Apeil 16, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



559 



include a strong instinctive element which 

 appropriates or rejects the material which 

 is presented to it — either by its own vivid 

 imagination or by outside experience — ac- 

 cording to the availability for the purposes 

 that interest the genius. And this inter- 

 est is likely to be absorbing to an extreme 

 degree, and hence to arouse all the energies 

 much more effectually than is usually pos- 

 sible to normal persons. But it is not nec- 

 essary here to prejudge questions which 

 are still a puzzle to psychologists. I wish 

 merely to emphasize that whatever a final 

 analysis may eventually show genius to be, 

 there is no doubt of its existence, that it is 

 rare, and that the chief achievements of 

 mankind in science, as in art and literature, 

 are due in the main to its activity. Only 

 by recognizing these facts shall we be able 

 to take properly into account all of the 

 factors which contribute to scientific prog- 

 ress, and make due provision for all. If 

 Darwin had been without means, there is 

 no doubt that the most effectual way of 

 promoting evolutionary science in his day 

 would have been to provide him with an 

 adequate personal endowment, or a univer- 

 sity chair giving complete freedom for re- 

 search. I emphasize this in order to bring 

 to your attention the all-importance of the 

 individual or personal factor in the work 

 of scientific investigation. This considera- 

 tion is a wholesome one for moderns to bear 

 in mind ; for the trust in cooperative meth- 

 ods, "team-play," and collective enterprise 

 is so general, and has assumed such a dog- 

 matic character, that it tends to deprive 

 many persons — especially those whose tal- 

 ents are of a subtle rather than a robust 

 order— of belief in their unaided personal 

 powers, and hence to weaken their sense 

 of personal responsibility. One result of 

 this often is that they lose the normal and 

 healthy compunction against laying up 

 their talents in napkins. 



Let us now return to our original subject. 

 One of our aims in the universities is to fur- 

 ther investigation. How are we to do this 

 most effectually? The answer, in form at 

 least, seems simple. First we must pro- 

 vide facilities, and second, we must have the 

 right men. The first requirement is rela- 

 tively easy; it is a question of material re- 

 sources ; the second is more difficult, as well 

 as more important, for if it is impossible to 

 make bricks without straw, it is still more 

 certain that the best of straw will serve 

 little for brick-making unless put into the 

 right hands. But let us define a little more 

 closely what we may regard as the condi- 

 tions of successful research, with especial 

 reference to the case of scientific depart- 

 ments in universities. In general three 

 things are necessary; equipment, proper co- 

 ordination of activities (or organization) 

 and personnel. When these are combined 

 in the right proportions we may hold that 

 conditions are the most favorable; but this 

 is not always possible, and usually some 

 choice has to be made; which is the most 

 important and fundamental? This ques- 

 tion is not easy to answer; so much depends 

 on what is under investigation; a com- 

 pletely and expensively equipped laboratory 

 can undertake researches which are beyond 

 the reach of one of more modest resources ; 

 and yet the difference in the importance of 

 the results gained by the two may not be 

 commensurate. Here we see the signifi- 

 cance of the personal factor. Darwin will 

 make important discoveries in his kitchen 

 or back yard, while a costly laboratory, al- 

 though making a great show of activity, 

 may be comparatively fruitless in important 

 results. This fact, however, does not make 

 it any the less desirable that the apparatus 

 for research should be at hand ; but it indi- 

 cates that if results are to come, such means 

 should be used properly, and this can be 

 done only by the right men. Appeals for 



