WILLARD GIBBS 



PHYSICIST 



1839-1903 

 BY EDWIN E. SLOSSON 



BACON says there are two kinds of men of science, the ants and 

 the spiders. The ants are the men of experiment who collect facts 

 and use them. The spiders are the men of theory who spin cob- 

 webs from their own minds. He condemns both extremes, and, 

 thanks in part to his exposition of the need of combining theory 

 and practice, the two species are becoming less distinct. The 

 practical man is more and more recognizing the importance of 

 theory, and the theorist is paying better heed to experimentation. 

 Nevertheless, the two mental types persist, and it is usually 

 possible to tell to which any scientist, however great, inclines. 

 The practical man uses a general law as a vaulting-pole to assist 

 him in jumping from one fact to another. The theoretical man 

 uses facts as stepping-stones to reach a general law. The practi- 

 cal man receives his inspiration from mixing with men and per- 

 ceiving their needs. He produces immediate results and he gets 

 an immediate reward in popularity, praise and wealth. The 

 nature of his work is apparent to everybody, and his achieve- 

 ments are appreciated, indeed often overestimated, by his con- 

 temporaries. The theorist, on the contrary, is heard of more 

 often after his death than during his life, for he is apt to be 

 something of a recluse, following his own thread of thought 

 without allowing his attention to be distracted by the shouts of 

 the crowd who cannot understand his work or his temperament, 

 and are always calling him in directions that to them seem 

 more profitable. 



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