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79. The Advisory Committee desire to join with the Delegation in expressing their warm appreciation of the very friendly reception accorded in China to their Representatives, and for the courtesy and hospitality shown them by the Chinese Civil and Military Officials and ex-Officials, and for the welcome and ready help given to them throughout by the non-official Chinese and the British and other foreign residents in China. The task of the Delegation was thereby greatly facilitated and lightened, and the amenities of their visit and the interest of their work were correspondingly increased.
80. At an early stage in their proceedings, the Advisory Committee decided that, in their opinion, no advantage would be gained by taking evidence in England, inasmuch as the Delegation would have the opportunity of obtaining first-hand evidence in China itself. But the Chairman, and other members of the Advisory Committee, have had the benefit of personal discussion with representative Authorities resiling in England, and with those residents in China who have been in this country since the formation of the Committee.
81. Finally, the Advisory Committee desire to place on record their appreciation of the services rendered to them throughout by Mr. Ashton-Gwatkin, their Secretary. His knowledge of the subject, his efficiency and industry have been of great value to them in carrying out the somewhat difficult and delicate task committed to them.
BUXTON (Chairman).
WILLINGDON (Chairman of Delegation
C. S. ADDIS.
ADELAIDE M. ANDERSON,
W. H. CLARK.
HU SHIH.
GEORGE MOUNSEY.
CHRISTOPHER T. NEEDHAM.
WM. E. SOOTHILL.
V. K. TING.
C. C. WANG.
F. ASHTON-GWATKIN, Secretary.
October 18, 1926.
to China).
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APPENDIX I.
NOTE BY SIR FRANK HEATH, K.C.B., ON THE PROPOSED RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR CHINA.
A careful reading of the evidence of Dr. Ts'ai and of Dr. V. K. Ting, on which the recommendations of the Willingdon Delegation on Scientific Research are largely based, indicates that both these distinguished Chinese men of science had in mind the applications of science to practical problems as the main purposes of the proposed Research Institute rather than the prosecution of research in pure science. Dr. Ts'ai says:
"It will be set up in order to create a spirit of reverence for science and industrial arts," and proposes it should include a museum as an important if not predominant feature. His ideas are curiously parallel to those of the late Prince Albert, who thought of the South Kensington estate, purchased from the profits of the Great Exhibition, as the home of the applied sciences and the industrial arts-as it has indeed beconie. Dr. Ting, who is a geologist, defines geology, zoology and botany in his draft estimate (p. 57) in terms that indicate his grasp of the importance of the practical side of the work Ile is most specific in his own science, and only less so in the two sciences which lie nearest to his own. But in dealing with physics, chemistry awl the social sciences he naturally avoids definition. Yet these are as capable of a practical bias as the rest.
Research in pure science-research, that is, which is undertaken for its own sake because the worker is attempting to extend our knowledge of nature without any regard to the usefulness of his discoveries-can only safely be made the aim of an institute, or indeed of any organisation-if there is a large and well-established provision for the highest education. Universities not only give opportunities for men of the highest originality to obtain the sound foundations of scientific training which is a necessary preliminary of original work the creative kind in modern science--but more important still they are the only means of establishing standards of equipment and attainment adequate as some indication of capacity for original work of the highest type. Humboldt's" Akademie der Wissenschaften was the crown of a wide-flung University system in Prussia, and without it could not have secured the status it has. A Research Institute for pure science would be likely to find itself "in the air in China to-day, It is noticeable that Dr. Ts'ai lays stress on the " training of men as China's most urgent need, and in view of the difficulty of introducing a system of scientific education into his country, he contemplates that the Institute will best accomplish this task "by lectures, publication and research."
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If, on the other hand, the main object of the Institute were research with a view to the development of the natural resources of the country as seems to be contemplated by Dr. Ting in geology, botany and zoology, the work would make a more direct appeal to a people beginning to find their way into Western science and would be easier of accomplishment in the earlier years. The fundamental discoveries in pure science wherever made would be available for application to the special problems of China, and while the methods of the worker would be the same as those adopted by the seeker after knowledge for its own sake, there would not be the same demand upon the creative imagination. The young investigator would have his feet firmly planted on the ground, and he would be guided by a purpose that both he and public opinion could understand. To take a single example:-Tung oil, which is a valuable product for the manufacture of paints, since it has a drying power much higher than linseed oil, and was till recently produced only in China, has recently been successfully produced in the United States. The American oil is better than the Chinese and the American nuts are made to produce 3-4 per cent. of oil as compared with 20 per cent. extracted in China. This double improvement is entirely due to the discovery that the oil should be extracted by cold pressing when the nut is fresh.
in
Experience in other lauds has shown, on the other hand, that important research pure science is the work of a relatively small number of highly equipped minds who, for the most part, bave been trained in the national universities. The supply of such men in China will naturally be small at first. But there is a wealth of fruitful results to be won in applied science by men of capacity who have had some scientific training if their work is directed by research leaders of high standing. In the early
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