268 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



as the core of science. To me the basic thing about science is an attitude 

 or habit of mind, a way of thinking which is characteristic of those 

 entitled to be called scientists. If that is so, most subjects of human 

 concern may be dealt with in a scientific way. The essential basic 

 condition is freedom from bias and prejudice. The major objective of 

 the scientist is truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be or how 

 much discomfiture it may cause among those who hold cherished 

 beliefs which happen, nevertheless, to be errors. Dr. Crapsey once 

 remarked that : "Truth is a brand new virtue." And it may be added 

 that as such it is not yet as widely sought and valued as it should be. 

 It has been well said that "the purpose of science is understanding." 

 This is only a modern version of the well-known admonition of King 

 Solomon to "get understanding." 



The scientific method is relatively new. As recently as four cen- 

 turies ago it was a rarity even among the most learned thinkers ol 

 the time. Today it is used only incidentally by most of the people 

 in even the most civilized countries. It is hardly an exaggeration 

 to say that the majority of educated persons — even those with college 

 degrees — do not really understand it. Often it is confused with in- 

 vention or the mere cataloging and classifying of knowledge. Some 

 years ago, in a nation-wide poll which was taken for the purpose of 

 finding out who was popularly considered to be the greatest scientist 

 in the United States, the choice fell upon Edison, the inventor. But 

 inventions, however useful and ingenious, are only the outgrowth, 

 the byproducts, of science. Although invention was originally a 

 matter of mere cut-and-try experiment it now makes more and more 

 use of science, until much of it is now highly scientific in the true 

 sense. Even so, the one should not be confused with the other. 

 Science is not invention. The purposes of scientists and inventors 

 are fundamentally different, even when they use similar methods. 



As for the majority of mankind, in the less-developed countries, 

 their lives have scarcely been touched by science except in the form 

 of some of its tangible products such as machines, the radio, or by 

 the services of the sanitarian; and their understanding of science is 

 hardly greater than was that of their ancestors a thousand years ago. 



Even among the most cultured of civilized people some misunder- 

 stand science so completely that they think they disapprove of it and 

 consider it dangerous. Not infrequently do we hear the ills of the world 

 today blamed upon the advances of science, by which is evidently 

 meant inventions such as dynamite, poison gas, or the airplane. Some 

 writers have even called for a moratorium on scientific research, 

 lest the dangers they ascribe to science overwhelm our civilization. 

 But we do not abolish automobiles just because criminals use them 

 in bank robberies and child snatching. On the contrary, it would 



