﻿ifEB. 
  19, 
  1922 
  brooks: 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  the 
  federal 
  service 
  113 
  

  

  a 
  month. 
  This 
  and 
  the 
  interest 
  on 
  the 
  debts 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  forced 
  to 
  

   contract 
  while 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  service 
  should 
  suffice 
  to 
  provide 
  the 
  

   plain 
  living 
  and 
  high 
  thinking 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  so 
  long 
  been 
  schooled. 
  

   If 
  he 
  is 
  truly 
  democratic, 
  he 
  will 
  find 
  comfort 
  in 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  some 
  

   aged 
  colleague, 
  whose 
  professional 
  duty 
  in 
  the 
  Federal 
  serv'ice 
  was 
  to 
  

   shovel 
  coal, 
  enjoys 
  the 
  same 
  monthly 
  allowance 
  as 
  his 
  own. 
  

  

  The 
  newcomer 
  will 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  Federal 
  service 
  an 
  atmosphere 
  of 
  

   activity 
  and 
  high 
  pressure 
  that 
  is 
  not 
  always 
  conducive 
  to 
  construc- 
  

   tive 
  thought. 
  If 
  he 
  is 
  favored 
  by 
  fortune 
  he 
  may 
  find 
  that 
  his 
  work- 
  

   shop 
  is 
  a 
  modern 
  laboratory, 
  but 
  he 
  is 
  quite 
  as 
  likely 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  the 
  

   law 
  has 
  relegated 
  him 
  to 
  the 
  dark 
  corner 
  of 
  a 
  crowded 
  room. 
  In 
  such 
  

   a 
  corner 
  the 
  distraction 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  inevitable 
  noise 
  and 
  confusion 
  

   around 
  him 
  may 
  not 
  infrequently 
  prevent 
  the 
  mental 
  concentration 
  

   essential 
  to 
  good 
  scientific 
  work. 
  

  

  The 
  new 
  assistant 
  will 
  soon 
  discover 
  that 
  his 
  official 
  actions 
  are 
  

   more 
  or 
  less 
  controlled 
  by 
  very 
  definite 
  regulations, 
  which 
  may 
  prove 
  

   irksome 
  to 
  one 
  who 
  has 
  recently 
  emerged 
  from 
  the 
  academic 
  freedom 
  

   of 
  a 
  graduate 
  school. 
  As 
  he 
  gains 
  more 
  experience, 
  however, 
  he 
  will 
  

   probably 
  come 
  to 
  realize 
  that 
  good 
  administration 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  organiza- 
  

   tion 
  necessitates 
  some 
  rules 
  and 
  restrictions. 
  Or, 
  like 
  some 
  of 
  his 
  

   colleagues, 
  he 
  may 
  always 
  hold 
  all 
  restrictions 
  imposed 
  by 
  law 
  to 
  be 
  

   merely 
  symptoms 
  of 
  bureaucracy. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  young 
  investigator 
  has 
  had 
  a 
  vision 
  of 
  following 
  a 
  path 
  of 
  

   self-selected 
  research 
  he 
  will 
  meet 
  with 
  bitter 
  disappointment. 
  He 
  

   must 
  win 
  his 
  spurs 
  before 
  he 
  can 
  ride 
  to 
  combat. 
  He 
  will 
  find 
  his 
  

   task 
  definitely 
  assigned 
  to 
  him, 
  probably 
  some 
  small, 
  closely 
  super- 
  

   vised 
  investigation. 
  But 
  if 
  he 
  proves 
  his 
  ability, 
  a 
  larger 
  field 
  will 
  

   surely 
  open 
  out 
  to 
  him. 
  His 
  excellent 
  training 
  will 
  shorten 
  his 
  ap- 
  

   prenticeship 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  his 
  predecessor 
  of 
  generations 
  

   past. 
  This 
  apprenticeship, 
  short 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  be, 
  will 
  form 
  the 
  

   necessary 
  introduction 
  to 
  independent 
  investigation. 
  In 
  after 
  life 
  

   he 
  will 
  probably 
  come 
  to 
  see 
  that 
  his 
  best 
  professional 
  training 
  was 
  

   gained 
  while 
  he 
  was 
  working 
  under 
  the 
  close 
  control 
  of 
  an 
  experienced 
  

   colleague. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  scientist 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  Washington 
  with 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  dedi- 
  

   cating 
  his 
  life 
  to 
  problems 
  that 
  are 
  unsullied 
  by 
  the 
  sordid 
  needs 
  of 
  

   man, 
  he 
  has 
  committed 
  a 
  blunder. 
  He 
  will 
  soon 
  learn 
  that 
  grants 
  of 
  

   public 
  funds 
  are 
  seldom 
  made 
  for 
  research 
  that 
  is 
  not 
  directed 
  toward 
  

   some 
  ultimate 
  goal 
  of 
  material 
  results. 
  To 
  reach 
  the 
  fixed 
  goal, 
  

   however, 
  investigations 
  in 
  the 
  fundamental 
  principles 
  of 
  science 
  

  

  