Science and Art in 



I remember, in my youth, there were detestable books 

 which ought to have been burned by the hands of the com- 

 mon hangman, for they contained questions and answers to 

 be learned by heart, of this sort, "What is a horse? 

 The horse is termed Equus caballus; belongs to the 5 

 class Mammalia; order, Pachydermata; family, Solidun- 

 gula." Was any human being wiser for learning that 

 magic formula? Was he not more foolish, inasmuch as 

 he was deluded into taking words for knowledge? It is 

 that kind of teaching that one wants to get rid of, and 10 

 banished out of science. Make it as little as you like, but, 

 unless that which is taught is based on actual observation 

 and familiarity with facts, it is better left alone. 



There are a great many people who imagine that ele- 

 mentary teaching might be properly carried out by teachers 15 

 provided with only elementary knowledge. Let me assure 

 you that that is the profoundest mistake in the world. 

 There is nothing so difficult to do as to write a good ele- 

 mentary book, and there is nobody so hard to teach 

 properly and well as people who know nothing about a 20 

 subject, and I will tell you why. If I address an audi- 

 ence of persons who are occupied in the same line of work 

 as myself, I can assume that they know a vast deal, and 

 that they can find out the blunders I make. If they don't 

 it is their fault and not mine; but when I appear before 25 

 a body of people who know nothing about the matter, who 

 take for gospel whatever I say, surely it becomes needful 

 that I consider what I say, make sure that it will bear 

 examination, and that I do not impose upon the credulity 

 of those who have faith in me. In the second place, it 30 

 involves that difficult process of knowing what you know 

 so well that you can talk about it as you can talk about 

 your ordinary business. A man can always talk about his 

 own business. He can always make it plain; but, if his 



