THE ART OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION 



because he has no great confidence in his opinions, yet he also 

 is sceptical of others' views. This characteristic can be incon- 

 venient in everyday life. Cajal commenting on the importance 

 of mental independence in the scientist, remarks that humility 

 may be fitting for saints but seldom for scientists.^ ^" 



A spirit of indomitable perseverance has characterised nearly 

 all successful scientists, for most worth while achievements re- 

 quired persistence and courage in face of repeated frustrations. 

 So strong was this trait in Darwin that his son said it went beyond 

 ordinary perseverance and could better be described as dogged- 

 ness. Pasteur said : 



" Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My 

 only strength lies in my tenacity."^ ^^ 



People may be divided roughly into those who habitually 

 react vigorously to external influences — including ideas — and 

 those who are passive and accept things as they come. The 

 former question everything they are told even as children and 

 often rebel against the conventional. They are curious and want 

 to find out things for themselves. The other type fits into life with 

 less trouble and, other things being equal, more easily accumu- 

 lates information given as formal teaching. The mind of this 

 latter type becomes furnished with generally accepted ideas and 

 set opinions, whereas the reactive type has fewer fixed opinions 

 and his mind remains free and flexible. Of course, not everyone 

 can be classed as belonging to one of these two extremes, but 

 clearly those approximating to the passive type are not cut out 

 for research. 



Preparing a list of the required attributes is not much help 

 in the vexing problem of how to select promising people for 

 research or of deciding yourself if you are suitable, because there 

 is at present no objective means of measuring the qualities listed. 

 However, this is a problem which psychologists might be able to 

 solve in time. For example, it might be possible to devise a test 

 of a person's knowledge of everyday things that would be a 

 measure of his curiosity and powers of observation — his success 

 in " discovering " things in his environment, for life can be a 

 perpetual process of discovering. Tests might also be devised to 

 measure ability to generalise, to formulate hypotheses to fit given 



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