8 FREDM. UBER 



variety must be condiu'ted before it is profitable to try to lay bare the 

 heart of the difficulty. This information may, of course, have been 

 published already by others and thus be accessible. 



In the process of arriving at the theoretical basis of a problem, 

 there may be an intricate interplay between fact and fancy, between 

 ideas and experimental data, between hunches and lucky observations, 

 and between intuition and blunders. Most scientists do not record 

 the tortuous paths traversed in the pursuit of their discoveries. The 

 fact that some famous scientists have been responsible for several 

 basic discoveries discounts the cynical view that scientific progress is 

 purely an accidental process. 



External stimulation of the thought processes should not be 

 neglected in an effort to achieve an insight into problematical situa- 

 tions. Apart from the stimulus that derives from germane conversa- 

 tion and from browsing in likely fields of literature, a conscious effort 

 should be made to broaden one's contacts with other, and perhaps 

 remote, domains of scientific endeavor. 



2. Focus Attention on Relevant Facts 



"It is to be noted that it is the analysis of the problem which 

 provides the criterion for selecting out of the infinite number of facts 

 in the world the few that are relevant," to quote Northrop (3, p. 34). 

 To proceed willy-nilly to collect irrelevant facts is not regarded as 

 good scientific procedure, although it may occasionally result in a 

 solution. There is also a possibility that the necessary and relevant 

 facts already exist in the literature. Even after an armchair analysis 

 has led one to the basic root of the problem, there may be several 

 other factors that will have an important bearing on whether a given 

 individual should undertake an experimental investigation. Some of 

 these will be discussed in later sections. 



To be most fruitful, experiments should be undertaken only to 

 solve bona fide problems. Unless based on a genuine problem, an 

 investigation lacks purpose and directive force. Only chaos can 

 result from an attempt to record all possible facts. Even Charles 

 Darwin, whose chief service to science was the production of a mass of 

 descriptive evidence that evolution has occurred, has said, "How odd 

 it is that anyone should not see that all observations must be for or 

 against some view, if it is to be of any sei'vice." It is the problem that 

 determines, for example, with what precision measurements are to be 

 made and how extensive an experiment is to be. The discontinuous 



