classes with more formal lectures, and providing for the direction of study, the writing and criticism of essays, and all that may enable a student to make a serious start in his subject. The formation of a good philosophical library is an essential part of the scheme, and it is hoped that the drawing together of a number of philosophers, who are at present a somewhat lonely race, to co-operate in the advancement of their subject, may prove a stimulus and encouragement to original work, with which it is hoped that the Institute may be associated.