W. O. BAKER 



ing to his own bent would have to try hard to avoid contribut- 

 ing to the practical advancement of the total structure. And 

 must we not seize boldly this possibility? It is that in the life 

 sciences embodied in genetics there is emerging a foundation 

 of theory adequate to support a vast expansion of effort, in 

 which the gifted worker will soon be contributing to an overall 

 national program. Only the social sciences, whose ascendancy 

 is certain, although we don't know when, offer comparable 

 appeal to the deepening knowledge of genetics. 



Of course, according to Professor Beadle's experience there 

 remain language as well as theory problems in genetics. He has 

 reported the following definition as having been obtained from 

 a student recently: "Heredity is where if your grandparents 

 didn't have any children, you probably won't either." 



I take very seriously Professor Niels Bohr's comments in 

 an essay on "Atoms and the Human Knowledge" 



. . . "Life" is not a word that finds any application in physics. We 

 find no reason to describe the phenomena we deal with in classical 

 physics in terms of life, and exactly the same is true of atomic 

 physics. Life is, in a sense, an irreducible element in biology, just 

 as the quantum of action is now an element in physical science; 

 and, at any rate for the quantum of action, the essential fact is 

 that no explanation can possibly be given for it on the basis of 

 classical physical ideas. 



In the face of this, I should not like to think of scientific pro- 

 grams in biology and medicine and in genetics, above all, being 

 conducted in terms of defined objectives and a step-by-step 

 utilization of existing concepts. Rather, as has happened in 

 physics in the last century, we must create a situation where 

 great new bold ideas comparable to the Maxwellian electro- 

 magnetic theory of light, to the Bohr theory of the atom, to the 

 Planck-Einstein quantum concept must be attempted. 



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