THE ART OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION 



mine that it was non-toxic and in every way harmless. But despite 

 its having passed an extensive series of tests, when it became 

 widely used in the field, sheep in a number of flocks developed 

 severe lameness after dipping. Investigation showed that the 

 lameness was not due to the gammexane but to infection with 

 a certain bacterium. The dipping fluid had become fouled with 

 this bacterium which was carried in by some of the sheep. 

 Dipping fluids used previously had a germicidal action against 

 this bacterium, but gammexane had not. Problems of control in 

 biology are often different in different localities. The malaria 

 parasite may have as an intermediate host a different species 

 of mosquito and the liver fluke may utilise a different snail. 



Applied research cuts horizontally across several pure sciences 

 looking for newly found knowledge that can be used in the 

 practical problem. However, the applied scientist is not content 

 with waiting for the discoveries of the pure scientist, valuable 

 as they are. The pure scientist leaves serious gaps in those aspects 

 of the subject which do not appeal to him, and the applied 

 scientist may have to initiate fundamental research in order to 

 fill them. 



Scientific research may also be divided into the exploratory 

 type which opens up new territory, and developmental type 

 which follows on the former. The exploratory type is free and 

 adventurous; occasionally it gives us great and perhaps 

 unexpected discoveries; or it may give us no results at all. 

 Developmental type of research is more often carried on by the 

 very methodical type of scientist who is content to consolidate the 

 advances, to search over the newly won country for more modest 

 discoveries, and to exploit fully the newly gained territory by 

 putting it to use. This latter type of research is sometimes spoken 

 of as "pot-boiling" or "safety first" research. 



"Borderline" research is research carried on in a field where 

 two branches of science meet. This can be very productive in 

 the hands of a scientist with a sufficiently wide training because 

 he can both use and connect up knowledge from each branch 

 of science. A quite ordinary fact, principle or technique from 

 one branch of science may be novel and fruitful when applied 

 in the other branch. 



Research may be divided into different levels which are reached 



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