36 



Here our editors shun the rather dry and obscure authorities in 

 favor of picturesquely worded and sensation-charged celebrities; 

 and, reciprocally, the authorities shun the editors. 



Yet are we not ready to admit that the modern aspect of 

 "national progress" depends very largely upon the number of 

 properly qualified persons who are engaged in science research, 

 and, perhaps as much, upon the extent to which the general pub- 

 lic follows their advance? 



Does not the fault for this large American gap between science 

 workers and the general public lie much with the scientists who 

 have held aloof; who have rarely taken it as part of their task 

 properly to popularize the problems on which they are at work; 

 who have let misrepresentation go almost unchecked ; who have 

 done much to form a sort of aristocracy of their own kind? 



But, wherever the fault lies, we must lessen the gap. The 

 constitution we have just adopted explicitly commits us to this. 

 Unless there develops more popular interest in the great truth 

 search, in this and its many other aspects ; unless there develops 

 more feeling of personal responsibility in finding out for one's 

 own self, and less of being easily satisfied with the first plausible 

 explanation, then the national peril for lack of "clean truth" to 

 which Dr. Chamberlin made reference this morning is surely 

 not very difficult to perceive; a reference which, by the way, 

 has some responsibility for this digression from my topic. 



Specifically, of the opportunities in botany, we can say that 

 the demand for trained botanists continues to exceed the supply. 

 Such demand is, of course, especially for young men ready to 

 begin their service at compensation less than the theoretical val- 

 ue of the service rendered. Further, it is almost exclusively a 

 demand for men to whom the service means at least as much 

 as the compensation. But, as such, it is unquestionably a vigor- 

 ous and growing demand. 



