April 16, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



555 



same is true of even abstract or remote 

 knowledge of the purely scholarly Mnd ; it 

 is potential means of adjustment; the cul- 

 tured man knows how to adapt himself to 

 most circumstances better than the uncul- 

 tured man. Not only mankind, but all 

 living organisms — both animals and plants 

 — are so organized that their well-being 

 depends on accurate adjustment to the con- 

 ditions under which they live. The give 

 and take of material and energy must bal- 

 ance; the term "adaptation" means simply 

 the sum-total of the conditions that secure 

 this balance. Now, for us men, the chief 

 means of such adjustment is knowledge. 

 Theoretical or abstract knowledge, the kind 

 that investigators in pure science strive 

 for, is merely that which is the most uni- 

 versally valid and applicable; it is there- 

 fore at bottom the most practical; so that 

 if the chief aim of scientific investigation is 

 the attainment of such knowledge, and 

 even if the wish to attain it is often purely 

 instinctive and unreasoned — as in fact it 

 is in many of the best investigators — we 

 can understand from the biological point 

 of view why this should be so. Thus there 

 is the best of sanctions for the knowledge- 

 seeking tendency. Breadth of knowledge 

 represents a surplus or reserve of potential 

 activity, — whether it is actually called upon 

 for use or not; and as such it is the most 

 valuable possession that we can have, for 

 it is the means by which purposes of any 

 kind are rendered capable of realization. 



Now let me define a little more fully what 

 scientific men mean by investigation. Un- 

 der this term come all efforts directed to- 

 ward the one aim — the ascertainment of the 

 clear, impersonal and objective truth con- 

 cerning the matter in hand. Mankind has 

 found no method that leads so certainly to 

 the attainment of this end as the method of 

 dispassionate, systematic and critical in- 

 quiry, using all available means impartially 



and thoroughly, and verifying all results 

 once they are attained. In this sense scien- 

 tific investigation is in no way different in 

 its method from investigation in other fields, 

 such as history, language or philosophy, or 

 from the means which a good military com- 

 mander or man of affairs adopts in familiar- 

 izing himself with a situation before he acts. 

 In every case the aim is to ascertain impar- 

 tially the actuality of the case, that which 

 is so, quite independently of what our 

 wishes or fears or other prepossessions may 

 be. The means which we adopt may vary 

 in different fields of investigation accord- 

 ing to the nature of the matter under in- 

 vestigation ; but the attitude of the true in- 

 vestigator is the same everywhere — an at- 

 titude of candid, critical, persistent and, 

 above all, disinterested inquiry. It is im- 

 portant to realize the necessity for these 

 qualities in the investigator, if true results 

 are to be attained. Without them the pur- 

 pose of investigation can not be realized; 

 progress is slow, and results do not bear 

 examination. Let me quote Faraday's con- 

 ception of the natural philosopher — ^by 

 which he means the investigator in natural 

 science: "The philosopher," says Fara- 

 day, "should be a man willing to listen to 

 every suggestion, but determined to judge 

 for himself. He should not be biased by 

 appearances; have no favorite hypotheses; 

 be of no school and in doctrine have no 

 master. He should not be a respecter of 

 persons, but of things. If to these qual- 

 ities be added industry, he may indeed hope 

 to walk within the veil of the temple of 

 nature." Here we have a statement, clear, 

 simple and devoid of literary artifice, by one 

 of the most fruitful scientific investigators 

 of all times ; and when we wonder at what 

 has been accomplished by the science which 

 has developed from beginnings largely made 

 by him, we should remember that it is only 

 by such men, working in such a spirit, that 



