﻿FEB. 
  19, 
  1922 
  brooks: 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  the 
  federal 
  service 
  105 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  striking 
  fact 
  that 
  relatively 
  few 
  popular 
  scientific 
  works 
  are 
  

   now 
  being 
  written 
  in 
  this 
  country. 
  In 
  a 
  recent 
  list 
  prepared 
  by 
  a 
  com- 
  

   mittee 
  of 
  this 
  Academy 
  a 
  large 
  percentage 
  of 
  the 
  books 
  were 
  written 
  

   by 
  Englishmen. 
  In 
  scientific 
  textbooks 
  America 
  probably 
  leads 
  — 
  

   certainly 
  in 
  numbers. 
  Most 
  of 
  these 
  books, 
  however, 
  are 
  written 
  

   for 
  the 
  pedant, 
  and 
  no 
  matter 
  how 
  valuable 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  for 
  his 
  use 
  

   they 
  are 
  not 
  likely 
  to 
  awaken 
  popular 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  subject 
  treated. 
  

   Indeed, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  prepared 
  for 
  the 
  market 
  

   rather 
  than 
  because 
  the 
  author 
  had 
  any 
  message 
  to 
  convey. 
  

  

  The 
  Federal 
  scientist, 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  direct 
  responsibility 
  to 
  the 
  

   people, 
  deserves 
  the 
  most 
  censure 
  for 
  the 
  faults 
  of 
  presentation. 
  Many 
  

   bureaus 
  have, 
  indeed, 
  prepared 
  very 
  good 
  popular 
  treatises 
  on 
  some 
  

   applications 
  of 
  science, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  their 
  other 
  publications 
  are 
  couched 
  

   in 
  technical 
  language 
  that 
  is 
  incomprehensible 
  to 
  all 
  but 
  the 
  specialists. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  their 
  results, 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  the 
  newspapers, 
  have 
  been 
  re- 
  

   duced 
  to 
  popular 
  form, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  these 
  "translations," 
  as 
  we 
  may 
  call 
  

   them, 
  are 
  written 
  for 
  the 
  unthinking 
  man, 
  who 
  is 
  generally 
  willing 
  to 
  

   take 
  his 
  science 
  on 
  faith 
  and 
  therefore 
  meeds 
  no 
  expositions. 
  To 
  

   meet 
  his 
  supposed 
  needs 
  science 
  is 
  "melodramatized," 
  and 
  startling 
  

   discoveries 
  are 
  emphasized 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  presenting 
  principles. 
  

   The 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  "stories" 
  in 
  the 
  sensational 
  press 
  is 
  followed 
  more 
  

   often 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  expositions 
  of 
  art, 
  history, 
  and 
  literature 
  found 
  

   in 
  our 
  best 
  periodicals. 
  What 
  is 
  needed 
  is 
  the 
  presentation 
  of 
  science 
  

   in 
  a 
  form 
  comprehensible 
  to 
  the 
  educated 
  and 
  thinking 
  man, 
  and 
  this 
  

   work 
  must 
  needs 
  be 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  investigator 
  himself. 
  The 
  other 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  work 
  of 
  interpreting 
  science 
  for 
  the 
  mass 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  can 
  best 
  

   be 
  left 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  special 
  talent 
  for 
  the 
  task. 
  It 
  should 
  be 
  said 
  

   for 
  the 
  Federal 
  investigator 
  that 
  for 
  most 
  of 
  his 
  work 
  he 
  is 
  not 
  always 
  

   given 
  the 
  time 
  necessary 
  for 
  clear 
  writing. 
  He 
  therefore 
  has 
  recourse 
  

   to 
  scientific 
  jargon 
  and 
  sometimes, 
  indeed, 
  leaves 
  to 
  the 
  devoted 
  bureau 
  

   editor 
  the 
  correction 
  of 
  his 
  faults 
  of 
  diction. 
  

  

  Research 
  may 
  be 
  popularized 
  not 
  only 
  by 
  properly 
  presenting 
  its 
  

   results, 
  but 
  by 
  informing 
  the 
  public 
  of 
  its 
  purpose 
  and 
  methods; 
  

   and 
  in 
  this 
  too 
  there 
  is 
  room 
  for 
  much 
  improvement. 
  The 
  investiga- 
  

   tor 
  who 
  runs 
  true 
  to 
  type 
  avoids 
  rather 
  than 
  courts 
  publicity 
  ; 
  he 
  asks 
  

   nothing 
  more 
  than 
  to 
  be 
  left 
  to 
  solve 
  his 
  own 
  problems. 
  This 
  desire 
  

   has 
  become 
  almost 
  a 
  mania 
  in 
  many 
  scientists, 
  both 
  to 
  their 
  own 
  

   detriment 
  and 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  public. 
  Publicity 
  has 
  therefore 
  been 
  

   left 
  to 
  the 
  occasional 
  worker 
  who 
  is 
  far 
  from 
  willing 
  to 
  hide 
  his 
  light 
  

   under 
  a 
  bushel. 
  The 
  public, 
  almost 
  entirely 
  ignored 
  by 
  the 
  average 
  

  

  