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are all dependent on the engineer, so is he in turn Hependent on them. Life is like some intricately woven web of chain mail wherein each link is necessary to and in turn dependent upon all the others. Truly, the ideal of our civilization is that one shall labor for all and all for one.

And so, in the endeavor to mark out the place of the engineer in our modern civilization the purpose has been not to exalt but rather to bring into emphasis the opportunity for service as the measure of the responsibility which attaches to us, both in our individual and collective capacities.

If we, as a guild, stand as the repository of the results of the work of our fellows in bygone ages, even from prehistoric days down to the present time, and as trustees for its useful application to the requirements of our own times, then must we, as a guild, recognize our responsibilities to worthily carry on with this great accumulation which has been placed in our hands. It is only the simple truth to say that the trend of civilization in coming ages-especially as to its material content-will depend in fundamental degree upon the manner in which we discharge our obligations during the short day in which this responsibility and opportunity are placed in our hands. We pass this way but once; the opportunity will not come again. Future ages and future generations are awaiting the enjoyment of a material civilization, the character of which is, in some measure at least, in our hands to determine, here and to-day.

HOW THE ENGINEER MAY BEST SERVE THE CAUSE OF ADVANCING CIVILIZATION

If, now, we turn to more practical aspects of the matter and ask how we may so act as to properly discharge these duties and responsibilities, we come fairly face to face with the simple query: What is the duty of the engineer of to-day, and how may he best serve the cause of advancing civilization?

The discharge of a duty is, in large degree, a personal matter; we can not easily lay down directions for the individual, but, in the aggregate, we can perhaps safely venture to indicate what seems to be the line of obligation.

In the first place, it is perfectly clear that each individual owes it as a duty to himself, to his guild and to the world at large that he cultivate to the highest practicable degree the faculties and gifts of which by heredity and environment he has become the living expression.

This is simply an application of the parable of the talents and there is no reason for argument or discussion. Its application and the resultant obligation upon the individual are self-evident.

But individual bricks do not make a building, nor

isolated human units a society. If there is any one lesson to be drawn from a study of the evolution of our civilization, it is that of the significance of cooperation. This is the mortar which serves to bind together the individual units and make of them a coherent, enduring and purposeful structure.

And so, binding together the individual units of our society, there must be the spirit of cooperation; and if this is true for society at large, it is doubly so for those of the guild of the engineer. No one is better qualified to realize the basic law of mechanics that mass effect can be realized only by mass action. The time has gone by when man might be measurably sufficient unto himself. This is the age of great undertakings, and these can be realized only through joint and cooperative effort.

THE PART ENGINEERING SOCIETIES HAVE PLAYED IN THE DEVELOPMENTS SIGNALIZING THE LAST

HALF-CENTURY

And so, in order to further such ends we as engineers have organized ourselves into groups with closely allied interests and purposes, and have thus formed the great engineering societies of the present day.

If we form, as best we may, in mental vision some composite picture of these great organizations the world over, we shall obtain a most impressive realization of the application of this principle of cooperation and mutual helpfulness. And no one who will study this picture will fail to realize the significant part which these societies have played in the great engineering developments which have signalized the last half-century. It is not perhaps too much to say that the organization of these societies, furnishing as they have great centers around which engineering activities have crystallized, has constituted the most important single element in making possible these latter-day achievements in engineering; and that during this time they have played a vitally essential part in this march along the lines of material progress.

And here again, what has been said with regard to the development of the individual will furnish a sure guide when applied to these great organizations as groups of individuals.

The engineering societies, collectively and individually, will best serve the public welfare and best contribute to the progress of civilization by developing, each in its own sphere, to the highest possible degree. The picture of one great engineering society, embracing all who may call themselves engineers and covering the whole field of engineering activity and service, is indeed a beautiful ideal. It seems hardly practicable, however, having in view the great diversity of interest and character of work, and the limitations of the individual regarding the extent of the field which

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he himself can cover. Were indeed any such society organized, it would inevitably divide up into subgroups, divisions, sections, and what not, each one corresponding to some one measurably narrow field of interest and activity, even as we note similar centrifugal tendencies in the older and more widely comprehensive societies of the present day. And so we may conclude that intensive development, each within its own boundaries, and assiduous cultivation, each of its own field of activity, will best contribute to swell the grand total of service which the world expects of these great organizations and which they are under obligation to render.

But the parallel between the individual and the society must not stop here. If cooperation is necessary between and among individuals in order to achieve larger ends, so also is it necessary between and among societies in order that they may achieve the larger ends which the progress of civilization demands. There are many problems of wide sweep for the solution of which the world is looking to the engineeror to the engineer in alliance with his brother the scientist and which touch simultaneously the fields of activity of several of our modern engineering societies. These can not be adequately and properly studied by any one body or group alone. All the mental acumen which can be brought to bear upon these problems will be none too much to light up the pathway toward some solution. Again the lines of demarcation between the fields of activity of our several societies are often vague, and many fields of activity may fairly enough be claimed by more than one of them. All this is of course well known, and is a natural result of the marvelous growth in the activity of the engineer during the past half century and the vast extension in the scope of his work. This situation, however, should lead only to the exhibition of a spirit of kindly cooperation and friendly emulation, motivated throughout by a readiness to unite whole-heartedly in joint undertakings, whenever or wherever such procedure may indicate a more useful result than through individual society effort.

SOME QUESTIONS FOR ENGINEERS IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE CAPACITIES

Let us attempt to gather up in a single sweep of vision some concept of the great guild of the engineer with its historic background, tracing far away to the very first impulses toward civilization and with its unique and important place in the fabric of our present-day life; and with this concept in mental vision, will it be amiss if we ask ourselves a few questions?

Do we, either as individuals or as societies, often enough seek out the mountain tops and endeavor,

from such vantage point of view, to place ourselves in relation to the great problems and movements of the day and to properly orient our own purposes and aims in relation thereto ?

Are we, both as individuals and as societies, too prone to the microscopic view rather than the telescopic?

Are we so occupied with the immediate task, with that which is set before us as the day's work, that we are in danger of failing to appreciate the articulation of our own task with that of our fellow, or to give thought as to how his task and ours may best fit into the great problems which the progress of our civilization presents?

Have we, either as individuals or as societies, sufficiently well-defined goals or purposes in our professional life? Have we definite aims professionally toward which we are working with a conscious purpose, or are we following too much the opportunist policy of dealing as best we may with individual problems as they arise and of doing the day's work as it comes along?

Again, are we, either as individuals or as societies, sufficiently alive to the opportunity and duty of taking constructive and helpful part in the larger life movements about us? Do we sufficiently realize the obligation which lies upon us of contributing, as opportunity may offer, helpfully to the solution of great problems which may seem to lie aside from the normal field of our professional life?

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Do we, in short, sufficiently realize the obligation of good citizenship along and paralled with the day's work in our chosen field of activity?

Are we, in brief, both as individuals and as societies, striving to definitely direct our course over the sea of life with a firm hand at the helm, with definite objectives in view, with a long look ahead, with a generous recognition of our duty to the generations coming after, and with an appreciation of the larger duties of life as members of a great social organism? Or, are we looking only at our immediate environment with its professional problems, and allowing ourselves, with reference to the larger aspects of life, to drift, subject to currents and tides of which we take little or no heed?

These are indeed searching questions. You of the profession are as well able to answer them as am I. But it will perhaps be safe to assume that neither as individuals nor as societies is our score in these respects what it should be.

If then we imagine ourselves upon the mountain top, may we spend a few moments in looking a little more closely at some few of the things which we might thus discern, and, seeing, ask ourselves whether

bor not we are living up to the full measure of our obligations thereto.

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THE DUTY OF THE ENGINEER AS REGARDS CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Among the many which might thus challenge our attention, none is perhaps of greater importance than that aspect of the duty of the engineer which centers around the general term "conservation of natural resources."

We have already noted the peculiar position in which the engineer stands relative to the constructive materials of the earth and to the inorganic energies of nature. He is their custodian, and charged with the duty and has assumed the responsibility of their development and use to meet the requirements of human progress.

Now the facts are, as engineers well know, that the supplies under these categories are far from unlimited in extent. We know of this fact of limitation and that in some instances it is defined with relative sharpness. Furthermore, we have no assurance of the operation of natural agencies tending toward replacement, at least in any degree commensurate with the ¡rate at which we are carrying on with their exploita

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tion and exhaustion. Future generations may perhaps grow beyond the need of some of the things which we now find necessary. Substitutes may be found in some cases. But we can not be sure of this and in the absence of such assurance it does devolve upon the engineer as a most weighty obligation that he give heed to the means which he employs in the exploitation of these natural resources, and that every possible effort be made to avoid waste and to use them with the highest attainable degree of economy and efficiency. Avoidable waste is a direct theft from generations to be. With the lack of care which has characterized much of the exploitation of the resources of nature, especially during the last half century, have we not wasted, in some measure, the patrimony of our children and grandchildren? Imagine that in some way the progress of civilization had been hastened and that the exploitation of the resources of nature had begun on a grand scale with the Romans, two thousand years ago; and suppose that they and their descendants had carried on, as have we during the last fifty or one hundred years; in what condition should we be to-day? We are not to infer that the sole responsibility in these matters lies with the engineer he may fairly share it with society as a whole; but after all, his is perhaps the major share because no one is so well qualified as he to see the consequences of the reckless exploitation of nature, and upon no one does the duty

lie so clearly to lift up his voice in protest and to direct his professional energies and skill along lines looking toward the reduction of waste and inefficiency to the lowest minimum.

To this latter duty he has, in fact, responded, and in many cases with most gratifying results. But the end is not yet and only by untiring, wholehearted, continuing effort along such lines can the engineer in anticipation look fearlessly in the eye his brothers of the next generation or the next century, and await their estimate of the manner in which he has discharged the duties of his own day and generation.

Again, if from our fancied mountain top we look in another direction, we shall see ourselves as legatees of a hundred thousand years and more of a gradually growing accumulation. Each age and generation has added some quotum to this vast accumulation of which we are the trustees and executives. Can we either as individuals or societies take a just sense of pride in what we are accomplishing from year to year in this respect? And coming closer home, are we as a society discharging our whole duty in the matter of research and its support? With our numbers and our resources, should we not take a more aggressive stand in this matter and devote, year by year, a larger share of our energies and of our resources to the support of research along lines which lie within the field which we consider peculiarly our own?

THE RENEWAL OF PERSONNEL IN THE ENGINEERING PROFESSION THROUGH TECHNICAL EDUCATION

But let us turn again and note another aspect of our place in the present fabric of civilization. Our guild is like a great army, constantly in need of new recruits in the ranks of the younger strata as its numbers become depleted by age and casualty in those of the older. This is, in short, the great problem of the renewal of personnel and translates itself into the problem of education for those who are planning to enter our ranks.

It will probably not be claimed that either as individuals or as societies have we in general shown the degree of interest in this subject of engineering education which its importance requires. The technical schools and colleges are intended to furnish opportunity for the effective training of those of our youth who are to furnish at least a very considerable quota of the new recruits in our ranks. Other things equal, we are more likely to find the leaders of future years among those who have been so trained. Of what vital importance it is, then, that we should cooperate with those whose duty it is to direct these great educational activities, to the end, on the one

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hand, that their measures may be taken with full knowledge of the ever-changing requirements on the firing line of the profession, and on the other, that those who are to receive these new recruits and direct them into the active work of their calling may do so with a sympathetic knowledge of the scope, character and necessary limitations of training which can be given in the course of a technical curriculum.

As one with some years of experience as a teacher, I am only too ready to admit the inadequacy, in some respects, of the training which our engineering and technical schools are now giving, and due in large degree, I believe, to the lack of sufficient contact between the schools and the fields of activity in which their output, as an educational product, is expected to take its place. On the other hand, I believe that some, at least, of the criticism which has been directed toward the product of our technical schools and colleges has arisen as a result of asking or expecting the wrong things of the neophyte-as a result of a lack of understanding or appreciation of the limitations with which the new recruit must approach his job. These conditions can certainly be vastly ameliorated by a better understanding on both sides. The schools and colleges are certainly desirous of such a better understanding and to us, as societies, the duty now comes, with a significance and an importance which it would be hard to exaggerate, to arouse ourselves to a more active interest in this subject of the training of the recruits for our guild, and to insure that, as far as may be humanly possible, this training shall be such as to best give a well-rounded development of the mental faculties, stimulate genius-if there be such a spark-and withal awaken and foster those characteristics which will make for accurate thinking, independence, originality, devotion to truth, leadership and high character.

As we know, a splendid beginning has been made toward this closer approximation of the educator and the requirements of the field of active practice, by way of the survey which is now being carried on through the agency of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education.

This is a subject of vital importance to the future of our engineering societies and to the whole future trend of progress along engineering lines. It should receive unqualified and wholehearted support from these societies, and nothing less will clear us of the obligation which we are under to prepare, as best we may, for the next generation of leadership in our guild.

THE ENGINEERING METHOD AND ITS APPLICATION TO PUBLIC QUESTIONS

The duties and obligations to which I have directed

your attention thus far have lain in close relationship to our work as engineers. But there are wider duties and obligations. We are engineers and as such hold a position of peculiar trust and responsibility in connection with the progress of civilization. But we can not live unto our guild alone. We are citizens of a complex civilization and touch on every hand problems of life and destiny in which we must take some part.

In a sense, life is a complex of problems. The interrogation point presents itself to us on every hand and in regard to every relation in life.

But the solving of problems in his own field is, in a peculiar sense, the meat and drink of the engineer. His professional work is, in very large part, concerned with just this form of activity, and he has developed and used, consciously or unconsciously, a form of grand strategy which he has found absolutely essential for the effective study of these situations in life. Thus he knows that a problem presents in general a complex of factors, and that as the first step such factors must be recognized and listed; and furthermore that such a census must be exhaustive-that no factor must be omitted. Again, he knows that such factors must be evaluated in one form or another, that their interactions must be studied-all with a view to their relations to the particular character of the conclusion which it is desired to draw.

And then with all this material in hand it must be subjected to some logical process-formal or informal -and a conclusion drawn. Often, in fact as a rule, the material resulting from the census and evaluation of factors is of necessity incomplete. In many cases the logical process must be informal rather than formal. In all such cases judgment must supply the missing elements if a solution is to be reached. However, no one knows better than the engineer the need of discrimination between the sure ground of known data and formal logic, on the one hand-as exemplified, say, by mathematical operations-and acts of judgment on the other; and no one has learned through wider experience than the engineer the need of applying his conclusions in the light of that component part which, of necessity, has been dependent on estimate and judgment.

But if such, in broad outline, are the characteristics of the grand strategy which the engineer is accustomed to apply in a study of problems in his own field, how or where could we find a better mode of approach for the study of all problems in life, whether of economics, diplomacy, international affairs, problems of the nation, of the state, of the municipality, of the school district, of trade and commerce, of finance, of education-in a word, of all relations in

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life which go to make up the complex of our modern civilization?

This does not mean of course that the engineer as such can pose as an expert in the study of problems in these varied fields remote from his own normal activity. It does mean that his own general grand strategy is equally applicable in such fields as in his own, and therefore to that extent is he qualified to serve effectively with others who may be able to supply the more narrowly technical details, in the study of a wide variety of problems in life and lying outside his own special field. It means, in particular, when such problems involve questions of engineering or when they have an engineering background, as is so frequently the case, that he is especially well qualified to take an important and helpful part in the broad and thorough study of such matters, and that in general, aside from narrow technicalities, he may helpfully join with his fellows from various walks of life in the effective study of a wide and important range of problems which lie outside the immediate limits of his own chosen field.

It is, in fact, perhaps not too much to say that as the engineering method, if we may so term it, is the more applied in our study of public questions, and broadly in that of the problems of life generally, so shall we be able to reach more sure and safe conclusions, and so will the engineer the more fully realize the degree of service which he may render to the cause of human progress.

CONCLUSION

To sum up the whole matter, the engineer, either as an individual or as a collective type, is simply a link in the chain of human progress-a chain the links of which, in one form or another, run back into a past removed from our own time by tens of thousands of years, to go to no higher figures. With the trend of human progress as it now is, he seems, moreover, to be a very necessary link. He has taken upon himself the peculiar function of developing and translating into use for the needs of civilization the constructive materials of the earth and the inorganic energies of nature, and in connection with the exercise of such function he has acquired peculiar and weighty duties and responsibilities.

There are naturally the duties of self-development and improvement, both individually and collectively, as organizations such as our own. This is the duty so well inculcated by the scriptural parable of the talents. Likewise there are the duties of friendship and of cooperation for the realization of larger ends, and again, both individually and collectively as organizations.

And then it is peculiarly the duty of the engineer

to see that, so far as in him may lie, these stores of nature, of which he is the custodian, are used frugally, with due regard to their limited supply, and having in mind the needs of future generations. Again, it is his duty to leave behind him some definite increment to that great store of knowledge through which we are able to enter into partnership with nature, and only by means of which we may hope to more effectively align ourselves with her laws and thus maintain an ever-ascending gradient of human progress.

Again we must individually as we may, and collectively with definite purpose, endeavor to cooperate helpfully with agencies charged with the training of recruits for our ranks, to the end that there may be a continued and adequate supply to the younger strata in our guild, whence we may hopefully look for leadership and guidance in the future.

And finally, since in the exercise of his functions as an engineer he must of necessity develop and employ habits of mind and methods of study which may be usefully employed in dealing with problems as they arise in all activities in life, therefore should the engineer stand ready to serve, not only in his chosen sphere, but wherever and whenever his habit of mind, his training and his experience may enable him to contribute a helpful element in this great cooperative enterprise which we call civilization.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

W. F. DURAND

BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS

BECAUSE of numerous inquiries concerning the status of plans for Biological Abstracts, the following brief statement is presented:

Historical.-It will be recalled that in 1923 the joint publications committee of the Union of American Biological Societies, the division of biology and agriculture of the National Research Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science made a report on the general status of literature aids in biology and tentatively outlined a project for the establishment of an inclusive abstracting and indexing service for the entire field of theoretical and applied biology. The secretary of the union submitted this report to members of the larger research biological societies with a request that the individual biologists examine the proposal and express themselves frankly concerning it. The joint publications committee has reported2 on the 4,500 replies received in this "referendum," about 85 per cent. of which favored the project and 65 per cent. expressed tenta

1 SCIENCE, September 28, 1923, pp. 236–239. 2 SCIENCE, November 28, 1924, pp. 485–489.

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