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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
125
Though
Siemens
was
a
man
of
varied
powers,
and
occasionally
gave
himself
to
pure
speculation
in
matters
of
science,
his
mind
was
essentially
practical;
and
it
was
rather
as
an
engineer
than
a
discoverer
that
he
was
great.
Inventions
are
associated
with
his
name,
not
laws
or
new
phenomena.
Standing
on
the
borderland
between
pure
and
applied
science,
his
sympathies
were
yet
with
the
latter;
and
as
the
outgoing
President
of
the
British
Association
at
Southport,
in
1882,
he
expressed
the
opinion
that
'in
the
great
workshop
of
nature
there
are
no
lines
of
demarcation
to
be
drawn
between
the
most
exalted
speculation
and
common-place
practice.'
The
truth
of
this
is
not
to
be
gain-said,
but
it
is
the
utterance
of
an
engineer
who
judges
the
merit
of
a
thing
by
its
utility.
He
objected
to
the
pursuit
of
science
apart
from
its
application,
and
held
that
the
man
of
science
does
most
for
his
kind
who
shows
the
world
how
to
make
use
of
scientific
results.
Such
a
view
was
natural
on
the
part
of
Siemens,
who
was
himself
a
living
representative
of
the
type
in
question;
but
it
was
not
the
view
of
such
a
man
as
Faraday
or
Newton,
whose
pure
aim
was
to
discover
truth,
well
knowing
that
it
would
be
turned
to
use
thereafter.
In
Faraday's
eyes
the
new
principle
was
a
higher
boon
than
the
appliance
which
was
founded
upon
it.
Tried
by
his
own
standard,
however,
Siemens
was
a
conspicuous
benefactor
of
his
fellow-men;
and
at
the
time
of
his
decease
he
had
become
our
leading
authority
upon
applied
science.
In
electricity
he
was
a
pioneer
of
the
new
advances,
and
happily
lived
to
obtain
at
least
a
Pisgah
view
of
the
great
future
which
evidently
lies
before
that
pregnant
force.
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