148 SCIENTIST 



time is, in fact, spent in discussion of scientific matters. 

 Nevertheless, some time is usually allowed for seeing the 

 local sights or for participating in the recreational activities 

 commonly found in resort areas. The sight-seeing is often 

 arranged by knowledgeable members of the local commu- 

 nity so that the visiting scientists can see more under more 

 intelligent and sympathetic guidance than would be avail- 

 able to the conventional tourist. Often he will be enter- 

 tained in the homes of local scientists or other persons with 

 broad cultural interests and larger homes than those ordi- 

 narily available to professional people. 



Like everything else in this world, the amenities of travel 

 are not evenly distributed throughout the scientific commu- 

 nity. Obviously the more capable and the more enterpris- 

 ing are more likely to be invited to such scientific meetings 

 and to find means of getting most of their expenses paid. 

 Personal taste of course plays a role. Some very capable 

 scientists eschew all meetings as a waste of time, and others 

 may tend to overdo it to the point of becoming little better 

 than scientific bums — to borrow an analogy from the 

 tennis world. 



Taking it all in all, however, the average productive 

 scientist in one of the currently fashionable fields has, by 

 the time he has reached forty-five years of age, been to 

 Washington more times than he cares to remember, to most 

 of the other large cities of the United States, to all the major 

 capitals of Europe at least once, and has probably made 

 one or more trips to Latin America or Asia. He has also 

 spent a week or so each in a number of such internationally 

 known resort areas as the Rocky Mountains, the Riviera, 

 the West Indies, and the Alps. 



If he is really outstanding, some of his travel has been for 

 the purpose of receiving special awards which in the United 

 States take the form of honorary degrees, gold medals, and 



