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Public Life in England, by Philippe Daryl, Tr. by H. Frith and Revised by the Author
Public Life in England by Philippe Daryl Tr by H Frith and Revised by the Author Author:Paschal Grousset General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1884 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER IV. PHILOSOPHY AND POETRY. The difference between English science and that of other countries, especially France and Germany, lies in the fact that it is patent to all the world, and is not fenced in by crabbed formulas. One would almost imagine that the habits of political liberty and free discussion had penetrated to the laboratories. The physician, the astronomer, the natural philosopher, even the mathematician, do not think it necessary to shut themselves up in a Temple of Isis, only opening the door to those who possess the pass-word. They do not hold weekly or monthly meetings to exchange "bitter sweets " concerning the priority of their discoveries. They do not disdain to communicate them to the public, and do so in terms understanded of the people. In the guise of an article in a review -- at a conference, or a lecture, they keep the whole country au courant with their proceedings. They tolerate controversy, and know how to maintain polemical courtesies. Their blood is more sluggish than ours, and in England one would not hear a Leverrier reply to a Delaunay in a full sitting of the Academy : " Mind your Moon, Sir, and leave us peace." They have also more frequently the courage of their philosophical conclusions ; and the special immunity accorded as a right to men of science in that country of "cant," is not one of its least surprising traits. In this respect there is a curious difference between France and Great Britain. With us, where liberty of speech elbows itself into every subject, where conversation touches everything and respects no idol, it is the Scientists who show thems...« less