SCIENCE AND THE DICTIONARY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20086, 15 November 1930, Page 9

SCIENCE AND THE DICTIONARY.

THE CHARGE OF "OBSCURITY." (By ! Sir Richard Gregory, D.Sc., LI/D., in the Sunday "Observer.' ) A leading article on "Terminological Exactitude" in the "Observer*' has directed attention to the highly technical terms and phrases which constitute , the currency cf most scientific societies in these days of minute specialisation. The subject comes unuer tuscussion ironi time to tune nuvugu tue puoucatioii 01 yosssip noi-es oh a ponuerous extract iroul a paper communicated to a t>oiennnc or ttjciiiiicui uuuy, or t>u tne setiiiuipeuuiiaii name oi <i cHwtu icui uompounu. as iub puunu does not understand tins iujiguago, me use ot it is neid up to ridivuic, thus airorama a perfect example oi ,wUut psycuoiogiSLS cull an inferiority complex, 'l'he typical John Hull ana Jack Xar of a century ago, who liati contempt for every foreigner who could jiot speak English, represented much the same frame of mind. When an t Xpert is addressing liis fellow-workers, he needs no excuse for using the technical words and phrases which belong to their common voeabulury. This much must be conceded to science tis it is to medicine, or law, or music, or any other professional activity. An intricate case in the Admiralty Court could provide quite as alarming examples of involved or unintelligible phraseology as those derided in scientific papers; but while the public accepts the legal diction as inevitable, it seems to expect the most complicated conceptions of modern science to be expressed in words of one syllable All that can justly be asked of the expositor of any subject in that he shoulu adapt himself to his audience: and it is only when he fails in this function that he should be condemned. Research and Exposition. In science to-day, specialisation is essential to progress, but the price •vhich has to be paid for it is loss of contact with the general body of knowledge. The result is that at meetings of the Royal Society, or other scientific societies, not half a dozen members present can comprehend clearly the significance of the experiments or observations described by the authors of papers presented. As successful reesarch is now necessarily limited for the most part to complex ideas and intricate details requiring technical knowledge to understand them, very special aptitude is needed to present it in a way which will awaken the interest of people familiar only with the vocabulary of everyday life. _ln the scientific world, the way to distinction is discovery, and not exposition, and rarely are the two faculties combined. Most investigators nre so closely absorbed in their researches that they are indifferent whether people in general know anythmsr of the results or not. An author of a scientific paper may deliberately limit himself to a style of exposition comprehended only by a specialised group of investigators. Ho may not have the desire to interest a wider andience or even the capacity to do so successfully. Genius for discovery is not often associated with ease of either literary or vocal expression; and to some people it is much easier to conceive a crucial experiment in science, and to carry it out, than it is to explain its meaning. It must be acknowledged, of course, that such inarticulate investigators are not so helpful to their fellow-workers as they might be if they cultivated a better command of English, but in scientific circles greater weight is attached to creative ideas and significant methods and results of inquiry than to the actual description of them. ' The General Audipnce. After all, it is as unreasonable to expect to find brilliant examples of literary style in the publications of scientifio and technical societies as it would be to search for them in specifications at the Patent Office. We know, of course, that some scientific papers are so badly composed that even specialists nn the seme field have a difficulty iis understanding them, while to other workers they are altogether incomprehensible. ' On the other hand, many papers are' concise and precise statements of ascertained facts and deduced principles, and more ought not to be

•expected from authors writing for scientific readers. The position is different when an expert in a particular field of scientific inquiry is addressing scientific • workers in general. If. ho then continues to use the language which belongs to his own specialised set he fails to deliver the message entrusted to him, and does a dis-serviee to science. In any event, he. fails to make good use of the opportunity of interesting other active workers who might bring "new points of vjew into his field. It is here that the chief weakness of scientific exposition is to be found. Most experts seem to think it derogatory to leave the high altitudes in which they live and speak a message in the dialect of the middle heights. Some people, indeed, - prefer a specialist to expound his own theme' in his own way, however obtuse the style may be. Their attitude is like that of the dear lady who, after listening to an address bv the president of a section of the British Association, was asked what she thought about it. Her reply was: "I didn't understand a word of it, but I liked the sound of it, and I think it did me good." The British Association. ! There will be several addresses of j this kind at the meeting of the British 1 Association in Bristol soon, and the programmes of the thirteen sections I bristle with titles of papers which convey no meaning to many of the members, and are made topics of ridicule in the public Press. As in the main the Association is an assembly of men apd women engaged in scientific work, it may be suggested that they themselves are the only people who have any right to complain of undue specialisation. "Membership of the Association is, however, open to the general public, without any scientific qualification, and for this reason the rablic expects a fair part of the programme to appeal to people who want to know the points of contact of science with progressive life and The Association 4 ' seeks to promote general Interest in science and its applications''; and the. attention given in the public Press to- its proceedings does, no doubt, assist this aim. If more of the members would go to the trouble of describing the main points of their papers in words which are intelligible to cultured readers generally—not. to mention'the "man in tho street"—the Parliament of science would, no doubt, be given even fuller publicity than it now receives.