October 24, 1890.] 



;:5C1KNCE. 



229 



scientific and the non-scientific. One is the great majority, 

 the general public, including in the United States over sixty 

 millions of people in all conditions, cultured and uncultured, 

 educated and uneducated, but in average intelligence, we are 

 proud to say, superior to the people of any other nation in 

 the world. Out of these it is not easy to sift, by definition, 

 the small minority properly known as men of science. Only 

 a rough approximation may be reached by an examination 

 of the membership of scientific societies. 



The American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence includes in its membership about two thousand persons. 

 It is well known, however, that many of these are not ac- 

 tually engaged in scientific pursuits, either professionally or 

 otherwise: indeed, it is one of the important functions of 

 the society to gather into its fold as many of this class as 

 possible. The fellowship of the association is limited, how- 

 ever, by its constitution, to such members as are profession- 

 ally engaged in science, or have by their labors aided in 

 advancing science. They number about seven hundred, but 

 in this case it is equally well known that the list falls far 

 short of including all Americans who by their labors in sci- 

 ence are justly entitled to a place in any roll of scientific 

 men. On the whole, it would not, perhaps, be a gross ex- 

 aggeration to say that not more than one in fifty thousand 

 of our population could be properly placed upon the list, 

 even with a liberal interpretation of terms. 



In this estimate it is not intended, of course, to include 

 that large class of active workers whose energies are devoted 

 to the advancement of applied science. Although their 

 methods are often the i-esult of scientific training, and while 

 the solution of their problems requires much knowledge of 

 science, the real advancement of science at their hands is 

 rather incidental than otherwise. In certain particulars 

 they may be likened to the class kuowu as "middle-men" in 

 commercial transactions, — the connecting link between pro- 

 ducer and consumer. It is in no way to their discredit that 

 they usually excel both of these in vigilance and circum- 

 spection and in their quick perception of utility. By them 

 the discoveries of science are prepared for and placed upon 

 the market, and it is difficult to overestimate their useful- 

 ness in this capacity. It is true that the lion's share of the 

 profit in the transaction is generally theirs, and that they 

 are often negligent in the matter of giving the philosopher 

 the credit to which he is entitled; but for the latter, at least, 

 it is believed that the philosopher is himself often responsi- 

 ble. 



If this statement of the relative numbers of the scientific 

 and the non-scientific- is reasonably correct, the scientific 

 man may at least congratulate himself on wielding an influ- 

 ence in affairs vastly greater than the census alone would 

 justify; and this fact encourages the belief, that, if there is 

 any thing "out of joint" in his relations with the general 

 public, the remedy is in his own hands. Let our first in- 

 quiry be, then, in what particulars does he fail in the full 

 discharge of his duties as a man of science, and especially as 

 an exponent of science among his fellows? 



Without attempting to arrange the answers which suggest 

 themselves in logical order, or, indeed, to select those of the 

 first importance, I submit, to begin with, his inability or un- 

 willingness, common but by no means universal, to present 

 the results of his labors in a form intelligible to intelligent 



people. When inability, it is a misfortune, often the out- 

 growth, however, of negligence or indifi'erence ; when un- 

 willingness, it becomes at least an offence, and one not in- 

 dicative of the true scientific spirit. Unfortunately we are 

 not yet entirely out of the shadow of the middle ages, when 

 learning was a mystery to all except a select few, or of the 

 centuries a little later, when a scientific treatise must be en- 

 tombed in a dead language or a scientific discovery em- 

 balmed in a cipher. 



Many scientific men of excellent reputation are to-day 

 guilty of the crime of unnecessary and often premeditated 

 and deliberately planned mystification : in fact, almost by 

 common consent, this fault is overlooked in men of distin- 

 guished ability, if, indeed, it does not add a lustre to the 

 brilliancy of their attainments. It is usually regarded as a 

 high compliment to say of A, that, when he read his paper 

 in the mathematical section, no one present was able to un- 

 derstand what it was about; or of B and his book, that there 

 are only three men in the world who can read it. We greatly 

 though silently admire A and B; while C, the unknown, who has 

 not yet won a reputation, and who ventures to discuss some- 

 thing which we do understand (after his clear and logical 

 presentation of the subject), must go content with the pat- 

 ronizing admonition that there is really nothing new about 

 this, and that, if he will consult the pages of a certain jour- 

 nal of a few years ago, he will find the same idea, — not de- 

 veloped, it is true, but hinted at, and put aside for future 

 consideration, — or that he will find that Newton or Darwin 

 declared what is essentially the same principle many years 

 before. No one can deny that there is great reason and 

 good judgment displayed in all this, but the ordinary lay- 

 man is likely to inquire whether it is distributed and ap- 

 portioned with nice discrimination ; and it is the standpoint 

 of the layman which we are occupying at the present mo- 

 ment. 



All will admit that there are many men whose power in 

 original thinking and profound research is far greater than 

 their facility of expression, just as, on the other hand, there 

 are many more men whose linguistic fluency is unem- 

 barrassed by intellectual activity; and representatives of 

 both classes may be found among those usually counted as 

 men of science. It is with the first only that we are con- 

 cerned at the present moment, and it is sufficient to remark 

 that their fault is relatively unimportant and easily over- 

 looked. Among them is often found that highly prized but 

 imperfectly defined individual known as the "genius," for 

 whose existence we are always thankful, even though his 

 interpretation is difficult and laboi'ious. 



Concerning those who, although able, are unwilling to 

 take the trouble to write for their readers or speak for their 

 hearers, a somewhat more extended comment may be desira- 

 ble. It is always difficult to make a just analysis of mo- 

 tives, but there can be little doubt that some of these are 

 influenced by a desire to imitate the rare genius whose in- 

 tellectual advances are so rapid and so powerful as to forbid 

 all efforts to secure a clear and simple presentation of re- 

 sults. The king is lame, and the courtier must limp. With 

 others there is a strange and unwholesome prejudice against 

 making science intelligible for fear that science may become 

 popular. It is forgotten that clear and accurate thinking- 

 is generally accompanied by the power of clear, con- 



