100 YEARS AGO

“Compulsory Greek at Cambridge.” When I decided to go up to Cambridge to study mathematics and philosophy I was living abroad, and I crammed Greek... But on going in for the “Little Go,” though I passed easily in translation, I failed by a few marks in Greek grammar. It was so near a thing that I thought I might pull through in December with a few hours more grind; but unfortunately I ran it too fine, and again failed by a few marks. This meant that I had to get up a complete new set of translation books for the following June, and to prevent further mistakes I went to a coach for the grammar part. I then passed, getting a second class... I can only say my present knowledge of the language is nil, although I had a double dose of it... But this may have been due to my resentment at being forced to waste time in an uncongenial study, when I was keen to get on to something else.

Edward T. Dixon

From Nature 26 January 1905.

50 YEARS AGO

The declared aim of the Central African Federation is a partnership between the races, European and non-European; and to the attainment of this ideal a university, with the goodwill of the people and the support of the government, can make a tremendous contribution... The Moffat Resolutions adopted by the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia on July 29, 1954 (The Times, August 14, 1954), began the task of defining partnership in a more precise way than has hitherto been attempted: “(1) The objective of policy in Northern Rhodesia must be to remove from each race the fear that the other might dominate for its own racial benefit and to move forward from the present system of racial representation in the territorial legislature towards a franchise with no separate representation for the races. (2) Until that objective can be fully achieved a period of transition will remain during which special arrangements in the Legislative and Executive Councils must continue to be made so as to ensure that no race can use either the preponderance of its numbers or its more advanced stage of development to dominate the other for its own racial benefit...” The significance of education, and particularly the education of the African, in the working out of such a plan must be clear to all.

From Nature 29 January 1955.