98 THE LIFE OF SCIENCE 



ing: "Talent is that which is in a man's power, genius is that in 

 whose power man is." If Galois had been simply a mathematician 

 of considerable ability, his life would have been far less tragic, for 

 he could have used his mathematical talent for his own advance- 

 ment and happiness; instead of which, the furor of mathematics 

 — as one of his teachers said — possessed him and he had no al- 

 ternative but absolute surrender to his destiny. 



Lowell's aphorism is misleading, however, for it suggests that 

 talent can be acquired, while genius cannot. But biological knowl- 

 edge points to the conclusion that neither is really acquired, 

 though both can be developed and to a certain extent corrected 

 by education. Men of talent as well as men of genius are born, 

 not made. Genius implies a much stronger force, less adaptable to 

 environment, less tractable by education, and also far more ex- 

 clusive and despotic. Its very intensity explains its frequent pre- 

 cocity. If the necessary opportunities do not arise, ordinary 

 abilities may remain hidden indefinitely; but the stronger the abili- 

 ties the smaller need the inducement be to awaken them. In the 

 extreme case, the case of genius, the ability is so strong that, if 

 need be, it will force its own outlet. 



Thus it is that many of the greatest accomplishments of science, 

 art and letters were conceived by very young men. In the field of 

 mathematics, this precocity is particularly obvious. To speak only 

 of the two men considered in this essay, Abel had barely reached 

 the age of twenty-two and Galois was not yet twenty, perhaps 

 not yet nineteen, when they made two of the most profound dis- 

 coveries which have ever been made. In many other sciences and 

 arts, technical apprenticeship may be too long to make such early 

 discovery possible. In most cases, however, the judgment of Alfred 

 de Vigny holds good. "What is a great life? It is a thought of 

 youth wrought out in ripening years." The fundamental concep- 

 tion dawns at an early age — that is, it appears at the surface of 

 one's consciousness as early as this is materially possible — but it 

 is often so great that a long life of toil and abnegation is but too 

 short to work it out. Of course at the beginning it may be very 



