Statement by Commissioner of Education Earl McGrath

STATEMENT* The meaning of science in our world of today far transcends a mere cataloging of the splendid achievements of our scientists and the practical applications of their findings. Science in a few generations has transformed our way of life, has shrunk the world to small compass, and has drawn impelling attention to the need for new understandings of man's relations to man. Our schools and colleges must accept the challenge of these meanings. Their task is to transmit our heritage of scientific knowledge and to expand its frontiers, to train our future scientists, and to teach the meaning of science and its impact upon our society. It is my sincere belief that through the new medium of THE SCIENCE TEACHER, the National Science Teachers Association will be giving new impetus and inspiration to teachers in schools across the nation--that new thought and action will be stimulated to help lift the standard of science teaching at every educational level. * By Earl James McGrath, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., published in The Science Teacher, Vol. XVII, No. 3, October 1950, page 133.