I. AVOID FRUITLESS EXPERIMENTS \'.i 



all observations personally often feel uncomfortable in administrative 

 research positions where such duties are delegated to assistants. It 

 seems sensible to devote one's efforts in a manner that will prove most 

 fruitful eventually, especially since there is great need for all types of 

 scientific activity. 



The beginner must face the question as to whether he should engage 

 in scientific research at all. Natural talent in this direction should be 

 the criterion. Some help in arriving at a decision may be obtained 

 from aptitude tests. Such tests may give an indication not only of 

 general research aptitude but also of specific types of investigation in 

 which the individual is most likely to succeed. It seems increasingly 

 clear that many types of research will be done in the future by co- 

 operative teams or groups. If an individual is not inclined to be co- 

 operative, he should select his research field carefully in order to avoid 

 problems requiring this qualit5^ 



C. REFRAIN FROM UNDUE REPETITION OF WORK 



OF OTHERS 



1. Keep Abreast of Current Developments 



Scientific literature has increased in bulk to the point where it is 

 becoming increasingly difficult to avoid entirely the unwitting repeti- 

 tion of experiments. At the same time it has become perhaps more 

 important to devote scientific energies to the new and unexplored. It 

 is always disturbing when exciting and seemingly original research 

 ideas turn out upon further inquiry to have been studied by others 

 years ago, yet the disappointment should be easier to bear if it occurs 

 before rather than after the unknowing duplication of previous work. 



Where research programs involve substantial amounts of time and 

 money, a fairly extensive library search relative to past achievements 

 along the same line should be considered as certainly justified if indeed 

 not obligatory. Whether exliaubtive searches into the literature are 

 conducted depends both on the idiosyncrasies of the individual and on 

 the ease with which such information can be obtained. Some in- 

 vestigators rarely enter a library, while others may spend too much 

 time in reference work. Unless a genuine attempt is made to search 

 the literature for past achievements, it is difficult to justify a research 

 program. To repeat from ignorance experiments already satisfac- 

 torily perf(jrmed and reported is not conducive to scientific progress. 



The time is long past when one could hope to keep abreast of the 



