88 SCIENTIST 



that much, probably too much, has been written about 

 curricula, textbooks, teaching machines, and movies. Far 

 too little has been written or even thought about the two 

 most important elements in the school situation — the quality 

 of the teachers and the quality of the students. In other 

 words, if you have to change the order of courses in order 

 to get a good teacher, do so by all means. If one or more 

 of the recommended courses is given by a poor teacher and 

 the content is limited to the most unimaginative aspects of 

 the subject, omit it entirely. It is better to take no science 

 in high school than to be turned against science forever by 

 taking a hopelessly bad course. 



The previous chapter had something to say about the 

 importance of social sciences; in the next I will discuss the 

 significance of English and foreign languages in the prepa- 

 ration of the scientist. All these subjects should, of course, 

 be begun in high school. Again it will be found that the 

 quaUty of the courses offered varies enormously from school 

 to school. In many places the social sciences will not be 

 taught as separate discipHnes such as history, government, 

 or economics but as a combined course in civics or social 

 studies. There is perhaps nothing wrong with this idea in 

 principle, but in practice it has resulted in a considerable 

 dilution of educational content. In an effort to cover "every- 

 thing," nothing is treated very thoroughly. The long and 

 often painful history which gives meaning to such important 

 institutions as trial by jury, the right of habeas corpus, or 

 the protection of the Fifth Amendment has tended to dis- 

 appear. In its place we find a rather bloodless account of 

 how legislatures work or what a mayor does at the present 

 time. Economics is usually so superficially presented as to 

 provide Httle background for intelligent newspaper reading 

 on such topics as international trade, the role of the Federal 

 Reserve Bank, or the farm problems. Although the dangers 



