180 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 3 



the significant variables can be isolated, expressed quantitatively, 

 and related by some logic such as mathematics. As the patterns of 

 science are extended, their ability to include more complex subjects 

 grows exponentially and the limits of their application are still far 

 away. Indeed, if we follow H. Dingle and use the term "valid 

 human experiences" rather than "facts," we see that the application of 

 sciences may extend beyond the physical world of the Victorians. 

 In the meantime, however, there are areas of such complexity and 

 haziness that they are currently beyond the reach of exact science 

 and must, as yet, be left to the artist. 



(2) The requirement for quantitative communicability has led to 

 a steady monotonic progress of science from one generation to an- 

 other, knowledge fulfilling this requirement being immune to the 

 vagaries of fashion which cause periodic fluctuations of value in 

 the creations of the artist. The young scientist of today sees the 

 universe from a vantage point on the shoulders of the giants of the 

 past, the inheritor of a cumulative tradition which enables him to 

 attack problems that were impossible in bygone years. The steady 

 progress of science, contrasted with the cycles of opinion in the arts, 

 is the reward the scientist receives for confining his attention to 

 simple subjects and avoiding the siren call of the colorful wildernesses 

 of human experiences. The steady progress of science over the last 

 300 years, contrasted with the changing natural philosophies of the 

 previous millennia, leads us to speculate about natural selection in 

 the survival of systems of knowledge. Was it a happy accident that 

 Galileo, Newton, and others stumbled on a pattern that has been 

 capable of continuous extension, that accommodates such a range of 

 valid experiences, and that had the i)roperty of quantitative 

 communicability ? 



(3) In regions simple enough for the application of science, con- 

 sistent patterns of knowledge and quantitative communicability give 

 to the inexperienced and even mediocre practitioner powers that 

 otherwise are gained only after long experience by the highly accom- 

 plished expert. For example, the brilliant and experienced surgeon 

 may look at a patient and with unerring intuition decide that he 

 needs a blood transfusion, but he cannot communicate exactly to his 

 students the complex integration of observations that leads him to 

 this conclusion; they must have experiences similar to his before 

 such communication is possible. If, however, the problem is sim- 

 plified by systematic study to a point where the necessity for a trans- 

 fusion can be correlated exactly with the presence or absence of def- 

 inite amounts of identifiable substances in the blood, and methods 

 for measuring these are devised, then a pattern that is exactly com- 

 municable is developed which even the novice can completely ap- 

 prehend and apply with confidence. 



