2 NATIONAL TRENDS IN BIOLOGY 



to you, when delivering these lectures, a portion of the 

 pleasure which I have had in preparing them for you and 

 in coming to you, I shall be well repaid. 



The historian must always refer and defer to what 

 others have said. The philosopher must show that logical- 

 ly a definite result follows from a given set of events, and 

 then must use this result as a basis for his next step in 

 proceeding. All such reasoning, however, is extremely 

 vague to the average man — entirely too abstract. And, 

 what the average man does not understand, he feels in- 

 stinctively is either erroneous or worthless, or that it is 

 some catch affair which will result in his undoing. Thus, 

 he will blindly accept everything from those whom he 

 considers his superiors, or he will ignore everything that 

 he thinks those in power are using to weaken an already 

 wavering hold on positions and responsibilities attained 

 by him during the last century. He has learned just 

 enough, as Lamartine has aptly pointed out, to be seri- 

 ously influenced by logic, but not enough to know soph- 

 istry when it is presented to him. 



The scientific man has a great advantage over the his- 

 torian and the philosopher, in that he need not carry 

 volumes with him to prove a statement. He works with 

 the very subject matter and standards of measurement 

 used daily by everyone in some degree — his senses. The 

 scientist's discussions and findings are stated in a lan- 

 guage understood by everyone, to a certain extent — the 

 statement of what he actually sees, and hears, and feels. 



