Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley — Volume 1Huxley, Thomas Henry
Science
Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley — Volume 1
Huxley, Thomas Henry
Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895; Naturalists -- England -- Biography
Other work of importance was connected with the Royal Institution. He
had been elected to deliver the triennial course as Fullerian Professor,
and for his subject in 1856-57 chose Physiology and Comparative Anatomy;
in 1858, the Principles of Biology.
He was extremely glad of the additional "grist to the mill" brought in
by these lectures. As he wrote in 1890:--]
I have good reason to know what difference a hundred a year makes when
your income is not more than four or five times that. I remember when I
was candidate for the Fullerian professorship some twenty-three years
ago, a friend of mine asked a wealthy manager to support me. He
promised, but asked the value of the appointment, and when told, said,
"Well, but what's the use of a hundred a year to him?" I suppose he paid
his butler that.
[A further attempt to organise scientific work throughout the country
and make its results generally known, dates from this time. Huxley,
Hooker, and Tyndall had discussed, early in 1858, the possibility of
starting a "Scientific Review," which should do for science what the
"Quarterly" or the "Westminster" did for literature. The scheme was
found not to be feasible at the time, though it was revived in another
form in 1860; so in the meanwhile it was arranged that science should be
laid before the public every fortnight, through the medium of a
scientific column in the "Saturday Review." The following letter bears
on this proposal:--]
April 20, 1858.
My dear Hooker,
Before the dawn of the proposal for the ever-memorable though not-to-be
"Scientific Review," there had been some talk of one or two of us
working the public up for science through the "Saturday Review."
Maskelyne (you know him, I suppose) was the suggester of the scheme, and
undertook to talk to the "Saturday" people about it.
I think the whole affair had dropped through, but yesterday Maskelyne
came to me and to Ramsay with definite propositions from the "Saturday"
editor.
He undertakes to put in a scientific article in the intermediate part
between Leaders and Reviews once a fortnight if we will supply him. He
is not to mutilate or to alter, but to take what he gets and be
thankful.
The writers to select their own subjects. Now the question is, Will
seven or eight of us, representing different sciences, join together and
undertake to supply at least one article in three months? Once a
fortnight would want a minimum of six articles in three months, so that
if there were six, each man must supply one.
Sylvester is talked of for Mathematics. I am going to write to Tyndall
about doing Physics. Maskelyne and perhaps Frankland will take Chemistry
and Mineralogy. You and I might do Biology; Ramsay, Geology; Smyth,
Technology.
This looks to me like a very feasible plan, not asking too much of
anyone, and yet giving all an opportunity of saying what he has to say.
Besides this the "Saturday" would be glad to get Reviews from us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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