8 THE SCOPE OF ZOOLOGY 



sonal feelings. As human beings we all have feelings and emotions 

 which too often influence our decisions. It is extremely difficult for us 

 to ignore these personal factors and to use unprejudiced reasoning as 

 a basis for our conclusions. The true scientist tries to realize that such 

 prejudices exist and makes an earnest effort to make allowances for 

 them in drawing his conclusions. Especially does he try to ferret out 

 negative findings which run counter to his hypothesis. Failure to do 

 this may prove quite embarrassing, to say the least. In the course of 

 time, more careful investigators are almost certain to discover errors in 

 conclusions when negative findings are not given proper weight. If 

 we could learn to apply the scientific attitude to some of the decisions 

 of our daily lives we would probably be much happier with the results 

 of our decisions in future years. 



The Practicality of Scientific Research 



One sometimes hears criticism of scientific research being conducted 

 in fields in which there seems to be no possible practical value in the 

 findings. Such an attitude stamps one as being uninformed as to the 

 methods of scientific progress. For one thing, any discovery which 

 adds to the sum total of human knowledge is worth while. Just to 

 discover and record something that no person has ever known before 

 is a satisfying and worth-while achievement. To be sure, many sci- 

 entific discoveries have turned out to be immensely practical, but in 

 almost every case the scientist who made the discovery did not have a 

 practical aim in mind while conducting the research. Hence, we can 

 say that we have no way of knowing which investigations will result 

 in practical ends and, therefore, that research must be continued in all 

 fields in order to reap the practical results. The impracticality of re- 

 search directed solely at practical ends has been proved in certain 

 countries where the governments have tried to prescribe the direction 

 of scientific research. The result has been a dearth of scientific find- 

 ings of significance, practical or otherwise, and a dependence upon 

 other nations for scientific advances. 



A specific case might be mentioned to show how investigation in 

 obscure, "impractical" fields may result in findings of great practical 

 value. An American biologist, G. W. Kidder, has been studying the 

 nutrition of a one-celled animal known only by its formidable-sounding 

 scientific name of Tctrahymena gclcn. Few people have even heard of 

 this animal — it causes no disease — it is not of economic value — what 

 possible good could come from a study of its nutrition ? Let us see ! 



