﻿104 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  paratively 
  incomprehensible, 
  and 
  this 
  without 
  even 
  recourse 
  to 
  a 
  

   specially 
  invented 
  jargon. 
  Some 
  American 
  investigators 
  seem 
  to 
  

   agree 
  with 
  one 
  school 
  of 
  German 
  thought, 
  holding 
  that 
  science 
  is 
  for 
  

   the 
  chosen 
  few 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  mass 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  must 
  take 
  scientific 
  

   orders 
  rather 
  than 
  explanations. 
  Indeed, 
  we 
  are 
  not 
  altogether 
  free 
  

   from 
  scientific 
  snobbery, 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  research 
  are 
  held 
  to 
  

   be 
  sacred 
  to 
  the 
  elect. 
  

  

  Perhaps 
  the 
  greatest 
  need 
  of 
  the 
  average 
  American 
  scientist 
  of 
  the 
  

   present 
  day 
  is 
  to 
  learn 
  to 
  write 
  clear 
  English. 
  How 
  can 
  we 
  hope 
  that 
  

   the 
  people 
  will 
  respect 
  and 
  support 
  science 
  if 
  we 
  give 
  them 
  its 
  message 
  

   in 
  words 
  that 
  they 
  cannot 
  understand? 
  The 
  seriousness 
  of 
  the 
  

   situation 
  is 
  brought 
  home 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  scientists 
  themselves 
  often 
  

   cannot 
  understand 
  the 
  expositions 
  of 
  their 
  colleagues. 
  If 
  American 
  

   investigators 
  are 
  to 
  abandon 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  our 
  common 
  tongue, 
  we 
  must 
  

   needs 
  invent 
  a 
  scientific 
  Esperanto. 
  What 
  we 
  may 
  call 
  the 
  stenog- 
  

   raphy 
  of 
  science, 
  expressed 
  by 
  the 
  vocabulary 
  of 
  the 
  specialist, 
  the 
  

   formula 
  of 
  the 
  chemist, 
  and 
  the 
  equations 
  of 
  the 
  mathematician, 
  is 
  

   necessary, 
  yet 
  the 
  masters 
  of 
  scientific 
  exposition 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  

   present 
  their 
  conclusions 
  without 
  too 
  great 
  use 
  of 
  these 
  mysterious 
  

   symbols. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  denied 
  that 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  science 
  has 
  made 
  

   it 
  necessary 
  to 
  coin 
  words 
  for 
  new 
  facts 
  and 
  new 
  theories. 
  The 
  in- 
  

   vention 
  of 
  new 
  words 
  has 
  not 
  ended 
  there, 
  however, 
  for 
  they 
  often 
  

   express 
  only 
  old 
  facts 
  and 
  old 
  ideas. 
  Scientific 
  writings 
  are 
  also 
  made 
  

   needlessly 
  obscure 
  by 
  refinements 
  in 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  technical 
  words 
  that 
  

   are 
  in 
  no 
  way 
  essential 
  to 
  the 
  main 
  thesis. 
  Moreover, 
  long 
  and 
  un- 
  

   usual 
  words 
  are 
  often 
  preferred 
  to 
  shorter 
  words 
  that 
  are 
  in 
  more 
  

   common 
  use. 
  Some 
  scientists 
  appear 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  unless 
  their 
  

   writings 
  are 
  ponderous 
  they 
  will 
  lose 
  standing 
  among 
  their 
  colleagues. 
  

   As 
  a 
  consequence, 
  when 
  a 
  scientific 
  treatise 
  is 
  written 
  in 
  such 
  form 
  as 
  

   to 
  be 
  understood 
  by 
  the 
  average 
  educated 
  man, 
  the 
  public 
  exclaims 
  

   at 
  the 
  marvel. 
  

  

  Someone 
  has 
  described 
  sociology 
  as 
  a 
  science 
  which 
  tells 
  us 
  what 
  

   we 
  already 
  know 
  in 
  words 
  we 
  cannot 
  understand. 
  Even 
  though 
  this 
  

   may 
  be 
  a 
  slander, 
  much 
  scientific 
  writing 
  is 
  open 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  criticism. 
  

   Scientific 
  treatises 
  so 
  camouflaged 
  with 
  technical 
  phraseology 
  as 
  to 
  

   obscure 
  their 
  paucity 
  of 
  ideas 
  are 
  not 
  unknown. 
  It 
  is 
  sometimes 
  for- 
  

   gotten 
  that 
  clear 
  writing 
  is 
  the 
  offspring 
  of 
  clear 
  thinking. 
  Those 
  who 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  science 
  can 
  be 
  presented 
  in 
  both 
  elegant 
  and 
  clear 
  diction 
  

   should 
  turn 
  to 
  the 
  treatises 
  by 
  the 
  French, 
  and 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  matter 
  

   of 
  language 
  is 
  shown 
  by 
  some 
  scholarly 
  expositions 
  by 
  the 
  British. 
  

  

  