﻿110 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  the; 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  or 
  Operation 
  in 
  industrial 
  plants, 
  it 
  is 
  assumed 
  that 
  a 
  like 
  system 
  should 
  

   be 
  adopted 
  for 
  all 
  other 
  activities. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  quite 
  possible 
  that 
  

   the 
  methods 
  of 
  efficiency 
  employed 
  in 
  industry 
  may 
  soon 
  be 
  applied 
  

   to 
  research. 
  Though 
  no 
  one 
  has 
  yet 
  claimed 
  that 
  these 
  methods 
  would 
  

   improve 
  our 
  output 
  in 
  literature, 
  this 
  use 
  of 
  them 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  very 
  

   different 
  from 
  their 
  use 
  in 
  scientific 
  investigation. 
  

  

  Another 
  present 
  popular 
  fetish 
  whose 
  worship 
  is 
  closely 
  related 
  

   to 
  that 
  of 
  efficiency 
  is 
  the 
  fallacy 
  that 
  all 
  advance 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  by 
  

   the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  executive. 
  Our 
  rapid 
  material 
  success 
  has 
  been 
  due 
  

   largely 
  to 
  the 
  executive, 
  yet 
  the 
  most 
  effective 
  worker 
  in 
  advancing 
  

   civilization 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  thinker. 
  During 
  the 
  war 
  the 
  organizer 
  and 
  

   leader 
  was 
  the 
  prime 
  necessity, 
  but 
  our 
  success 
  in 
  the 
  war 
  was 
  largely 
  

   the 
  result 
  of 
  peace-time 
  thinking. 
  War 
  conditions 
  are 
  not 
  favorable 
  

   to 
  close 
  thought 
  and 
  careful 
  analysis, 
  and 
  though 
  under 
  the 
  stress 
  

   of 
  national 
  necessity 
  we 
  made 
  many 
  new 
  applications 
  of 
  our 
  knowledge, 
  

   it 
  may 
  be 
  questioned 
  whether 
  the 
  stress 
  led 
  to 
  any 
  new 
  thought. 
  

  

  The 
  successful 
  administrator 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  our 
  national 
  hero, 
  and 
  

   the 
  greatest 
  material 
  rewards 
  have 
  come 
  to 
  him; 
  the 
  thinkers 
  and 
  

   investigators 
  have 
  always 
  taken 
  the 
  second 
  place. 
  This 
  popular 
  wor- 
  

   ship 
  of 
  the 
  executive 
  has 
  already 
  affected 
  American 
  science, 
  and 
  

   even 
  the 
  scientist 
  has 
  been 
  drawn 
  into 
  the 
  maelstrom 
  of 
  administra- 
  

   tive 
  duties. 
  Good 
  executive 
  heads 
  of 
  scientific 
  institutions 
  are 
  neces- 
  

   sary 
  and 
  should 
  by 
  all 
  means 
  come 
  from 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  themselves 
  

   carried 
  on 
  research. 
  There 
  is 
  now, 
  however, 
  such 
  a 
  furore 
  for 
  organi- 
  

   zation 
  that 
  many 
  important 
  researches 
  have 
  been 
  interrupted, 
  because 
  

   the 
  scientist 
  was 
  dragged 
  into 
  all 
  manner 
  of 
  affairs 
  foreign 
  to 
  his 
  train- 
  

   ing 
  and 
  experience. 
  If 
  this 
  movement 
  continues, 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   best 
  investigators 
  will 
  soon 
  be 
  devoting 
  their 
  time 
  to 
  activities 
  of 
  

   societies, 
  institutions, 
  or 
  committees 
  the 
  avowed 
  purpose 
  of 
  many 
  

   which 
  is 
  to 
  advance 
  science. 
  It 
  is 
  then 
  a 
  fair 
  question. 
  If 
  most 
  of 
  

   the 
  energy 
  of 
  American 
  scientists 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  advocacy 
  

   of 
  research, 
  who 
  is 
  to 
  do 
  the 
  actual 
  investigating? 
  We 
  may 
  be 
  coming 
  

   to 
  a 
  situation 
  in 
  which 
  drastic 
  action 
  must 
  be 
  taken 
  to 
  send 
  the 
  in- 
  

   vestigator 
  back 
  to 
  his 
  laboratory. 
  Therefore, 
  any 
  plan 
  of 
  advancing 
  

   pure 
  or 
  applied 
  science, 
  whose 
  execution 
  involves 
  delay 
  in 
  important 
  

   researches, 
  may 
  better 
  be 
  abandoned. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  widespread 
  belief 
  that 
  all 
  faults 
  of 
  the 
  Federal 
  executive 
  

   departments 
  can 
  be 
  cured 
  by 
  reorganization. 
  Some 
  discordant 
  group- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  Federal 
  bureaus 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  subdivisions, 
  which 
  lead 
  to 
  in- 
  

   efficiency, 
  are 
  evident. 
  These 
  are 
  so 
  conspicuous 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  some- 
  

  

  