SS JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11, NO. 4 



such half-truths as "A little learning is a dangerous thing" show that 

 the thesis is by no means universally accepted and acted upon. To 

 argue this question here would be quite fruitless, since I have already 

 shown that the number of persons who will hear and read this address 

 is not only small, but drawn from a circle in which the thesis needs 

 no demonstration. I shall pass on to the more practical question: 

 What are you and I going to do about it? 



IV. THE FUTURE OE THE DISTRIBUTION OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION 



"A responsibility rests upon us to see also that the results of our 

 own investigations are not buried more deeply than were the materials 

 upon which they have been based." ^^ 



With this general sentiment we all agree. As to its particular 

 application, probably each of us has his individual opinion. That 

 opinion should be based, not on prejudice or on our usual naive 

 assumptions regarding human psychology, but on scientific informa- 

 tion, much more accurate and detailed than the crude sample I have 

 just been endeavoring to distribute. 



In the following paragraphs I shall take up each of the methods 

 of distribution already discussed, and indicate a few of the possible 

 or probable directions of their future development. 



Personal communication. — ^There is no improvement to be hoped 

 for from this method of distribution. Indeed, as I have hinted 

 before, we need less of it rather than more. If men especially fitted 

 by temperament and training to do original research are employed 

 with the expectation of devoting their whole time to the task of 

 digging out new knowledge, they should not be expected to spend 

 time and energy retailing that knowledge. 



I have already referred to complaints by the Government's scientists 

 of the wasting of their time in answering miscellaneous questions. 

 This is not indolence, narrow-minded selfishness, or lack of public 

 spirit on their part, any more than it is selfish for the President of the 

 United States to refuse to give his whole day to receiving visitors; 

 he has. other important business to attend to. 



Various results follow if the investigator is not protected by the 

 administrative part of his organization against too much questioning. 

 One effect is that he does as much of his research as he can at home, or 

 in some obscure corner where visitors cannot find him ; but this inter- 

 im J. C. Merriam. The research spirit in the life of the average man. Science 52: 473-478. 

 November 19, 1920. 



