22 INTRODUCTION 



{Didactic means that something is told, rather than learned 

 by first-hand observation.) 



In the other way you will learn but few of the facts you 

 are expected to learn, but you will learn them from the 

 plant itself, or from experiments which concern plants. 

 This method is not important for the number of facts it 

 teaches, but it is of great importance for the way in which 

 it teaches them. It requires you to rely on yourself, to 

 make your own observations, raise your own questions, and 

 draw your own conclusions. This way of study makes 

 you think for yourself. It keeps you from being a mere 

 follower of some one else's thought. It requires you to use 

 other powers than the power of memory alone. It re- 

 quires you to get your information directly from the thing 

 itself. This direct method of learning is what we have 

 already called the scientific method. 



In the preceding section you read something about this sci- 

 entific method, but not enough. It is too important a mat- 

 ter to be dismissed with a few words, especially since it is 

 a method which you may not have used in school before. 

 If you do not realize at the outset its great importance to 

 you, you may fail to put your best efforts into acquiring 

 it and so miss one of the most valuable things which school 

 can give you. Like all other really valuable things, this 

 method of study and thought is not to be gained easily. 

 It calls for the very best you can give of attention and of 

 effort. You may have formed the habit of using little 

 besides your memory in learning your lessons. It may seem 

 strange and difficult at first to use this other method. But 

 you can learn to use it. You are able to observe and to de- 

 cide for yourself if you are willing to make the effort, and 

 only by means of such efforts are strong minds developed. 



