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Newcomb, Simon, 1835-1909

"Side-Lights on Astronomy and Kindred Fields of Popular Science"

It may be asked whether we shall aim at
individualism or collectivism. Shall our ideal be an organized
system of directors, professors, associates, assistants, fellows;
or shall it be a collection of individual workers, each pursuing
his own task in the way he deems best, untrammelled by authority?
The reply to this question is that there is in this special case
no antagonism between the two ideas. The most effective
organization will aim both at the promotion of individual effort,
and at subordination and co-operation. It would be a serious error
to formulate any general rule by which all cases should be
governed. The experience of the past should be our guide, so far
as it applies to present and future conditions; but in availing
ourselves of it we must remember that conditions are constantly
changing, and must adapt our policy to the problems of the future.
In doing this, we shall find that different fields of research
require very different policies as regards co-operation and
subordination. It will be profitable to point out those special
differences, because we shall thereby gain a more luminous insight
into the problems which now confront the scientific investigator,
and better appreciate their variety, and the necessity of
different methods of dealing with them.


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