In the fifth place, let me plead for the virtue of Patience. In a
scientific career we encounter two dangers, for the avoidance of
which patience is our best support and guide. When life is young and
enthusiasm is boundless; when from the details which we may have
laboriously gathered together we seem to catch sight of some new fact
or principle, some addition of more or less importance to the sum
of human knowledge, there may come upon us the eager desire to make
our discovery known. We may long to be allowed to add our own little
stone to the growing temple of science. We may think of the pride with
which we should see our names enrolled among those of the illustrious
builders by whom this temple has been slowly reared since the infancy
of mankind. So we commit our observations to writing, and send them for
publication. Eventually we obtain the deep gratification of appearing
in print among well-known authors in science. Far be it from me to
condemn this natural desire for publicity. But, as your experience
grows, you will probably come to agree with me that if the desire
were more frequently and energetically curbed, scientific literature
would gain much thereby. There is amongst us far too much hurry in
publication. We are so afraid lest our observations or deductions
should be forestalled--so anxious not to lose our claim to priority,
that we rush before the world, often with a half-finished performance,
which must be corrected, supplemented, or cancelled by some later
communication. It is this feverish haste which is largely answerable
for the mass of jejune, ill-digested, and erroneous matter that cumbers
the pages of modern scientific journals. Here it is that you specially
need patience. Before you venture to publish anything, take the utmost
pains to satisfy yourselves that it is true, that it is new, and that
it is worth putting into print. And be assured that this reticence,
while it is a kindness to the literature of science, will most
certainly bring with it its own reward to yourselves. It will increase
your confidence, and make your ultimate contributions more exact in
their facts as well as more accurate and convincing in their argument.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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