﻿FEB. 
  19, 
  1922 
  brooks: 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  the 
  federal 
  service 
  79 
  

  

  tion 
  to 
  the 
  public. 
  Nevertheless, 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  bureaus, 
  in 
  theory 
  at 
  

   least, 
  were 
  established 
  to 
  meet 
  some 
  material 
  need, 
  though 
  in 
  practice 
  

   this 
  need 
  was 
  often 
  lost 
  sight 
  of. 
  Some 
  executives 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  willing 
  to 
  authorize 
  researches 
  without 
  too 
  careful 
  a 
  scrutiny 
  of 
  

   the 
  limitations 
  imposed 
  by 
  law. 
  The 
  chief 
  of 
  a 
  scientific 
  bureau 
  looked 
  

   upon 
  the 
  allocation 
  of 
  the 
  annual 
  grants 
  of 
  funds 
  and 
  a 
  personal 
  appeal 
  

   to 
  Congress 
  for 
  increased 
  appropriations 
  as 
  his 
  principal 
  administra- 
  

   tive 
  duties 
  and 
  regarded 
  them 
  as 
  disagreeable 
  though 
  necessary 
  in- 
  

   terruptions 
  to 
  his 
  own 
  absorbing 
  researches. 
  Appropriations 
  were 
  

   more 
  often 
  granted 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  personality 
  of 
  the 
  bureau 
  chief 
  

   than 
  because 
  of 
  a 
  recognized 
  need 
  of 
  scientific 
  inquiry. 
  

  

  By 
  tradition 
  the 
  scientific 
  bureaus 
  were 
  regarded 
  as 
  things 
  apart 
  

   from 
  the 
  Federal 
  administrative 
  machinery 
  and 
  were 
  subjected 
  to 
  

   little 
  interference. 
  Though 
  some 
  heads 
  of 
  departments 
  took 
  pride 
  in 
  

   directing 
  research, 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  paid 
  small 
  heed 
  to 
  scientific 
  bureaus, 
  

   deeming 
  their 
  work 
  of 
  only 
  academic 
  interest. 
  In 
  those 
  days 
  the 
  

   scientist, 
  being 
  seldom 
  called 
  into 
  consultation 
  on 
  public 
  affairs, 
  was 
  

   largely 
  left 
  to 
  his 
  own 
  devices. 
  There 
  was 
  little 
  pressure 
  for 
  his 
  

   results, 
  for 
  neither 
  industry 
  nor 
  the 
  public 
  at 
  large 
  were 
  vitally 
  con- 
  

   cerned 
  with 
  them. 
  A 
  scientist's 
  work 
  room 
  of 
  that 
  day 
  was 
  more 
  

   like 
  a 
  private 
  study 
  than, 
  as 
  now, 
  a 
  business 
  office 
  . 
  Its 
  tranquillity 
  

   was 
  seldom 
  disturbed 
  by 
  the 
  rattle 
  of 
  the 
  typewriter 
  or 
  the 
  jingle 
  of 
  

   the 
  telephone 
  bell. 
  Stenographers 
  were 
  few, 
  and 
  many 
  treatises 
  were 
  

   laboriously 
  written 
  with 
  pen, 
  to 
  the 
  evident 
  advantage 
  of 
  their 
  diction. 
  

   Nor 
  was 
  the 
  investigator 
  greatly 
  disturbed 
  by 
  routine 
  matters, 
  the 
  

   tremendous 
  growth 
  of 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  concomitant 
  both 
  with 
  the 
  

   development 
  of 
  large 
  organizations 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  de- 
  

   mands 
  of 
  the 
  public 
  for 
  enlightenment 
  on 
  problems 
  of 
  applied 
  science. 
  

   Fiscal 
  regulations 
  were 
  as 
  abundant 
  then 
  as 
  now, 
  but 
  the 
  marked 
  

   laxity 
  of 
  their 
  enforcement 
  in 
  many 
  scientific 
  bureaus 
  enabled 
  the 
  

   investigator 
  to 
  evade 
  those 
  he 
  regarded 
  as 
  irksome. 
  The 
  small 
  

   personnel 
  in 
  bureaus 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  departments 
  called 
  for 
  few 
  regulations 
  

   and 
  restrictions. 
  There 
  being 
  no 
  civil-service 
  law, 
  each 
  investigator, 
  

   in 
  theory 
  at 
  least, 
  was 
  left 
  untrammeled 
  in 
  his 
  choice 
  of 
  assistants. 
  

   This 
  condition 
  made 
  political 
  appointments 
  possible, 
  and 
  these 
  were 
  

   by 
  no 
  means 
  unknown 
  in 
  the 
  service. 
  

  

  Many 
  of 
  the 
  investigators 
  were 
  called 
  to 
  the 
  Federal 
  service 
  be- 
  

   cause 
  of 
  their 
  long 
  recognized 
  standing 
  at 
  the 
  universities, 
  and 
  in 
  

   general 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  closer 
  affiliation 
  between 
  the 
  scientific 
  service 
  and 
  

   the 
  institutions 
  of 
  learning 
  than 
  there 
  is 
  now. 
  A 
  considerable 
  per- 
  

  

  