﻿FEB. 
  19, 
  1922 
  brooks: 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  the 
  feder^m. 
  science 
  107 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  an 
  old 
  Washington 
  story 
  worth 
  recording, 
  though 
  probably 
  

   it 
  is 
  familiar 
  to 
  you 
  all. 
  A 
  visitor, 
  much 
  impressed 
  with 
  the 
  large 
  

   number 
  of 
  specialists 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  membership 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  club, 
  ex- 
  

   pressed 
  his 
  enthusiasm 
  by 
  exclaiming, 
  "You 
  can 
  ask 
  no 
  question 
  in 
  

   the 
  Cosmos 
  Club 
  but 
  you 
  will 
  find 
  the 
  man 
  who 
  will 
  give 
  the 
  answer." 
  

   One 
  of 
  his 
  auditors, 
  long 
  resident 
  in 
  the 
  city, 
  remarked 
  "Yes, 
  and 
  I 
  

   know 
  the 
  man." 
  He 
  had 
  reference 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  a 
  type 
  that 
  may 
  be 
  

   designated 
  as 
  the 
  "professional 
  prominent 
  scientist." 
  This 
  type, 
  

   though 
  not 
  unknown 
  elsewhere, 
  was 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  conspicuous 
  in 
  

   Washington 
  and 
  was 
  the 
  popular 
  authority 
  on 
  all 
  scientific 
  questions. 
  

   A 
  new 
  problem 
  was 
  the 
  signal 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  half-column 
  interview, 
  in 
  

   which 
  a 
  final 
  dictum 
  was 
  pronounced. 
  Though 
  he 
  sometimes 
  failed 
  

   to 
  impress 
  his 
  colleagues 
  with 
  the 
  profundity 
  of 
  his 
  knowledge, 
  the 
  

   public 
  was 
  ever 
  ready 
  to 
  worship 
  at 
  his 
  shrine. 
  His 
  evolution, 
  a 
  

   perfectly 
  natural 
  one, 
  was 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  craving 
  of 
  the 
  man 
  on 
  the 
  street 
  

   for 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  something 
  of 
  science, 
  a 
  craving 
  satisfied 
  by 
  but 
  

   few 
  investigators. 
  He 
  served 
  a 
  valuable 
  purpose, 
  and 
  the 
  popularizing 
  

   of 
  science 
  has 
  certainly 
  lost 
  ground 
  since 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  scientist 
  laur- 
  

   eate 
  has 
  become 
  vacant. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  gun 
  at 
  Liege, 
  inaugurating 
  the 
  upheaval 
  that 
  was 
  destined 
  

   to 
  shake 
  the 
  foundations 
  of 
  civilization, 
  opened 
  a 
  new 
  field 
  for 
  science, 
  

   which 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  peace 
  greatly 
  expanded. 
  The 
  call 
  for 
  help 
  from 
  a 
  

   distressed 
  world 
  was 
  responded 
  to 
  by 
  every 
  scientist, 
  whose 
  one 
  thought 
  

   was 
  to 
  discover 
  how 
  be 
  might 
  be 
  of 
  service, 
  and 
  every 
  branch 
  of 
  science 
  

   took 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  stock 
  to 
  learn 
  what 
  it 
  might 
  offer. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  

   years 
  of 
  war 
  the 
  titles 
  of 
  presidential 
  addresses 
  to 
  scientific 
  societies 
  

   were 
  almost 
  stereotyped; 
  they 
  were 
  all 
  expositions 
  showing 
  how 
  this 
  

   or 
  that 
  science 
  could 
  be 
  made 
  useful. 
  

  

  Federal 
  science 
  both 
  gained 
  and 
  lost 
  by 
  the 
  tumult 
  of 
  war— 
  gained 
  

   because 
  its 
  results 
  found 
  a 
  seller's 
  market 
  and 
  finally 
  received 
  recog- 
  

   nition; 
  lost 
  because 
  after 
  the 
  war 
  the 
  investigator 
  learned 
  that 
  his 
  

   services 
  were 
  valued 
  much 
  higher 
  by 
  industry 
  than 
  by 
  the 
  Govern- 
  

   ment. 
  In 
  that 
  brilliant 
  coterie 
  of 
  leaders 
  in 
  thought 
  and 
  action 
  gath- 
  

   ered 
  at 
  Washington 
  by 
  the 
  war, 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientist 
  shone, 
  if 
  only 
  by 
  

   reflected 
  light. 
  If 
  in 
  that, 
  as 
  in 
  all 
  other 
  wars, 
  the 
  volunteer 
  received 
  

   more 
  glory 
  than 
  the 
  regular, 
  the 
  regular 
  at 
  least 
  gained 
  more 
  than 
  ever 
  

   before. 
  

  

  It 
  detracts 
  in 
  no 
  way 
  from 
  the 
  splendid 
  war 
  service 
  rendered 
  by 
  

   every 
  scientific 
  institution 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  to 
  assert 
  that 
  the 
  Federal 
  

   bureaus 
  were 
  the 
  backbone 
  of 
  war 
  science. 
  They 
  were 
  the 
  vast 
  store- 
  

  

  