FEB. 19, 1021 sosman: distribution of scientific information 97 



vey, has made it one of his favorite subjects of discourse to urge that 

 the results of investigation be stated in clear and easily understand- 

 able language, and to point out that muddy writing is usually the 

 product of muddy thinking. He provides, for his organization, an 

 editor who gives his whole attention to improving the readability 

 of the Sur\^ey's publications. Most organizations have editorial 

 committees, sometimes seeming to ramify ad infinitum, but current 

 discussion and comment lead me to believe that the less of this kind 

 of committee work we can get along with, the better. A more prac- 

 tical system to work toward may be indicated in the fable of the suc- 

 cessful publishing house which passed for publication only matter 

 which was found to please the janitor. 



If the investigator neglects his plain duty of presenting an accurate 

 and clear account of his results (though not necessarily non-technical 

 or adapted to the use of the pubHc), and his organization neglects 

 its duty of seeing that the account is readable and accessible, then 

 there is little ground for complaint on their part if the work is over- 

 looked and even duplicated by somebody else. Although it is per- 

 haps contrary to existing professional tradition, I feel that "a thorough 

 knowledge of the literature" is not incumbent on an investigator if a 

 part of that literature is so obscure as to require a disproportionate 

 time for its discovery and deciphering.-^ 



The "movie'' film. — The future of the distribution of scientific 

 information by the "movies" is simply beyond prediction. Perhaps 

 its recent vigorous growth is only that of a mushroom, without per- 

 manence. Rapidly increasing investments in the business, on the 

 other hand, indicate considerable confidence in its future. Pro- 

 gressive educators, a'so, are fully aware o: its possibilities, as indi- 

 cated by the recent formation oT a "Society for Visual Education." 

 One thing is certain: tha,t the best results will not be attained by 

 leaving the matter to the ruthless natural selection of commercial com- 

 petition. Neither will anything serious be accomplished by con- 

 sidering the moving picture as merely an adjunct to the lecture or 

 museum. 



Other methods. — A minor method of distribution, used particularly 

 in crystallography, physiology, paleontology, and geography, is that 

 by models or casts made in any desired number from a mold. Its 



2^ "It is the worst of educated men that they cannot speak about any great question 

 till they have read everything that has been written about it, for fear that some one should 

 say, 'But have you read Schwartzenburg?' Then, if they have not read Schwartzenburg, 

 they are done." — Tolstoy. 



