DIFFICULTIES 



in Germany*^ and in U.S.A. in 1925, at the notorious "Tennes- 

 see monkey trial ", a science teacher was prosecuted for teaching 

 evolution. In totalitarian states, the intrusion of poHtics into 

 scientific matters, as was seen under the Nazi regime and now 

 in Russia over the genetics controversy, may introduce authori- 

 tarianism into science with consequent suppression of the work 

 of those not willing to bow to the party dictum on scientific 

 theories.^ A mild form of reaction persists in societies devoted 

 to combating vaccination and vivisection. Nor should we 

 scientists ourselves be too complacent, for even within scientific 

 circles to-day a new discovery may be ignored or opposed if it 

 is revolutionary in principle and made by someone outside 

 approved circles. The discoverer may still be required to show 

 the courage of his convictions. 



It has been said that the reception of an original contribution 

 to knowledge may be divided into three phases : during the first 

 it is ridiculed as not true, impossible or useless; during the 

 second, people say there may be something in it but it would 

 never be of any practical use; and in the third and final phase, 

 when the discovery has received general recognition, there are 

 usually people who say that it is not original and has been 

 anticipated by others.* Theobald Smith spoke truly when he 

 said : 



" The joy of research must be found in doing, since every other 

 harvest is uncertain."®* 



It is a commonplace that in the past the great scientists have 

 often been rewarded for their gifts to mankind by persecution. 

 A good example of this curious fact is provided by the following 

 story of what happened to Ignaz Semmelweis, when he showed 

 how the dreadful suffering and loss of life due to puerperal fever 

 that was then the rule in the hospitals of Europe could be pre- 

 vented. 



In 1847 Semmelweis got the idea that the disease was carried 

 to the women on the hands of the medical teachers and students 

 coming direct from the post-mortem room. To destroy the 

 *' cadaveric material" on the hands he instituted a strict routine 



* This saying seems to have originated from Sir James Mackenzie {The 

 Beloved Physician, by R. M. Wilson, John Murray, London). 



