Scientific Culture, and Other Essays / Second Edition; with Additions

The collection presents a series of essays advocating experimental scientific education and the Baconian method, arguing that laboratory observation and hypothesis-testing should replace lecture-only instruction while warning against narrowing training into mere technical routine. Several essays examine the aims, spirit, and methods of scientific culture and the moral and intellectual dignity of knowledge, offer practical advice for elementary teaching, and discuss instruments and phenomena such as the radiometer. Biographical sketches of notable chemists and mineralogists illustrate scientific character. Additional essays treat curricular debates over classical studies and reflect on social obligations and the spiritual dimensions of intellectual life.