﻿FEB. 
  19, 
  1922 
  brooks: 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  the 
  federal 
  service 
  111 
  

  

  times 
  taken 
  as 
  proof 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  plan 
  is 
  faulty. 
  This 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  

   time 
  nor 
  place 
  to 
  discuss 
  the 
  broad 
  problem 
  of 
  Federal 
  reorganiza- 
  

   tion, 
  but 
  as 
  any 
  basal 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  scientific 
  service 
  will 
  affect 
  the 
  

   individual 
  investigator 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  touched 
  upon. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  great 
  hue 
  and 
  cry 
  about 
  duplication 
  of 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  

   bureaus 
  and 
  departments. 
  Nevertheless, 
  I 
  venture 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  

   there 
  is 
  but 
  little 
  real 
  duplication 
  in 
  the 
  scientific 
  service. 
  There 
  is 
  

   a 
  twilight 
  zone 
  between 
  all 
  fields 
  of 
  research 
  that 
  may 
  at 
  will 
  be 
  thrown 
  

   into 
  this 
  or 
  that 
  one, 
  and 
  therefore 
  it 
  has 
  happened 
  that 
  two 
  bureaus 
  

   approaching 
  a 
  subject 
  from 
  different 
  direction 
  have 
  found 
  themselves 
  

   in 
  the 
  same 
  field. 
  The 
  old 
  time 
  bitter 
  interbureau 
  controversies 
  

   over 
  jurisdiction 
  are 
  disappearing, 
  however, 
  as 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  a 
  spirit 
  

   of 
  cooperation 
  and 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  common 
  sense, 
  rather 
  than 
  by 
  

   order 
  of 
  higher 
  authority. 
  Though 
  the 
  branches 
  of 
  some 
  scientific 
  

   bureaus 
  have 
  found 
  among 
  their 
  number 
  certain 
  strange 
  bedfellows, 
  

   most 
  of 
  these 
  misplacements 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  only 
  temporary 
  

   expedients. 
  

  

  The 
  errors 
  of 
  some 
  plans 
  of 
  reorganization 
  are 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  misunder- 
  

   standing 
  of 
  the 
  purpose 
  and 
  methods 
  of 
  science 
  and 
  its 
  terminology. 
  

   Not 
  many 
  years 
  ago 
  a 
  law 
  was 
  proposed 
  providing 
  that 
  all 
  chemical 
  

   laboratories 
  should 
  be 
  consolidated 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  bureau. 
  The 
  advocates 
  

   of 
  this 
  measure, 
  having 
  no 
  comprehension 
  of 
  what 
  was 
  included 
  in 
  

   the 
  science 
  of 
  chemistry, 
  honestly 
  believed 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  reform 
  which 
  

   would 
  result 
  in 
  economy 
  and 
  efficiency. 
  As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact 
  it 
  was 
  

   as 
  intelligent 
  as 
  if 
  all 
  work 
  requiring 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  slide 
  rule 
  should 
  

   be 
  centralized 
  in 
  the 
  Naval 
  Observatory. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  hoped, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  any 
  plan 
  of 
  reorganization 
  will 
  

   not 
  be 
  based 
  on 
  confusion 
  between 
  the 
  sounds 
  of 
  words 
  and 
  their 
  true 
  

   meaning. 
  To 
  me 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  one 
  question 
  to 
  be 
  asked 
  is 
  whether 
  

   the 
  organization 
  now 
  charged 
  with 
  any 
  given 
  investigation 
  is 
  doing 
  

   its 
  work 
  well. 
  If 
  the 
  answer 
  is 
  affirmative, 
  it 
  denotes 
  that 
  the 
  organi- 
  

   zation 
  has 
  an 
  efficient 
  personnel 
  and 
  a 
  strong 
  esprit 
  de 
  corps. 
  The 
  

   integrity 
  of 
  such 
  an 
  organization 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  sacrificed 
  for 
  the 
  sake 
  

   of 
  a 
  too 
  rigid 
  system 
  of 
  classification. 
  

  

  I 
  venture 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  a 
  sound 
  reorganization 
  will 
  provide 
  for 
  a 
  

   complete 
  divorce 
  between 
  scientific 
  research, 
  on 
  one 
  hand, 
  and 
  the 
  

   administration 
  of 
  law 
  and 
  the 
  carrying 
  on 
  of 
  miscellaneous 
  Govern- 
  

   ment 
  business, 
  on 
  the 
  other. 
  In 
  the 
  past 
  these 
  latter 
  duties 
  have 
  

   sometimes 
  come 
  to 
  bureaus 
  established 
  for 
  scientific 
  investigations, 
  

   and 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  research 
  has 
  suft'ered. 
  The 
  investigator 
  is 
  by 
  tempera- 
  

  

  