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Document Type

General Interest Article

Abstract

Recently I was told by a psychologist - and he ought to know - that the primary factor governing the choice of a vocation by scientists, engineers, technicians, and even teachers of science, is their preference for working with and studying about things rather than people. It was his contention that men of science, with few exceptions, prefer the relative quiet of the laboratory and the science classroom to the give-and-take of the social and political arena; that they prefer the relatively non-controversial subject matter of the natural sciences to matters of social concern in which opinions, rather than demonstrated facts and laws, are the order of the day; that they are preoccupied with the precise formulation of unimportant knowledge but not with their social responsibilities as intelligent citizens in a democracy.

Publication Date

1949

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

56

Issue

1

First Page

79

Last Page

62

Copyright

©1949 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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