136 SCIENTIST 



not come very often, but when they do they make up for 

 years of continuous hard work and intermittent frustration. 



In the meantime, the typical scientist has been sustained 

 by a second sort of satisfaction. This is a much more 

 everyday sort of thing and has much in common with 

 the pleasure that any skilled craftsman gets from exercising 

 his craft. As we have seen, science depends on accurate 

 observation of every aspect of the natural world. The tech- 

 niques necessary for making these observations in sufficient 

 detail and with the required degree of precision are often 

 compHcated and difficult. 



It is customary for the layman to emphasize the element 

 of manual dexterity which goes into the mastery of a craft 

 or technique. Much is made, for example, of the "wonder- 

 ful hands" of the skilled surgeon. The practitioners them- 

 selves are likely to be more aware of the intellectual and 

 especially of the emotional demands laid upon them. As 

 one develops a skill one must acquire a precise mental 

 picture of the manual operations required and the order 

 in which they can best be performed. By the use of the 

 intellect one can devise ways of protecting oneself against 

 neuromuscular slips. The good surgeon, for example, makes 

 his original incision in such a place and of such a size as 

 to avoid the necessity of exercising unusual dexterity at 

 the bottom of a deep and narrow hole later on. Similarly, 

 the cabinetmaker will devise a jig to guide his saw at 

 exactly the right angle rather than trying to cut it free- 

 hand. All this mental and manual effort will not be success- 

 ful, however, if one fails to develop the proper character. 

 Above all, the skilled craftsman must keep his emotions 

 under control. In the midst of some delicate procedure he 

 simply cannot allow himself to become impatient or angry 

 either at himself (the usual temptation) or at those around 

 him. Any normal human being who has gone through the 



