﻿FEB. 
  19, 
  1922 
  brooks: 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  the 
  federal 
  service 
  77 
  

  

  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  science 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  lack 
  of 
  clear 
  distinc- 
  

   tion 
  between 
  the 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  investigator 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  technician. 
  

   The 
  investigator 
  establishes 
  a 
  principle 
  of 
  science; 
  the 
  technician 
  

   utilizes 
  that 
  principle 
  to 
  improve 
  some 
  practice 
  of 
  industry. 
  The 
  

   confusion 
  of 
  thought 
  is 
  increased 
  because 
  in 
  some 
  fields 
  the 
  investigator 
  

   may 
  also 
  be 
  the 
  technician 
  and 
  may 
  himself 
  apply 
  to 
  industry 
  

   the 
  results 
  he 
  obtains 
  from 
  research. 
  Many 
  scientists 
  in 
  the 
  Federal 
  

   service 
  are 
  acting 
  in 
  this 
  dual 
  capacity. 
  Many 
  inventors 
  and 
  nearly 
  

   all 
  scientists 
  employed 
  by 
  industry 
  are 
  doing 
  the 
  same 
  thing. 
  How- 
  

   ever 
  successful 
  and 
  valuable 
  such 
  scientists 
  may 
  be, 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  

   Federal 
  service 
  is 
  largely 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  direct 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  business 
  

   world 
  has 
  without 
  question 
  been 
  of 
  great 
  advantage 
  to 
  science 
  and 
  

   therefore 
  to 
  industry. 
  

  

  Those 
  who 
  are 
  not 
  in 
  touch 
  with 
  Washington 
  life 
  and 
  who 
  know 
  the 
  

   city 
  chiefly 
  as 
  a 
  political 
  center 
  may 
  hold 
  that 
  the 
  political 
  environ- 
  

   ment 
  must 
  have 
  an 
  important 
  influence 
  on 
  Federal 
  science. 
  Such 
  an 
  

   opinion 
  is 
  without 
  basis 
  of 
  fact. 
  Political 
  Washington 
  and 
  scientific 
  

   Washington 
  are 
  almost 
  as 
  far 
  apart 
  as 
  the 
  poles. 
  One 
  is 
  in 
  constant 
  

   flux; 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  relatively 
  permanent. 
  One 
  has 
  its 
  strongest 
  ties 
  

   elsewhere 
  ; 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  rooted 
  deep 
  locally. 
  One 
  is 
  typically 
  assertive 
  ; 
  

   the 
  other 
  is 
  deliberative. 
  Political 
  and 
  scientific 
  Washington 
  have, 
  

   indeed, 
  only 
  one 
  common 
  ground 
  — 
  that 
  of 
  public 
  service. 
  Chiefs 
  

   of 
  scientific 
  bureaus 
  come 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  political 
  leaders 
  in 
  setting 
  

   forth 
  the 
  results, 
  purposes, 
  and 
  needs 
  of 
  their 
  organizations, 
  but 
  the 
  

   Federal 
  scientific 
  investigator 
  himself 
  is 
  seldom 
  called 
  from 
  his 
  labora- 
  

   tory, 
  and 
  then 
  only 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  special 
  knowledge 
  of 
  some 
  problem 
  

   of 
  public 
  welfare 
  or 
  policy. 
  These 
  and 
  other 
  occasional 
  contacts 
  

   with 
  political 
  life 
  are 
  of 
  advantage 
  to 
  the 
  scientist 
  in 
  broadening 
  his 
  

   outlook 
  on 
  the 
  needs 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  and 
  they 
  should 
  give 
  him 
  a 
  sounder 
  

   opinion 
  in 
  choosing 
  a 
  field 
  of 
  research 
  than 
  that 
  held 
  by 
  his 
  professional 
  

   colleague 
  in 
  private 
  life. 
  

  

  The 
  founding 
  of 
  the 
  Coast 
  Survey 
  in 
  1816 
  marked 
  the 
  beginning 
  

   of 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientific 
  service, 
  though 
  some 
  small 
  grants 
  for 
  investi- 
  

   gations, 
  chiefly 
  explorations, 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  earlier 
  years. 
  For 
  more 
  

   than 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  service 
  was 
  very 
  slow. 
  Fifty 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  when 
  the 
  Philosophical 
  Society 
  of 
  Washington 
  was 
  founded, 
  it 
  

   had 
  only 
  38 
  members, 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  succeeding 
  decade, 
  though 
  it 
  

   remained, 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  Medical 
  Society,'- 
  the 
  only 
  local 
  scientific 
  

  

  - 
  Founded 
  in 
  1819, 
  with 
  21 
  members. 
  The 
  Anthropological 
  Society 
  was 
  organized 
  

   in 
  1879, 
  with 
  28 
  members. 
  

  

  