196 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



use of current patterns of science where they can be applied, and sup- 

 plements them by the skills of the arts. He is well aware of the fact 

 that empirical results are not really valid until they are related to 

 other experiences in a satisfying pattern, and at the same time he 

 fully knows that the practical applications based on predictions from 

 theory require for their full development the proper economic and 

 technological climate. 



Physicists, chemists, and, to some extent, biologists who have been 

 well trained in graduate schools have, in general, an innate apprecia- 

 tion of the use and value of satisfying patterns of valid facts. This 

 appreciation motivates their approach to all problems, setting before 

 them always the objective of developing theoretically the field in 

 which they work. However, many engineers and other professional 

 men who have had elementary and even advanced undergraduate 

 courses in physics and chemistry and mathematics do not have this 

 viewpoint. No lasting appreciation of the need for consistent theories 

 to guide their work has been imparted to them by undergi-aduate 

 science courses. If this seems exaggerated, note a statement made in a 

 responsible publication by an authority on the administration of in- 

 dustrial research: "The process of research of whatever type and 

 regardless of when, where or to what applied is nothing more or less 

 than an organized^ diligent investigation to discover jactsP When 

 such views are held by leaders, it is small wonder that the followers 

 are confused. 



On the other hand, engineers have an innate appreciation of the 

 practical value of quantitative communicability which is the result 

 of training, reinforced by experience. In this respect, they are ahead 

 of the average physicist and chemist. In expressing his results, the 

 engineer uses drawings and specifications in which all details are 

 expressed not only quantitatively, but also with tolerances that indi- 

 cate the permissible compromises between the exigencies of design 

 for performance and the limitations of the skills and techniques of 

 artisans to realize these in practical working devices. 



The establishment of a common viewpoint or common standard of 

 values among technical men and the consequent improvement of com- 

 munications among them are matters of real concern in university 

 education at all levels. We need to devise methods for impressing 

 more deeply on all students of science that quantitative communica- 

 tions, clear, concise, and exact expression of ideas, results, and pat- 

 terns of facts, are an intrinsic part of science without which it is no 

 longer science but art. Furthermore, we need to impart to all stu- 

 dents of science and technology a lasting feeling of the practical 

 importance and the esthetic appeal of consistent patterns of valid 

 human experiences, the essential place of theoretical development in 



