The position and prospects of chemical research in Great Britain : presidential address delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Chemical Society, March 22nd, 1907 / by Raphael Meldola.

  • Raphael Meldola
Date:
[1907]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The position and prospects of chemical research in Great Britain : presidential address delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Chemical Society, March 22nd, 1907 / by Raphael Meldola. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    or organised body of workers, however zealous, who undertake this mission will have a Herculean task to perform. But, in the meantime, while waiting for the era of public enlightenment, there must be no pause in your search for new knowledge; there is no need to call a halt; there are boundless “regions yet un- trod ” awaiting your enterprise. The imperial view of research which I am advocating will add zest to your labours if you con- sider that by your individual efforts you are helping forward the general cause which we all have at heart. The new recruits which our little army of research chemists has gathered into its ranks are missionaries in this cause and active witnesses to the truth of the doctrine that the creativeness of its scientific men is one of the most precious assets which the country possesses. It is perhaps unnecessary to qualify this statement with the caution that I am not advocating a policy of bluster or of exaggerated self-assertive- ness towards the non-scientific laity, or the equally objectionable policy of constituting ourselves a mutual admiration society. The temperament of our countrymen may, happily, be depended upon for keeping them clear of the danger of assuming an attitude which is both derogatory to science and damaging to its status in the public estimation. At the same time, it is impossible to survey the achievements of our little ai'my of workers during the last decade without coming to the conclusion that neither in zeal or originality, nor in any of the qualifications which have enabled other nations to advance the cause of chemical science, are we lacking in this country. The Jubilee of the Foundation of the Coal-tar Colour Industry and its Lessons. The exaltation of scientific research into an abstract principle or “cult,” which is the keynote of the remarks which I have put together for your consideration on this last opportunity when I shall have the honour of addressing you from the Presidential Chair, is, of course, a familiar subject to all who keep in view the objects of a society such as this. If I venture to formulate the principle somewhat more emphatically on this occasion, it is that the international gathering, which took place here last summer in honour of our distinguished past-President, Sir William Perkin, and in celebration of the jubilee of the foundation of the coal-tar colour industry, has given rise to many considerations which are intimately associated with the subject of this address. Although at that memorable assembly the voice of the nations was raised in gratitude for and in recognition of the numerous benefits aris-
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