﻿92 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  keenly 
  as 
  to 
  err 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  extreme 
  and 
  become 
  lax 
  in 
  the 
  duty 
  of 
  

   giving 
  any 
  returns 
  to 
  the 
  public. 
  

  

  The 
  obligation 
  imposed 
  on 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientist 
  often 
  runs 
  counter 
  

   to 
  his 
  personal 
  ambitions. 
  He 
  chafes 
  under 
  a 
  condition, 
  imposed 
  by 
  

   law 
  or 
  by 
  public 
  need, 
  forcing 
  him 
  to 
  abandon 
  some 
  favorite 
  field 
  of 
  

   research 
  for 
  one 
  of 
  less 
  interest. 
  It 
  makes 
  his 
  unsought 
  task 
  no 
  easier 
  

   if, 
  as 
  sometimes 
  happens, 
  a 
  colleague 
  with 
  only 
  a 
  rudimentary 
  con- 
  

   ception 
  of 
  public 
  duty 
  implies 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  abandoned 
  pure 
  science 
  

   for 
  some 
  more 
  popular 
  field. 
  

  

  Every 
  administrator 
  of 
  research 
  finds 
  his 
  chief 
  problem 
  in 
  the 
  

   control 
  of 
  his 
  scientific 
  personnel. 
  To 
  some 
  this 
  problem 
  appears 
  

   most 
  simple 
  and 
  involves 
  only 
  the 
  giving 
  of 
  financial 
  support 
  to 
  the 
  

   master 
  mind 
  and 
  then 
  allowing 
  it 
  to 
  wander 
  whither 
  it 
  will. 
  Such 
  

   a 
  course, 
  however, 
  will 
  not 
  lead 
  to 
  the 
  solution 
  of 
  a 
  cooperative 
  problem. 
  

   Moreover, 
  the 
  master 
  mind, 
  if 
  left 
  to 
  its 
  own 
  devices, 
  may 
  wander 
  

   entirely 
  off 
  the 
  premises. 
  The 
  task 
  of 
  the 
  executive 
  is 
  to 
  harmonize 
  

   the 
  work 
  of 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  strongly 
  individualistic 
  investigators, 
  whose 
  

   tendency 
  is 
  centrifugal 
  rather 
  than 
  centripetal. 
  Success 
  will 
  be 
  

   achieved 
  by 
  a 
  proper 
  balance 
  between 
  individualistic 
  and 
  cooperative 
  

   inquiry. 
  There 
  is 
  the 
  danger, 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  hand, 
  of 
  discouraging 
  origi- 
  

   nality 
  of 
  thought, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  other, 
  of 
  failing 
  to 
  maintain 
  the 
  necessary 
  

   unity 
  of 
  purpose. 
  

  

  The 
  executive 
  in 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientific 
  service 
  stands 
  between 
  the 
  

   horns 
  of 
  a 
  dilemma. 
  If 
  his 
  bureau 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  organized 
  as 
  to 
  provide 
  

   very 
  definite 
  control 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  investigator 
  he 
  may 
  

   fail 
  to 
  achieve 
  the 
  results 
  demanded 
  by 
  the 
  terms 
  of 
  his 
  grants. 
  If 
  

   his 
  organization 
  is 
  such 
  that 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  give 
  full 
  play 
  to 
  constructive 
  

   thought 
  by 
  the 
  individual 
  investigator 
  he 
  will 
  accomplish 
  little 
  to 
  

   advance 
  his 
  science. 
  He 
  must 
  constantly 
  strive 
  to 
  have 
  his 
  adminis- 
  

   trative 
  machinery 
  sufficiently 
  elastic 
  to 
  develop 
  the 
  best 
  mental 
  work 
  

   possible 
  by 
  each 
  of 
  his 
  scientific 
  staff. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  he 
  must 
  not 
  

   ignore 
  his 
  obligation 
  to 
  give 
  results 
  to 
  the 
  public. 
  Some 
  investigators 
  

   need 
  constant 
  spurring 
  to 
  obtain 
  results; 
  others 
  need 
  restraint, 
  for 
  

   their 
  productions 
  come 
  so 
  fast 
  as 
  to 
  raise 
  the 
  suspicion 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  

   not 
  be 
  sound. 
  Although 
  the 
  premature 
  announcement 
  of 
  conclu- 
  

   sions 
  meets 
  with 
  quick 
  punishment, 
  the 
  procrastinator 
  often 
  receives 
  

   undue 
  credit 
  among 
  his 
  colleagues 
  from 
  the 
  very 
  fact 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  failed 
  

   to 
  make 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  his 
  attainments 
  public. 
  Indeed, 
  he 
  often 
  

   hampers 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  science 
  by 
  occupying 
  a 
  field 
  to 
  the 
  exclusion 
  of 
  

   others 
  and 
  by 
  discouraging 
  financial 
  support 
  for 
  the 
  organization 
  

  

  