70 FROM AN EASY CHAIR 



29. The So-called Jargon of Science 



It is often discussed as to whether science fails to 

 obtain the attention of the public and to excite intelli- 

 gent interest, owing to the obscure language which 

 lecturers and writers use when attempting to expound 

 scientific views and discoveries to " the ordinary man, 1 ' 

 or whether the fault lies with the " ordinary man " 

 himself, who is too frivolous to bother about following 

 carefully the words addressed to him, and, moreover, 

 has never learnt even the A B C of science at school. 

 It is certainly the case, as Professor Turner, the Oxford 

 professor of astronomy, has pointed out, that a popular 

 lecturer could tell his auditors a good deal more in 

 an hour if they already had the elements of his subject 

 at their fingers 1 ends than he can under the existing 

 state of neglect of school education in the natural 

 sciences. That, however, seems to be obvious enough, 

 and does not touch the real question. 



I have had a long experience, both in lecturing myself 

 and in assisting in the training of others to lecture and 

 also to inform the uninstructed public by means of 

 museum-labels and popular notes. It seems to me that 

 there are a large number of men who, even though 

 capable of expressing themselves clearly under usual 

 circumstances, yet fail to do so when trying to expound 

 or to teach, in consequence of three distinct faults, any 

 one of which is enough to render their discourse or 

 writing hopelessly obscure to " the man in the street. 1 ' 

 These are, first, a kind of pride in using special terms 

 and modes of expression which infatuates the lecturer or 

 writer, and leads him, without reflection, to an attitude 

 of mind expressed by saying, " That is the correct state- 

 ment about this matter, short and true. If you don't 

 understand it, there are others who can. You can leave 

 it alone ; it is not worth my while to spend time and 



