How to Become a Scientist — High School Years 89 



of this situation have been recognized for some time, rela- 

 tively little has been done about it until very recently. The 

 last year or two have, however, seen some effort to return 

 to more solid courses in history, and a group of distin- 

 guished economists are working on a course in their subject 

 which should be appropriate for high school students. If the 

 student is fortunate enough to find himself in a school which 

 offers solid courses in history, government, or economics, 

 he should be advised to elect them instead of the conven- 

 tional course in civics or social studies. In any case, he 

 would do well to establish as soon as possible the habit 

 of supplementary reading in these fields. Many people have 

 compensated for an inadequate formal education in this 

 way, and no matter how good one's formal education may 

 be, it is never enough. ^ 



This may be the place to say something about the forma- 

 tion of what used to be called character. It may seem a little 

 odd to mention this matter as part of becoming a scientist, 

 since so many people seem to regard scientists as dis- 

 embodied intellectuals. Nevertheless scientists are people 

 and they need to develop certain traits of character in order 

 to perform well both in their private lives and in their 

 professional work. In a later chapter I will have something 

 to say about the relationship of science to morals and to 

 certain other so-called value problems. Suffice it to say here 

 that the pursuit of science itself requires the exercise of 

 certain well known character traits, such as honesty, in- 

 dustry, perseverance, and fair dealing. Furthermore, scien- 

 tists are increasingly involved in making judgments about 

 the use of scientific power for national defense and the 

 promotion of the general welfare. Decisions whether or not 

 to use a certain drug, a new food additive, or a vaccine 

 require careful balancing of possible dangers against the 

 probable benefits and such judgments cannot be made on 



