ORGANIZED SCIENCE 299 



its student body. The unique cachet of the institution derives from 

 the community of scholars that graces it. The Invisible College of 

 science is the self-constituted association of scholars who— banded 

 together in mutual regard for stimulation and assistance— seek the 

 advancement of a communal ideal that, says Nagel, enjoins rejection 

 of every system of dogma while at the same time demanding faithful 

 adherence to the socially cultivated standards of sound workmanship. 



Observe that rejection of all commitment to dogma entails the 

 rejection in science of all human authority, always exercised accord- 

 ing to the dogmatic preconceptions of those who wield it. The motto 

 adopted by the Royal Society, Nullius in verba, expresses the em- 

 pirical orientation of its members; but expresses, too, their rejection 

 of any authority beyond that of nature, expressed in the results of 

 experiments. To be sure, the Society had its officers, but (as in the 

 modern professional society) these exercised only relatively small 

 powers delegated to them. Quite characteristically, this is a system of 

 atomic sovereignty. 



Polanyi contrasts systems of general authority, which leave large 

 scope to individual initiative and judgment, with systems of special 

 authority like that of the Roman Church. The systems of general au- 

 thority acknowledge traditions held excellent but still further per- 

 fectable. The systems of special authority are designed to preserve 

 from all corruption traditions held already to have achieved their 

 ultimate perfection. The Invisible College's is a system of general 

 authority, and its tradition is carried on by a process that Polanyi 

 well calls "creative renewal." 



... a traditional process of creative thought cannot be carried on 

 without wholly new additions being made to existing tradition at 

 every stage of transmission. . . . 



. . . there are always borderline cases requiring a measure of dis- 

 cretion, and even in routine cases there will often be an element of 

 finer discrimination involved where a personal judgment is indis- 

 pensable. The major principles of science, law, religion, etc., are con- 

 tinuously remoulded by decisions made in borderline cases and by the 

 touch of personal judgment entering into almost every decision. And 

 apart from this silent revolution steadily remoulding our heritage, 

 there are the massive innovations introduced by the great pioneers. 

 Yet each of these actions fonns an essential part of the process of 

 carrying on a tradition. 



