THE ART OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION 



widely held opinion that not everyone is able to undertake 

 research successfully, just as not everyone has talent for com- 

 posing music, but lack of the particular requirements should not 

 be regarded as a slur on the person's intelligence or his ability in 

 other directions. 



Incentives and rewards 



The chief incentives of research are to satisfy curiosity, to 

 satisfy the creative instinct, the desire to know whether one's 

 conjecture has led to the creation of new knowledge and the 

 desire for the feeling of importance by gaining recognition. 

 More mundane incentives are the need to gain a livelihood and 

 the ambition to "get on in the world", "showing" certain 

 individuals who did not believe in your ability on the one hand, 

 and on the other hand, trying to justify the confidence that others 

 may have shown in you. Recognition of work done is an import- 

 ant incentive as is illustrated by the ill-feeling sometimes dis- 

 played over contentious points of priority in publication. Even 

 great scientists are usually jealous of getting all due credit for 

 their discoveries. The desire to see one's name in print and be 

 credited throughout the scientific world with one's accomplish- 

 ments is undoubtedly one of the most important incentives in 

 research. In addition to these incentives which are common to all 

 types of research, in applied research there is the desire to 

 accomplish something for the good of mankind. This is likely to 

 be more eflfective if it is not merely a vague ideal but if those 

 to benefit are known to, or in some way associated with, the 

 research worker. 



The man or woman with a research mind is fascinated by the 

 mental challenge of the unexplained and delights in exercising 

 the wits in trying to find a solution. This is just a manifestation 

 of the phenomenon that many people find pleasure in solving 

 problems, even when there is no reward attached, as is shown by 

 the popularity of crossword puzzles and detective stories. In- 

 cidentally Paul Ehrlich loved detective mysteries. Interest in a 

 particular branch of science sometimes originates from the intrin- 

 sic beauty of the material or technique employed. Naturalists 

 and zoologists are often attracted to study a group of animals 

 because they find their appearance pleasing and a bacteriologist 



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