December 23, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



621 



energy to research. Such men have taken an 

 active part in the development of their phase 

 of geology and have made many valuable con- 

 tributions to the subject. Those employed by 

 a definite company have less control of their 

 time and therefore less independence in the 

 direction their studies take. In both cases 

 the research is likely to contain an element 

 of secrecy — and results of research which can 

 not be published, no matter how good they 

 may be, can not contribute to the advance- 

 ment of the science. Recent studies show an 

 actual decrease of published matter occurring 

 at just about the time the call for oil geolo- 

 gists became pronounced. This is no indica- 

 tion that geologists should not go into pro- 

 fessional geologic work, but it does point 

 out that if a man feels he would enjoy the 

 publication of the results of his research, 

 there are far better openings than commer- 

 cial work in his particular case. 



There seems to be no need of discussing 

 the various fields of what is more commonly 

 considered geology. The sources of supiwrt 

 are the same as above and the opportunities 

 for subjects of study as endless as the topics 

 of the text-books. Stratigraphy, physiogra- 

 phy, economic geology, dynamical, and his- 

 torical geology, with their accompanying 

 theoretical aspects, all offer their attractions 

 according trf the taste of the investigator. 



COMPENSATION 



Compensation is unquestionably of two 

 sorts — material and mental. In material 

 compensation, there can be no doubt that the 

 practising geologist leads. He also has the 

 satisfaction that comes from active participa- 

 tion in the development and winning of ma- 

 terial wealth. There is, however, a field of 

 research where the results are not utilitarian 

 and are of no apparent practical value. 

 Here the financial reward is less, but there 

 comes instead what to many men is the great- 

 est joy of life — the personal discovery of 

 new facts and the increase of human knowl- 

 edge. A geologist said recently " I am doing 

 just what I would do if I had a million dol- 

 lars." The true research spirit has in it also 



an underlying motive of service to humanity. 

 The reading of biography or personal obser- 

 vation will surely verify this statement. 



Great advances of the future are not dependent 

 upon having every man do everything as an expert, 

 but they will rest upon a wide appreciation of the 

 importance of constructive thought, of organized 

 knowledge, and of the continuous advance of knowl- 

 edge.i 



If a man's inclination is to add to this " con- 

 tinuous advance of knowledge " by personal 

 effort, he may be sure that he will eventually 

 feel well paid. 



GEOLOGY AS A PROFESSION^ 



Wliy enter geology as a profession? The 

 reasons are most diverse and will make vary- 

 ing appeals according to the likes and dis- 

 likes of the individual. No claim is made 

 that the facts advanced are all peculiar to 

 geology, but the combination of advantages 

 is certainly hard to match elsewhere. 



For the sake of clarity these reasons will 

 be discussed under numerical headings. 



1. The science is young. Any man of 

 good ability may hope to make worth while 

 contributions to it. The joy of discovery, 

 already alluded to, is open to all. 



2. The range of possible employment is 

 large. The three most open to the beginner 

 are teaching, work under government or state 

 bureaus, and commercial employment. If 

 one type of work proves distasteful, there are 

 opportunities to utilize the same training in 

 a different occupation. This fact has been 

 amplified on a preceding page. 



3. The investigator may feel that his worh 

 has an inthnate relation with the winning 

 and lest utilization of the raw materials 

 which contribute to national and world pros- 

 perity. This is often true even if his tastes 

 lead him in fields which seem to have no re- 

 lation to the practical needs of man. Berry, 



1 Address by J. C. Merriam. See Science for 

 November 19, 1920. 



2 The writer wishes to acknowledge indebtedness 

 to a splendid paper by E. D. Salisbury, in Science, 

 April 5, 1918, for much that is good in the follow- 

 ing discussion. 



