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."Isurprisedhimbysayin~,"Whatev erpleasureweTHEUSEFULNESSOFUSELESSKNOWLE DGE545derivefromtheradioorhoweverwireles sandtheradiomayhaveaddedtohumanlife,Marc oni'ssharewaspracticallynegligible.

2 " :" , ,asfarassuchfundamentalcreditcanbedefini telyassignedtoanyone,toProfessorClerkMax well, ]. 'nomathe-maticiancanturnoverthepagesofth esevolumeswithoutrealizingthattheycon-ta inatheorywhichhasalreadyaddedlargelytoth emethodsandresourcesofpuremathematics.'O therdiscoveriessupplementedMaxwell' ,aworkerinHelmholtz' ; ,butwhatdidMarconiinvent?Merelythelastte chnicaldetail,mainlythenowobsoletereceiv ingdevicecalledcoherer,almostuniversally discarded."HertzandMaxwellcouldinventnot h-ing,butitwastheiruselesstheoreticalwor kwhichwasseizeduponbyaclevertechnicianan dwhichhascreatednewmeansforcommunication ,utility, , ' ,andIsuggestedthathemightaskthephysicist softheUniversityofRochesterpreciselywhat HertzandMaxwellhaddone;butonethingIsaidh ecouldbesureof,namely,thattheyhaddonethe irworkwithoutthoughtofuseandthatthrough- outthewholehistoryofsciencemostofthereal lygreatdiscoverieswhichhadultimatelyprov edtobebeneficialtomankindhadbeenmadebyme nandwomenwhoweredrivennotbythede-siretob eusefulbutmerelythedesiretosatisfytheirc uriosity.

3 "Curiosity?" "Yes,"Ireplied,"curiosity,whichmayormayn oteventuateinsomethinguseful, ,Bacon,andtoSirIsaacNewton, ,themorelikelytheyaretocontributenotonly tohumanwelfarebuttotheequallyimportantsa tisfactionofintellectualinterestwhichmay indeedbesaidtohavebecometherulingpassion ofintellectuallifeinmoderntimes."IIWhati strueofHeinrichHertzwork-ingquietlyandun noticedinacornerofHelmholtz' ' '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; ,however, , ,butwhentheairplanewasperfected,menwhose heartswerepoisonedandwhosebrainswereaddl edperceivedthattheairplane,aninnocentinv ention,theresultoflongdisinterestedandsc ientificeffort,couldbemadeaninstrumentof destruction, ,themostabstruseTHEUSEFULNESSOFUSELESSKN OWLEDGE547mathematicalworkoftheeighteent handnineteenthcenturieswasthe"Non-Euclid ianGeometry.

4 "Itsinventor,Gauss,thoughrecognizedbyhis con-temporariesasadistinguishedmathe-mat ician,didnotdaretopublishhisworkon"Non-E uclidianGeometry" ,thetheoryofrelativityitselfwithallitsin finitepracticalbearingswouldhavebeenutte rlyimpossiblewithouttheworkwhichGaussdid atGottingen,Again,whatisknownnowas"group theory " ;but"grouptheory"isto-daythebasisofthequ antumtheoryofspectroscopy, ,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.

5 "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." ;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.

6 '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? 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?

7 "Ireplied:" "Anableyoungmathematician,havingspentaye aratPrinceton, ,heremarked:"Perhapsyouwouldliketoknowwh atthisyearhasmeanttome.""Yes,"Ianswered. "Mathematics,"herejoined,"isde-velopingr apidly; ; ,afterayearhere,theblindsareraised;thero omislight; ""Howlongwillthislast?"Iasked."Fiveyears ,perhapsten.""Thenwhat?""Ishallcomeback. " ( ).ButMoreysuggestedthathemightfinditwort hwhiletoseePanofskyandSwarzenski(attheIn stitute).Nowheisbusywithallthree."Ishall stay,"headded,"untilnextOctober.""Youwil lfindithotinmidsummer,"Isaid."Ishallbeto obusyandtoohappytonoticeit."Thusfreedomb ringsnotstagnation, :"Doeseveryoneworkuntiltwoo'clockinthemo rning?" ;someofthehumanistsareguestsofthePrincet onhumanistsinMcCormickHall;others552 HARPER' ,whereIworkamongshopkeepers,dentists,law yers,chiro-praetors, , ,wemissinformalcontactwithoneanotheranda reabouttoremedythisdefectbytheerectionof abuildingprovidedbythefounders, ;anditwillholdfasttotheconvictionthatThe In-stituteGroupdesiresleisure,security,f ree-domfromorganizationandroutine,and,fi nally, ,vonLauefromBerlin,LeviCivitafromRome,An dreWeilfromStrasbourg, ,PaulifromZurich,LemaitrefromLouvain,Wad e-GeryfromOxford,andAmericansfromHarvard ,Yale,Columbia,Cornell,JohnsHopkins,Chi- cago,California, , ,however, ,likepoetsandmusicians,havewontherightto doastheypleaseandwhoaccomplishmostwhenen abledtodoso.