In 1858 I Received The Degree Of

My First Undertaking In The Way Of Scientific Experiment Was In The Field Of Economics And Psychology.

The Mathematician Of To-day Admits That He Can Neither Square The Circle, Duplicate The Cube Or Trisect The Angle. May Not Our Mechanicians, In Like Manner, Be Ultimately Forced To Admit That Aerial Flight Is One Of That Great Class Of Problems With Which Men Can Never Cope... I Do Not Claim That This Is A Necessary Conclusion From Any Past Experience. But I Do Think That Success Must Await Progress Of A Different Kind From That Of Invention.

The Time Was Not Yet Ripe For The Growth Of Mathematical Science Among Us, And Any Development That Might Have Taken Place In That Direction Was Rudely Stopped By The Civil War.

Quite Likely The Twentieth Century Is Destined To See The Natural Forces Which Will Enable Us To Fly From Continent To Continent With A Speed Far Exceeding That Of A Bird.

As The Existence Of A Corps Of Professors Of Mathematics Is Peculiar To Our Navy, As Well As An Apparent, Perhaps A Real, Anomaly, Some Account Of It May Be Of Interest.