62 NATIONAL TRENDS IN BIOLOGY 



upon the fact that the United States of America had not 

 given sufficient thought to philosophy/ He added that 

 "as long as we worship science, and are afraid of phi- 

 losophy, we shall have no great science except a lagging 

 and halting continuation of what is thought and said 

 elsewhere." 



We may all be wrong in our interpretations. Let us not 

 forget that in the time of Columbus the ablest men were 

 certain that Columbus was mistaken. A later generation 

 may feel the same toward us. The best we can say in all 

 truthfulness is that while we may be mistaken in every- 

 thing we now hold dear, yet, one is more likely to be cor- 

 rect more often by following the abler men than one is 

 in following those less able. With this as an interpreta- 

 tive background, let us continue with a report of our 

 findings. 



The final question in our discussion is that of the 

 status of the vitalistic and the mechanistic conceptions 

 of life. What do the ablest biologists in the various 

 lands hold regarding these two ways of explaining living 

 organisms ? 



Before presenting their answers, let us suggest a pre- 

 caution to the nonphilosophical hearers. A vote can never 

 settle anything as to the actual facts in any given case. 

 All that it can do is to show what the majority hold. 



We have seen how proximity to one's own work and to 

 those who think alike causes an exaggeration of emphasis 

 on such work and such thought. Scientists, like other 

 people, are so close to their own work that they are like 



