it is to play our part in one of the splendid tasks set for men, the con- 

 quest of our world ? To discover new countries, to climb the highest 

 peaks, to travel through new areas of celestial space, to turn our 

 searchlights upon domains of eternal darkness, that is what makes life 

 worth living. 



However, the modern scientific seeker should not cast himself 

 head foremost into these perils. The sport of the scientist consists in 

 utilizing all that he knows, in foreseeing all the dangers, in studying 

 every detail with profound attention, in always using the admirable 

 instrument of mathematical analysis wherever it can shed its magic 

 light upon his work. If he is convinced that in advance he has avoided 

 all imaginable risks, and has neglected nothing in his plans, the 

 scientist then has the serenity necessary to achieve success. Of what 

 use is océanographie research ^ This question has been asked me more 

 than once. It is pointless. Two kinds of research exist. To begin with, 

 the scientist works out of a love of research, without a determinate 

 object, without always perceiving direct practical applications of his 

 work. He discovers new facts, unknown relations. Even if this appears 

 insignificant, a day will come when the results obtained will prove 

 useful. It is then, but only then, that research turns towards the 

 practical. Industry with its great resources then takes a hand. The most 

 disparate discoveries are adjusted like pieces of a Meccano set, and what 

 is missing is discovered in new researches. Then a new scientific 

 edifice is built, something from which humanity will benefit. 



We can make the following statement without risk of being con- 

 tradicted by future events : each discovery, even the most apparently 

 insignificant, will end by being of use to man. To support what we 

 have just said, innumerable examples could be cited. Here are two; 

 the Danish physicist Oersted (who discovered aluminium) observed 

 that an electric current caused the compass to deviate. A fine discovery, 

 of course, quite unexpected too. But of what use could it be ? Then 

 decade followed decade. The magnetic needle was made larger, the 

 current stronger. Oersted's single loop was replaced by a coil. The 

 result is the electro-magnet, the electric motor, the dynamo, the whole 

 electrical industry, all those modern techniques of which we are so 

 proud. In less than a century, the eight-hour day has replaced the 

 fourteen-hour day. Was it really of so little importance for humanity, 

 that, in a little laboratory, the needle in a compass turned a quarter 

 of a circle.'^ Here is another example, more recent. In this case the 



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