72 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11, NO. -i 



experiences. One philosopher, experienced in research, administra- 

 tion, and poUtics, refers to this lamentable fact as "the law of the 

 conservation of ignorance."^ Perhaps this law is only a natural 

 inheritance from our happy-go-lucky simian ancestors;^ but I gladly 

 leave that problem to the anthropologists, psychologists, and psycho- 

 analysts, and turn to the second cause of ineffective distribution, 

 one which comes much more within the ken of a physical scientist. 



THE INACCESSIBILITY OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION 



It might seem that in a land so full of newspapers, periodicals, 

 books, reading rooms, libraries, museums, lecture halls, and "movie" 

 theaters, one could not properly speak of the "inaccessibility" of pub- 

 lished information. But this very abundance is the first of three 

 important causes that make any particular item of information quite 

 inaccessible. A second cause is found in the extremely heterogene- 

 ous character of the product. And a third is the physical inability 

 of some of our methods to connect producer and consumer, as will 

 appear from a quantitative analysis of the situation. 



In looking into this matter in more detail, I wish first to separate 

 our complicated modern methods of distributing information into 

 their "pure components," in order to see in what respects each 

 one fails, or is likely to fail, in effectiveness. 



But let it first be clearly understood that we are discussing the 

 distribution of information, not advice. To illustrate: in the field 

 of human physiology and pathology it is our custom seldom to 

 ask the physician for information, but to expect only advice, that 

 is, recommendations as to what to do next. To be sure, advice is 

 what we usually need, and its distribution will always be a more 

 necessary and a much larger industry than the distribution of in- 

 formation; but it is too big a subject to receive more than this 

 passing mention here. 



Under the term "scientific information" I shall include all sys- 

 tematized knowledge, gained by laboratory experiment, by observa- 

 tion of natural phenomena, or by the bringing together of old facts 

 in new and significant combinations. Let us consider the channels 

 by which this information is conveyed from its discoverer or assem- 

 bler (the producer) to other individuals or to the public at large 

 (the consumers). Five important channels may be distinguished: 



* Carnegie Institution of Washington, Year Book 15: 14. 1916. 

 ^ Clarence Day, Jr. This simian world. (New York, 1920.) 



