July 18, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



53 



selfishness and join to make an end of a con- 

 dition iinscientific and unsound? 



" It can't be done ! " It has been done, is 

 being done to some degree right now among 

 ^us. And you will pardon me, I trust, if I 

 bring forward in proof of this assertion a 

 piece of cooperative research in my own field. 

 IJnder the auspices of the War Emergency 

 Board of American Plant Pathologists, work- 

 ers in fifteen states and in the federal depart- 

 pient have planned and carried out coopera- 

 tively a most extensive investigation on cereal 

 seed treatment with the result that in one year 

 .we have approached general agreement upon 

 a single simple safe and most effective method, 

 of wide application, for the control of exter- 

 nally-borne, seed infesting cereal smuts. I 

 need not dwell upon the advantages thereby ac- 

 cruing to science and to practical agriculture. 

 I Once more I beg your indulgence. In a 

 single conference of two days duration the 

 potato disease pathologists of the continent in 

 August, 1918, in free and open exchange of 

 ifaets and ideas made more progress toward 

 ;the solution of the difficult problems of leaf 

 roll and mosaic, than would have been accom- 

 plished in five years of individual reflection in 

 solitary confinement. 



, It is evident, of course, that cooperation and 

 coordination of our scientific activities can 

 pot be accomplished without organization. 

 ,The character of this organization is a most 

 yital consideration. It can not be imposed 

 upon us, it must be of our own making. It 

 must be truly democratic and without auto- 

 <3ratic possibilities. Moreover, it must directly 

 affect only those individuals who of their own 

 free choice are willing to associate themselves 

 together to this end, nor shall any one be ex- 

 cluded who is prepared to enter this associa- 

 tion with zeal and unselfish purpose. But or- 

 ganization alone, no matter how democratic, 

 can not succeed without good leadership ; lead- 

 lership of the highest order, strong, vigorous, 

 of broad vision, wholly devoted to the common 

 good, above reproach. We must demand that 

 the ablest shall lead and we must give them 

 our fullest confidence, our heartiest allegiance 



and our unqualified support in the under- 

 takings. 



Having now set forth what I believe to be 

 the most fundamental factors for success in 

 cooperative undertakings in scientific work, I 

 may be expected to present something con- 

 crete respecting the modus operandi by which 

 yre may hope to realize this success. In pre- 

 senting for your consideration the following 

 plan I am not without experimental data upon 

 which to base my opinion that it will be found 

 ^exceedingly workable. It is essentially the 

 jnethod by which the American plant patholo- 

 gists have, during the past year, sought to 

 speed up accomplishment within their own 

 field. The results have been so remarkable, so 

 indicative of what cooperative effort may be 

 .expected to accomplish, and the methods by 

 .which this has been effected, so generally ap- 

 proved amongst us, that I venture to predict 

 that the machinery which we have evolved 

 will, in its essentials, best serve to promote in 

 other fields of science the true spirit of co- 

 .operation and coordination. The thing about 

 ,which all cooperative effort in science must 

 ,center is the solution of some definite prob- 

 lem, be it one of research, of teaching or of 

 extension. For the solution of this problem a 

 number of workers voluntarily agree to asso- 

 .ciate themselves. The ideal condition is that 

 in which all workers in any way interested in 

 the problem become co-partners in the attack 

 .upon it. N'ot only that but there must be a 

 general understanding that any person who in 

 phe future becomes interested may, without 

 .hesitation, claim the privilege of associating 

 Jiimself in the undertaking. In short those 

 .uniting for the conduct of a given project, 

 constitute the project committee. Each pro- 

 ject committee selects from among their num- 

 ,ber some one to be their leader, note I say 

 pleader, for only under real leadership can the 

 ^ork be carried to a successful consummation. 

 If the committee finds that it has been mis- 

 taken in its choice the evident and democratic 

 expectation is that it will promptly choose 

 another to lead. Just what is expected of the 

 committee chief is clearly implied in the word 

 leader and I therefore need not dwell upon 



