SCIENTISTS MUST ACHIEVE POWER of EXPRESSION* J. R. MANNING Bureau of Fisheries, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C
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OU will not be judged so much by what you know as by what others think you know. You have often heard this expression, either in these words
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'Lecture delivered to seminar of graduate students in the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Maryland. October 19, 1938.
or in similar words, and i t contains an important message. Sit down and think it through and through. How do others know how to estimate you or what you know? By what standards do they judge you? Another way of stating this matter to you would be to say that people judge you by the reflection of your
personality as conveyed to them in your power of expression. This is a fair and reasonable standard of evaluating you, for of what use is knowlege or achievement if you cannot or will not pass it on to others? Of what value is i t to the world if it perishes with you? How many men of science, however, have thought this thing through? I think that herein lies an answer, in part a t least, to the reason why science and technology have not been able to teach the people how to make proper social use of the great discoveries of our modern times. I believe that scientists must assume a part of the blame for the lagging of social progress behind that of mechanical progress. In fact, there seems to he on the part of scientists almost a contempt for report writing or other paper work. This is an explanation to the contention you often hear that scientifically trained men make poor administrators. Every human being, whether he wants to or not and whether he believes i t or not, is struggling a t all times for the power of expression. It is the ego in him hut, if controlled, i t is a commendable ego. Some people achieve the power of expression, some do not, and others do not even try. While I do not want to be a traitor to my class or profession, I am sorry to say that many scientific investigators fall in the third class. To my mind, disorderly reports represent a disorderly mind or disorderly processes of thinking. Everyone knows that orderly and logical .processes of thinking are more important in science than in any other human endeavor, and there is also an absolute and practical necessity for oral and written simplicity of style in the translation of scientific
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During my entire twenty years of experience, I have found most technical men to be deficient in this ability and i t has always been a mystery to me why a man, who can master the complexities of advanced chemistry, mathematics, engineering, bacteriology, and other sciences, cannot or will not master the most important subject of all, the power of expression or the ability to tell others, either in oral or in written style, what he knows. Yet, we men of saence, who consider ourselves educated men, should he able to see that i t is on the basis of this one factor that our associates and all others will judge our proficiency and accomplishments. My experience in supervisory work of a technical and administrative nature has convinced me that i t is extremely difficult to write other men's reports for them, especially those reports which cover highly specialized fields of research, and it is just about as onerous a task to be forced to revise and review them. It should not be necessary for an executive to do this. These workers should realize that their writings constitute the principal limiting factor in their success. Unfortunately, i t is sometimes extremely difficult to make scientific investigators realize the importance of mastery of the English language and the power of expression. I believe that much of this trouble lies in the early training of our youth. The high schools, the colleges,
and the universities must assume much of the blame for this situation. If I were in responsible charge of the education of young people in these institutions, I would not grant a student his diploma or his degree until he had convinced me that he had mastered his mother tongue, that he had achieved reasonable facility of exuression, both in the oral and in the written word. and ihat he could deliver the thoughts in his mind td others in such a manner that he would receive the respect and attention of his hearers which comes as a result of understanding. I sincerely believe that I am bringing to you the most valuable lesson I havelearned in the twenty years I have been out of the university. The most important subject in your curriculum is the English language because, I am convinced, that the whole process of thought is tied to language. We think in words, and the power of expressing those words, whether you be the preacher in the pulpit on Sunday or the engineer in the field on Monday, will be the limiting factor to success in any human profession or mental activity. Be simple. Remember that the most masterful expressions of the human race have been clothed in simplicity. Be logical. Understanding must come step by step. Make your thoughts flow in logical sequence even as the rhythm of the river. Be coherent. Dress your reports in attractive words, but do not be bombastic. Supel-Buous verbosity is only a cloak. It is sometimes a stall; a subterfuge, or a temporary expedient. It is sometimes used to hide ignorance. For instance, I once heard a freshman in college say, when the sophomores were "hazing" him, "Your diction is too copious for my diminutive comprehension." Even the illiterate sometimes trv to hide their sins behind bombastic expression. YO^ may have heard of the old Indiana farmer whose conscience hurt him because he had not invited his neighbor to go to the State Fair with him. He met this neighbor on the road soon after the Fair was over, and asked him why he had not seen him there. Before his neighbor could reply to the fact, well known to him, that he had no means of transportation, he said, "Well, Bill, if I hadda knowed that you had wanted to went, I wouldda seen that you had gotten to git to go." In the various executive positions which I have held during the past twenty years, i t has been my responsible, and sometimes pleasant, duty to interview a considerable number of young women for stenographic or secretarial positions. Nearly all of them have had high-school training and many of them have had some college training. It was not long before I found that their training in English was deplorable and their ability to express themselves atrocious. The percentage of near-illiteracy was extremely high. True, I found some of them well trained in this respect, but these persons were in the minority. And yet these girls are not stupid by nature. One of the first things you notice about them is their serious lack of vocabulary. I am truly sorry to say that the power of expression of the average young American is confined to a few hundred words. Beyond this point the English lan-
guage is as unknown to him as to Kipling's famous benighted little Hindu. Not all technical men are careless or contemptuous of the need for mastering the power of expression. Many of them are afraid to try it. They think that this faculty is one which must be inherited, an attribute of genius or one which can be achieved only by the long practice of such professions as ministry and law. They seem to feel that unless you have the "knack of power of expression, you cannot acquire it. Let us look into this "bogey man." Let us dissect him, take him apart, and analyze him. For instance, the first thing an investigator should consider in attacking a new problem i s w h a t has been done on the problem by others. A summary of this previous work constitutes the introduction and historical background of the report he will write upon completion of the work. He next plans his investigation or experimental work, step by step, but, in so doing, he considers carefully what variable factors may enter into the problem and to what extent his experimental procedure is "bullet-proof," so to speak. This constitutes the recital of his experimental procedure or method of attack in the subsequent report he will write. He has followed this procedure, logically, in the laboratory. The observations he makes constitute his interpretation or discussion of the results in his report. He reaches conclusions before he writes and surely he should be able to set them down in simple language in his summary or his conclusions. Thus, if he would only think things through, the "big, bad wolf" would fade away and his report would be written indelibly across his mind before he even sits down to write. Consequently, i t all seems so simple to me that
if an investigator approaches a new problem in the right manner, his plan of procedure or attack practically constitutes the skeleton or outline of the report he will subsequently write when the problem has been completed or solved. It is the same thing that the preacher does when he selects his text and prepares a sermon. It is the same thing that the lawyer does when he prepares his case before going into court. It is the same thing that the salesman does before he approaches his prospective customer. Plan your attack, then attack, and then you can do what Caesar did when he crossed the famous Rubicon. You, who are students of Latin, will recall that Caesar tersely reported to his superiors in Rome, "Veni, vidi, vici-I came, I saw, I conquered." The secret of success, I believe, is organizationorganization of attack and organization of expression. Logical processes of thinking and simplicity of style in expressing it to the world bring success nearer to you and arouse the interest of others in your achievements. Scientists must achieve the power of expression so that they may help the various people of the world to digest, to control, and to apportion with equality the benefits of this age of industrial miracles in order that they may use these mechanical tools, not for their own destruction, but to improve the art of living. It is only in this way that man can develop the necessary social intelligence to master the complexities of civilization and go forward. My experience tells me that the facility of expression is the most valuable attribute any person can possess. It is the very ultimate of education. It is the proof of an educated man. It is the requirement of a leader.
