﻿84 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  professions. 
  The 
  end 
  is 
  not 
  in 
  sight, 
  for 
  as 
  science 
  becomes 
  more 
  

   exact 
  a 
  still 
  higher 
  degree 
  of 
  specialization 
  is 
  certain. 
  Now 
  a 
  scientist 
  

   may 
  not 
  even 
  know 
  the 
  meaning 
  of 
  a 
  word 
  that 
  describes 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   a 
  professional 
  colleague. 
  

  

  The 
  tendency 
  of 
  modern 
  scientific 
  education 
  is 
  to 
  produce 
  specialists 
  

   and 
  not 
  scholars. 
  Advance 
  of 
  science 
  must 
  be 
  effected 
  by 
  specializa- 
  

   tion, 
  yet 
  the 
  question 
  may 
  be 
  asked 
  whether 
  the 
  investigator 
  who 
  can- 
  

   not 
  see 
  the 
  forest 
  for 
  the 
  trees 
  is 
  not 
  too 
  great 
  a 
  factor 
  in 
  research. 
  

   Unfortunately, 
  the 
  specialist 
  is 
  sometimes 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  collector 
  

   of 
  dull 
  facts 
  he 
  cannot 
  or 
  will 
  not 
  interpret. 
  In 
  relation 
  to 
  their 
  

   facts 
  some 
  specialists 
  may 
  be 
  likened 
  to 
  the 
  Indian 
  chief 
  who, 
  because 
  

   of 
  a 
  certain 
  peculiarity, 
  was 
  called 
  "Man-afraid-of-his-horses." 
  Sweep- 
  

   ing 
  generalizations 
  in 
  science 
  are 
  a 
  thing 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  ignorant 
  ; 
  

   yet 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  overwhelming 
  number 
  of 
  facts 
  now 
  available, 
  there 
  

   is 
  perhaps 
  room 
  for 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  boldness 
  in 
  their 
  use. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  danger 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  rate 
  of 
  accumulation 
  that 
  the 
  

   scientist 
  may 
  never 
  overtake 
  the 
  continual 
  inpouring 
  of 
  facts. 
  When- 
  

   ever 
  a 
  research 
  promises 
  to 
  bear 
  the 
  fruit 
  of 
  theory, 
  a 
  possible 
  source 
  

   of 
  new 
  information 
  may 
  be 
  revealed, 
  and 
  thus 
  interpretation 
  may 
  

   again 
  be 
  deferred. 
  Nowhere 
  is 
  this 
  more 
  evident 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  Federal 
  

   service, 
  now 
  perhaps 
  the 
  largest 
  storehouse 
  of 
  scientific 
  facts 
  in 
  the 
  

   world, 
  including 
  many 
  that 
  are 
  only 
  shopworn. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  tendency 
  

   in 
  the 
  service 
  to 
  neglect 
  interpretation. 
  Many 
  Federal 
  investigators 
  

   could 
  well 
  cease 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  to 
  be 
  collectors 
  of 
  new 
  facts 
  and 
  devote 
  

   themselves 
  exclusively 
  to 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  facts 
  already 
  on 
  file. 
  

  

  When 
  any 
  branch 
  of 
  science 
  has 
  been 
  developed 
  to 
  the 
  point 
  that 
  

   adequate 
  knowledge 
  of 
  it 
  can 
  no 
  longer 
  be 
  held 
  by 
  an 
  individual 
  but 
  

   must 
  be 
  distributed 
  through 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  investigators, 
  how 
  are 
  its 
  

   larger 
  problems 
  to 
  be 
  solved? 
  The 
  answer 
  evidently 
  lies 
  in 
  coopera- 
  

   tive 
  effort, 
  without 
  which 
  that 
  branch 
  of 
  science 
  cannot 
  continue 
  to 
  

   progress. 
  This 
  brings 
  me 
  to 
  the 
  important 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  organiza- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  research. 
  

  

  Through 
  countless 
  centuries 
  science 
  was 
  advanced 
  by 
  the 
  devoted 
  

   investigator 
  working 
  alone, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  during 
  this 
  individualistic 
  

   period 
  that 
  it 
  took 
  root 
  in 
  our 
  own 
  country. 
  As 
  science 
  progressed 
  

   there 
  was 
  an 
  increase 
  in 
  cooperation, 
  which 
  first 
  took 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  

   grouping 
  of 
  investigators 
  at 
  universities 
  and 
  museums 
  and 
  the 
  founding 
  

   of 
  scientific 
  societies 
  and 
  periodicals. 
  Gradually 
  more 
  orderly 
  methods 
  

   of 
  inquiry 
  and 
  later 
  definite 
  units 
  of 
  research 
  were 
  developed. 
  The 
  

   evolution 
  of 
  research 
  proceeded 
  from 
  individualistic 
  to 
  cooperative 
  

  

  