86 SCIENTIST 



It is true that it is the most abstract of the sciences and 

 depends more than any other on an understanding of mathe- 

 matics. Nevertheless, in schools where good math is avail- 

 able, a well designed physics course can be taken as early as 

 the second year of high school and certainly by the third 

 year. 



The recommended order follows the chronological order 

 in which the three subjects developed historically, but this 

 is only a minor reason for recommending that it be followed 

 by today's students. The most important reason is that 

 physics tells us the basic way in which the universe is put 

 together and provides an understanding of the major forces 

 that relate the bits and pieces with one another. Chemistry 

 builds on these principles to give us a picture of more 

 complex material. Finally, biology shows how complex 

 chemical compounds are put together to form life. 



The order in which physics and chemistry are taken is 

 perhaps less important than the postponing of biology until 

 after physics and chemistry have been completed. If the 

 latter is not done, there is grave danger that the course will 

 have to be given in a way that actually destroys rather than 

 enlivens the interest of the student. Some students, even 

 some adult biologists, can derive a major satisfaction merely 

 from observing the various forms in whji^h life appears and 

 in classifying them into groups and subgroups — the phyla, 

 genera, famiUes, and species of the classical biologist. This 

 sense of excitement about form and classification is a rela- 

 tively rare gift and one that was essential for the develop- 

 ment of biology in an earlier period. Its great flowering 

 came in the invention and verification of the theory of 

 evolution. So great was its triumph that the study of form 

 and classification has dominated elementary biology ever 

 since. This has meant that the beginning student is con- 

 fronted by an overwhelming mass of material that can be 



