SCIENTISTS 



existed and been accumulating knowledge for only about a million 

 years, and civilisation started only some 10,000 years ago. There 

 is no known reason why the world should not remain habitable 

 for hundreds of milHons of years to come. The mind staggers at 

 the thought of what will be accomphshed in the future. We have 

 scarcely begun to master the forces of nature. 



But more urgent than finding out how to control the world's 

 climate, to draw on the heat stored under the crust of the earth, 

 or reaching out through space to other worlds, is the need for 

 man's social development to catch up with his achievements in 

 the physical sciences. And whose fancy can guess at the shape 

 of things to come when mankind finds the collective will and 

 courage to assume the tremendous but ultimately inescapable 

 responsibility of deliberately directing the further evolution of 

 the human species, and the greatest tool of research, the mind 

 of man, becomes itself the subject of scientific development? 



SUMMARY 



Curiosity and love of science are the most important mental 

 requirements for research. Perhaps the main incentive is the 

 desire to win the esteem of one's associates, and the chief 

 reward is the thrill of discovery, which is widely acclaimed as 

 one of the greatest pleasures life has to offer. 



Scientists may be divided broadly into two types according 

 to their method of thinking. At one extreme is the speculative 

 worker whose method is to try to arrive at the solution by use 

 of imagination and intuition and then test his hypothesis by 

 experiment or observation. The other extreme is the systematic 

 worker who progresses slowly by carefully reasoned stages and 

 who collects most of the data before arriving at the solution. 



Research work commonly progresses in spurts. It is during 

 the " high spots " that it is almost essential for the scientist 

 to devote all possible energy and time to the work. Continual 

 frustrations may produce a mild form of neurosis. Precautions 

 against this include working on more than one problem at a 

 time or having some other part-time occupation. A change of 

 mental environment usually provides a great mental stimulus, and 

 sometimes a change of subject does too. 



There is real gratification to be had from the pursuit of 

 science, for its ideals can give purpose to life. 



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