86 beers. GEOPHYSICAL PROBLEMS [Ch. 4 



discussed above be applied through the study-group method. Unless 

 one is contemplating a long period of geophysical activity it is in- 

 advisable to recommend that full knowledge of the contributing fields 

 be acquired. This would be a difficult task in itself, not to speak of 

 the time involved. In many organizations where special points of view 

 are indicated, good progress is made in relatively short time by or- 

 ganizing a small group of specialists with a leader whose knowledge 

 and experience are broad enough to give him a general understanding 

 of the language of each member of the group. In this way no possible 

 interrelations will be lost, and the productivity of such a group, under 

 able leadership, will be surprising. It should be the policy of the study- 

 group leader to encourage all worth-while suggestions during a stage 

 in the program where criticism and evaluation are not present. Until 

 the group is accustomed to working together, there may be some whose 

 natural timidity will prevent them from delivering all their ideas for 

 the benefit of the meeting. It has been found practicable to cover 

 the entire field of research in a preliminary stage as suggested. 



After the material so presented is organized, it will be desirable to 

 evaluate individual ideas. For this purpose it is helpful to have one 

 member of the group who is outspoken and straightforward, and who 

 commands the respect of others for his clear thinking and power of 

 analysis. The function of the group at this stage is to screen out all 

 valuable material and to discard that which is unsound or irrelevant. 

 The third stage arrives when the sound material has been organized 

 and resubmitted to the group. At this point important decisions will 

 be made, strong convictions will be formed, and there will arise a 

 surprising unanimity among the members of the group as to the 

 logical procedures for the future. It may develop during the course 

 of the meetings that new data or new interpretations are required. For 

 these functions the chairman may appoint small working groups or 

 individuals who will assemble and present the new materials in such 

 manner that all members of the group may make use of them. The 

 timing of the group meetings will depend upon the amount of this de- 

 tailed work required. 



One brief caution may be noted. In some group meetings normal 

 scientific procedure and good judgment have been overridden by an 

 emotional factor. Some member of the group should be given the 

 responsibility of watching for this element. In one case a group of 

 eminent scientists was completely won over by a "spellbinder" presen- 

 tation which lay undiscovered for many weeks. Only under long and 

 careful examination did the weakness of the group's conclusions be- 



