in THE SCIENTIFIC MIND 43 



be the same, namely, the man who follows his standards of truth 

 and beauty, who employs his learning and observation, his 

 reason, his expression, for purposes of production, that is, to 

 add something of his own to the stock of the world's ideas. 

 Prof. H. F. Osborn. 



The power to produce is not the exclusive possession 

 of any particular class ; and in the realm of science it 

 comes to all who will approach Nature with clear eyes, 

 will observe accurately, weigh the observations with 

 unprejudiced mind and weave them into a reasonable 

 web of interpretation. These qualities of a scientific 

 mind come not by believing but by doing ; not from 

 contentment with things as they are but from a desire 

 to know something of the land beyond the hills. 



Natural Science is a subject which a man cannot learn by paying 

 for teachers. He must teach it himself, by patient observation, 

 by patient common sense. And if the poor man is not the rich 

 man's equal in those qualities, it must be his own fault, not his 

 purse's. Charles Kingsley. 



The true meaning of Nature can be understood only 

 by those in direct communion with her. Every devout 

 student has to learn to read the book of Nature for 

 himself; and when he has done so he cannot think 

 lightly of the wonders revealed to him. 



The study of Nature is an intercourse with the highest mind. 

 You should never trifle with Nature. At the lowest her works 

 are the works of the highest powers, the highest something in 

 whatever way we may look at it. A laboratory of Natural 

 History is a sanctuary where nothing profane should be tolerated. 

 I feel less agony at improprieties in churches than in a scientific 

 laboratory. Louis Agassiz. 



At the beginning of his career, Agassiz wrote to his 

 father, " I wish to be a good son, a good citizen, and the 

 first naturalist of my time " ; and his life realised these 

 aims. He was born in a little village in Switzerland in 



