PROGRESS IX DISCOVERY 359 



grains, fruits, and nuts have lived and died out because 

 no one saw the difference clearly enough to be able to 

 think what they might mean to the world; and thousands 

 more will go the same road until we learn to see and 

 think civically. 



Our present-day discoverers. A number of names referred 

 to in the text under various topics may be used for refer- 

 ence. Our best authorities, as indicated in the preceding 

 chapter, are often discoverers in their respective fields. 

 They have probably won their positions by some creditable 

 research work. Instead of trying to give a list of these it 

 is better to gather the names as they appear as authors of 

 our best books on birds, insects, forestry, agriculture, bacteria, 

 health problems, and so on, or as they come to us from 

 month to month in the biological journals or scientific bul- 

 letins. We should be thankful to our discoverers for what 

 they write, realizing that their work requires patient appli- 

 cation and great sacrifice of time ; and while we follow their 

 investigations in the libraries and journals, we should be 

 very careful about encroaching upon their precious time by 

 personal letters. Perhaps the most discouraging feature 

 of our present situation is the overwhelming of our dis- 

 coverer with inquiries by people who are too indolent to go 

 to their libraries and read what he has written. For any 

 special field we may have one or one hundred discoverers 

 for our one hundred million people. Figure out about how 

 much time it would take to answer a million letters. 



Biological discoverers. From the following brief list, or 

 from any history of science or of medicine, let each member 

 of the class choose some one discoverer, with whom he will 

 become intimately acquainted during the remainder of the 

 year. Let him go to the biographies and histories and strive 

 to catch the spirit that prompted the man to make his dis- 

 coveries. Then, toward the close of the year, let each one 



