Rewards and Satisfactions 137 



long process of mastering the combination of manual, 

 mental, and emotional abilities that form a craft or tech- 

 nique enjoys exercising it and takes a proper pride in the 

 result. 



In addition to these two rewards which stem directly 

 from his work, the scientist derives a variety of other sec- 

 ondary satisfactions. Primary among these, perhaps, as 

 pointed out in our chapter on the graduate student, is 

 the pleasure of working and competing with one's intel- 

 lectual equals. Although there are plenty of instances of 

 bitter personal rivalries in science, the average scientist 

 today gets on reasonably well with his colleagues both in 

 his own laboratory and elsewhere. A considerable portion 

 of his time will be spent in discussing his results with others 

 in laboratory seminars, in regional and national meetings, 

 and at occasional international congresses. Sometimes the 

 arguments may get pretty heated, but for the most part 

 emotional conflicts are kept within the bounds of the 

 "friendly rivalries" found among intercollegiate athletes. 



The disagreements in science are confined to the growing 

 edge of knowledge. The great bulk of fact and interpreta- 

 tion is very generally agreed upon at any given time. As 

 we have pointed out before, science is essentially a method 

 for achieving agreement about the nature of things. If 

 disagreement exists, the scientists on both sides devote their 

 energies to making observations or devising experiments 

 to convince their opponents and the scientific pubUc in 

 general. It is thus rather rare for scientific controversy on 

 a given point to extend for more than five to ten years. 

 Indeed, if convincing experiments cannot be devised to 

 resolve a particular question in a reasonable period of 

 time, the question is usually set aside as not a real question 

 at all. 



The scientific community has thus been able to avoid 



