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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 959 



vigorous brancli to the twigs near its end. All 

 this takes time. And yet, if my short experi- 

 ence is not misleading, this may be tentatively 

 accomplished even in the first year of gradu- 

 ate study. To be sure, such early research is 

 crude ; it could hardly be otherwise. Probably 

 one should seldom allow it to see the light of 

 day, so far as publication is concerned. And 

 yet to do such preliminary research is a matter 

 of importance to the student. The power of 

 independent thinking depends first of all on a 

 certain natural aptitude, but it is capable of 

 cultivation. The way to develop this power is 

 to exercise it; and the sooner one begins the 

 better. Too much acquisition and too little 

 discovery undoubtedly benumb the faculty of 

 initiative. 



But how is one to get started on research 

 with some promise of successful achievement? 

 Is there a guide who can induct him infallibly 

 into the inner secrets of the creative power? 

 Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no 

 flowered path leading through fields of re- 

 search, in fact, there is no path at all; every 

 one must blaze out his own trail. 



Very few people have sufficient initiative to 

 acquire this ability unaided, or even by the 

 aid of books. The living instructor is usually 

 essential. A certain body of traditional lore 

 is passed on from generation to generation of 

 thinkers and is never reduced to writing. One 

 needs to draw from this source of inspiration. 

 To acquire the power of research one needs to 

 get close to some one who has it, to surprise 

 him in the act of creative thinking and to 

 learn his ways of working. No one is more 

 pleased at this than the thinker himself, for 

 he realizes how hard it is to transmit to 

 others his acquisition, and yet he knows that 

 this is the most important service which he 

 can render. To transmit to others that elusive 

 thing called point of view is at the same time 

 the most important and the most difiicult 

 work of the instructor. 



I have said that few individuals have suffi- 

 cient initiative to acquire independently the 

 power of research. On the other hand, I be- 

 lieve that there are many who may develop 



into successful workers if they come into inti- 

 mate relations with a gifted instructor. The 

 extraordinary success of students trained 

 under such a man as Agassiz, for instance, is 

 sufficient proof of this. He kindled a fire of 

 enthusiasm which never burned out. 



But why should one wish to acquire this 

 power? The labor involved in its exercise is 

 arduous. The material rewards are not great. 

 The majority of one's contemporaries will not 

 realize the importance of his work. In a little 

 circle only, the inner circle of one's col- 

 leagues, will the labor be adequately appreci- 

 ated. Therefore it is clear that whatever en- 

 couragement one has in undertaking such 

 work must be of the higher sort, it must be 

 ideal in its nature. To help you to see the 

 true reasons for doing research is the princi- 

 pal purpose of this discourse. 



First of all, what is the meaning of re- 

 search to the individual who does it? What 

 selfish end may he expect apart from the 

 pleasure of service to his fellows? To do ef- 

 fective research is to know the spirit of mas- 

 tery, the spirit of mastery where no one else 

 suffers the pang of defeat. It is to develop the 

 sense of superiority of mind over that which 

 is not mind. It is consciously to obey the 

 command to subdue the earth. It is to re- 

 plenish it with a new creation. It is to make 

 the universe a little fuller and richer by un- 

 derstanding it better. 



But more than all this to the individual : he 

 learns what it is to grow. Knowledge ob- 

 tained otherwise is a sort of accumulation ad- 

 hering to one outwardly; but when it is at- 

 tained by independent research it is more like 

 an integral part of one — not merely a posses- 

 sion, but an element of his very being. What 

 I am saying will be made clearer by means of 

 an illustration. A magnet attracts to itself 

 iron filings and holds them indefinitely if they 

 are not forcibly torn away; but however long 

 they are kept in position, they do not become 

 part of the magnet. The knowledge which is 

 gotten by the usual means of acquisition is 

 like these filings; it adheres to one externally. 

 On the other hand, that which is discovered 



