Chapter LXXVI: Section 3: of this law of 1903 recites ‘that whenever the (6)

Mr. George Iles, in his "Inventors at Work," describes and
characterizes the aims and guiding principles of the
Institution as follows: "In its grants for widely varied
purposes the policy of the Institution is clear: only those
inquiries are aided which give promise of fruit, and in every
case the grantee requires to be a man of proved ability, care
being taken not to duplicate work already in hand elsewhere,
or to essay tasks of an industrial character. Experience has
already shown it better to confine research to a few large
projects rather than to aid many minor investigations with
grants comparatively small.

"One branch of work reminds us of Mr. Carnegie’s method in
establishing public libraries—the supplementing of local
public spirit by a generous gift. In many cases a university
or an observatory launches an inquiry which soon broadens out
beyond the range of its own small funds; then it is that aid
from the Carnegie Institution brings to port a ship that
otherwise might remain at sea indefinitely. Let a few typical
examples of this kind be mentioned;—Dudley Observatory,
Albany, New York, and Lick Observatory, California, have
received aid toward their observations and computations;
Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin, has been helped in measuring
the distance of fixed stars. Among other investigations
promoted have been the study of the rare earths and the
heat-treatment of some high-carbon steels. The adjacent field
of engineering has not been neglected: funds have been granted
for experiments on ship resistance and propulsion, for
determining the value of high pressure steam in locomotive
service.
{597}
In geology an investigation of fundamental principles has been
furthered, as also the specific problem of the flow of rocks
under severe pressure. In his remarkable inquiry into the
economy of foods, Professor W. O. Atwater, of Wesleyan
University, Middletown, Connecticut, has had liberal help. In
the allied science of preventive medicine a grant is advancing
the study of snake venoms and defeating inoculations.

"At a later day the Institution may possibly adopt plans
recommended by eminent advisers of the rank of Professor Simon
Newcomb, who points out that analysis and generalization are
to-day much more needed than further observations of a routine
kind. He has also had a weighty word to say regarding the
desirability of bringing together for mutual attrition and
discussion men in contiguous fields of work, who take the
bearings of a great problem from different, points of view."

_George Iles,
Inventors at Work