THE USEFULNESS OF USELESS KNOWLEDGE

1 THEUSEFULNESSOFUSELESSKNOWLEDGEBYABRAHAM FLEXNERrITnotacuriousfactthatinaworldste epedinirrationalhatredswhichthreatencivi lizationitself,menandwomen-oldandyoung-d etachthem-selveswhollyorpartlyfromtheang rycurrentofdailylifetodevotethemselvesto thecultivationofbeauty,totheexten-sionof KNOWLEDGE ,tothecureofdisease,totheamelio rationofsuffering,justasthoughfanaticswe renotsimultaneouslyengagedinspreadingpai n,ugliness,andsuffering?Theworldhasalway sbeenasorryandconfusedsortofplace-yetpoe tsandartistsandscientistshaveig-noredthe factorsthatwould,ifattendedto, ,intellectualandspirituallifeis,onthesur face,auselessformofactivity, , ,economic, ,afairerworld,millionswillcontinuetogoto theirgravessilent,saddened, ;inotherwords, ,awiseandgentlefar-seeingman,giftedwitht asteinmusicandart, :"Marconi.

2 "Isurprisedhimbysayin~,"Whateverpleasure weTHEUSEFULNESSOFUSELESSKNOWLEDGE545deri vefromtheradioorhoweverwirelessandtherad iomayhaveaddedtohumanlife,Marconi'sshare waspracticallynegligible." :" , ,asfarassuchfundamentalcreditcanbedefini telyassignedtoanyone,toProfessorClerkMax well, ]. 'nomathe-maticiancanturnoverthepagesofth esevolumeswithoutrealizingthattheycon-ta inatheorywhichhasalreadyaddedlargelytoth emethodsandresourcesofpuremathematics.'O therdiscoveriessupplementedMaxwell' ,aworkerinHelmholtz' ; ,butwhatdidMarconiinvent?Merelythelastte chnicaldetail,mainlythenowobsoletereceiv ingdevicecalledcoherer,almostuniversally discarded.

3 "HertzandMaxwellcouldinventnoth-ing,buti twastheiruselesstheoreticalworkwhichwass eizeduponbyaclevertechnicianandwhichhasc reatednewmeansforcommunication,utility, , ' ,andIsuggestedthathemightaskthephysicist softheUniversityofRochesterpreciselywhat HertzandMaxwellhaddone;butonethingIsaidh ecouldbesureof,namely,thattheyhaddonethe irworkwithoutthoughtofuseandthatthrough- outthewholehistoryofsciencemostofthereal lygreatdiscoverieswhichhadultimatelyprov edtobebeneficialtomankindhadbeenmadebyme nandwomenwhoweredrivennotbythede-siretob eusefulbutmerelythedesiretosatisfytheirc uriosity."Curiosity?" "Yes,"Ireplied,"curiosity,whichmayormayn oteventuateinsomethinguseful, ,Bacon,andtoSirIsaacNewton, ,themorelikelytheyaretocontributenotonly tohumanwelfarebuttotheequallyimportantsa tisfactionofintellectualinterestwhichmay indeedbesaidtohavebecometherulingpassion ofintellectuallifeinmoderntimes.

4 "IIWhatistrueofHeinrichHertzwork-ingquie tlyandunnoticedinacornerofHelmholtz' ' 'sfatherwasablacksmith; ,whenhewasal-readytwenty-oneyearsofage, ,1813,hebecameanassistantinDavy'slaborat ory, ,whenhewasthirty-fouryearsofage, 'sinterestsoonshiftedfromchemistrytoelec tricityandmagnetism, ,Ampere, ,atfirstchemicalriddles,inlaterperiods, , ,utilityresulted, ,presidentoftheBritishAssociationfortheA dvance-mentofScience,inarecentaddresspoi ntsoutindetailhowthefollyofman,nottheint entionofthescientists, ,whichhasledtoinfinitebeneficialresults, showedthattheactionofnitricacidonsubstan ceslikebenzene,glycerine, cellulose ,etc., re-sultednotonlyinthebeneficentanilinedy eindustrybutinthecreationofnitro-glyceri ne, ,turningtothesamesubject,showedthatbymix ingnitro-glycerinewithothersubstances,so lidexplosiveswhichcouldbesafelyhandledco uldbeproduced-amongothers, ,inthemakingofsuchrailroadtunnelsasthose whichnowpiercetheAlpsandothermountainran ges.

5 ,however, , ,butwhentheairplanewasperfected,menwhose heartswerepoisonedandwhosebrainswereaddl edperceivedthattheairplane,aninnocentinv ention,theresultoflongdisinterestedandsc ientificeffort,couldbemadeaninstrumentof destruction, ,themostabstruseTHEUSEFULNESSOFUSELESSKN OWLEDGE547mathematicalworkoftheeighteent handnineteenthcenturieswasthe"Non-Euclid ianGeometry."Itsinventor,Gauss,thoughrec ognizedbyhiscon-temporariesasadistinguis hedmathe-matician,didnotdaretopublishhis workon"Non-EuclidianGeometry" ,thetheoryofrelativityitselfwithallitsin finitepracticalbearingswouldhavebeenutte rlyimpossiblewithouttheworkwhichGaussdid atGottingen,Again,whatisknownnowas"group theory".

6 But"grouptheory"isto-daythebasisofthequa ntumtheoryofspectroscopy, ,butithasfurnishedascientificbasisforall typesofinsurance, :ThestatureofProfessorAlbertEinstein' ,oftheUniversityofParis,nowvisitingprofe ssoratDukeUniversity,creditedProfessorEi nsteinwiththeconceptofan"ideal" , "ideal" , , ,becomestickierandflowlesseasily, "colderthanmolassesinJanuary"isthelayman ' ,however, "delta"point, ,liquidheliumflowsbetterthanitdoesathigh ertemperaturesand,asamatteroffact, ,withtheseandotheranomalies, "ideal"gas,byusingthemathematicsworkedou tin1924-25, , , , ,inconspicuous, ,but,asWaldeyerremarksinhisRemi-mscences :InoticedquiteearlythatEhrlichwouldworkl onghoursathisdesk, , ,Iwentuptohimandaskedwhathe548 HARPER' ,"Ichprobiere:"Thismightbefreelytranslat ed,"Iamtrying"or"Iamjustfooling.

7 "Irepliedtohim," " , , ' ; ,butitwasapurelyscientific, , 'sex-perimentswerenowappliedbyafellowstu dent,Weigert, ,redandwhite, ' ' ,oneselectedatrandom; ,oftheCarnegieInstituteofTechnology(Pitt s-burgh) , , , "use," , , ,ontheonehand,takenHaleandRutherfordandE insteinandtheirpeersmillionsuponmillions ofmilesintotheuttermostrealmsofspaceand, ontheother, ; ,Iadmitagain, ,Koch,Ehrlich,TheobaldSmith, ,andpracticaldifficultiesen-counteredini ndustryorinlaboratoriesstimulatetheoreti calinquirieswhichmayormaynotsolvetheprob lemsbywhichtheyweresuggested,butmayalsoo penupnewvistas,uselessatthemoment,butpre gnantwithfutureachievements, "use-less" ,but"pure" ,aninventor,who,whileabene-factortothehu manrace,asamatteroffactmerely"pickedothe rmen'sbrains.

8 " ;buthewasnotaversetoat-tackingpracticalp roblems-suchastheconditionofFrenchgrapev inesortheproblemsofbeer-brewing-andnoton lysolvingtheimmediatedifficulty,butalsow restingfromthepracticalproblemsomefar-re achingtheoreticconclusion,"use-less"atth emoment,butlikelyinsomeunforeseenmannert obe"useful" ,fundamentallyspeculativeinhiscuriosity, :bothweremadebythor-oughlyscientificmen, whorealizedthatmuch" USELESS "knowledgehad beenpiledupbymenunconcernedwithitspracti calbearings, , ,liketheMississippi, ,butImayinpassingsaythis:overaperiodofon eortwohundredyearsthecontributionsofprof essionalschoolstotheirrespectiveactiviti eswillprobablybefoundtolie,notsomuchinth etrainingofmenwhomayto-morrowbecomepract icalengineersorpracticallawyersorpractic aldoctors, ;Ihavespokenofmathematics.

9 'SMAGAZINE anyreferencewhatsoever,impliedoractual,t ousefulnesswejustifycolleges,universitie s, ,asymphony,apainting,amathematicaltruth, anewscientificfact,allbearinthemselvesal lthejustificationthatuni-versities,colle ges, ,economic, , ,asitswingswereoncespreadinItalyandGerma ny, ,inthehourofGermany'scon-questbyNapoleon , , ,however,muchfartherthanoriginalitywheth erintherealmofscienceorhumanism, ,ordoesitwantChristiansymphonies,Christi anpaint-ings,Christianscience,orJewishsy m-phonies,Jewishpaintings,Jewishscience, orMohammedanorEgyptianorJapa-neseorChine seorAmericanorGermanorRussianorCommunist orConserva-tivecontributionstoandexpress ionsoftheinfiniterichnessofthehumansoul?

10 IVAmongthemoststrikingandimme-diateconse quencesofforeignintoleranceImay,Ithink,f airlycitetherapiddevel-opmentoftheInstit uteforAdvancedStudy, , ,atPrinceton, 'attachmenttotheStateofNewJersey,but,ins ofarasmyjudg-mentwasconcerned, ,Alexander,andMorse,amongthemathematicia ns;Meritt,Lowe,andMissGoldmanamongthehum an-ists;Stewart, ,Warren,Earle, ,Princeton'slibrary, ,Weyl,andvonNeumanninmathe-matics;forHer zfeldandPanofskyinthefieldofhumanisticst udies, ,fromthestandpointoforganization, ,aSchoolofHumanisticStudies, ; ,ifdeemedworthy, ,astheyseverallyarrange;theymayworkalone , ;nolinesaredrawnbetweenprofessors,member s, ; ;somayahumanistinhisfield, ,with-outpowerofconcentrationonideas, :hewroteasking,"Whataremyduties?