EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXIV. May, 1911. No. 6. 



A vice-presidential address delivered at the Minnesota meeting of 

 the American Association for the Advancement of Science by- 

 Prof. Charles S. Minot is well worth the careful study of every 

 worker in science. It deals with the method of science, a topic which 

 concerns investigation in every line, but upon which little is to be 

 found in the literature of science to guide the student in attaining 

 sound conceptions and standards. It has a special value for inves- 

 tigators in agricultural science, where the standards are less well 

 established than in the old or pure sciences, and where the desire and 

 the pressure to accomplish results which will have an immediate 

 practical application often lead to haste and a departure from the 

 general principles which should guide original scientific research. 



To the active investigator the philosophical considerations of this 

 subject and the writings of logicians are not especially attractive 

 reading. Their treatment is tedious and often unprofitable to such 

 as he, and makes it difficult for him to derive clear helpful impres- 

 sions or inspiration. On the other hand, there seems to be no pre- 

 vious definite study and presentation of the principles of original 

 research made from the standpoint of the investigator in science. 

 The writings on the subject are scrappy and lacking in systematic 

 treatment. Impressions of these principles are acquired largely in 

 an indirect way, by association and by study, and find expression in 

 the expert in a mental attitude and habit. Dr. Minot's address is 

 a scholarly analysis of the subject, presenting the principles and 

 motive of research in language which the man of science who is not 

 a trained philosopher or professional logician can understand and 

 profit by. It is both illuminating and entertaining, and from it may 

 be gained much of the spirit of science as well as its method. 



In the beginning Dr. Minot cautions against a narrow restriction 

 of interest and appreciation to such portions of science as have an 

 immediate application, as distinguished from the broader field of 

 pure abstruse science. He shows that applied science is and prob- 

 ably always will be distinctly subsidiary to pure science. " The final 

 justification of all scientific research is undoubtedly the power it 



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