The function of science in the modern state / by Karl Pearson.

  • Pearson, Karl, 1857-1936.
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The function of science in the modern state / by Karl Pearson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of power in the continuous wars of the small Greek communities: we see in that strife the probable source of their rapid progress in intelligence and physique. Nay, modern Europe itself at once be¬ comes the stage whereon the drama of evolution is being played out amid the hum of factories, the clash of armaments, and the buzz of youth in the playing- field and the lecture-room. History has painted for us the ever-present strife of nations: in the lower stages we see the victory of brute force and of cun¬ ning; in somewhat higher stages we find the domi¬ nance of strength, valour, and discipline; at the present the factors of mastery are possession of material sources and the skill to turn them to account, —the copious store of knowledge, the power to in¬ crease it at will, and the intelligence to apply it for the national profit. The struggle of nations is the commonplace of history; but the realization that this struggle is a factor in human development,-—that big battalions or an armada are not sufficient insurance for success in it, but that organization and intelli¬ gence in every function of national life are requisite for victory,—this is the special truth that dawned upon us at the end of the nineteenth century. For¬ merly territory was blindly seized, trade routes and commercial markets blindly opened or controlled, manufacturing processes and means of transit deve¬ loped or not, according as they might seem profitable or not to individuals. The bearing of these things and a multitude of others—such as the physique of the nation, the skill of its craftsmen, the intelligence of its trade-leaders, the activity of its educators, the