When
we began the investigation into the dust-free spaces found above warm
bodies, we were not only without expectation, but without hope or idea
of any sort, that anything was likely to come of it; the phenomenon
itself possessed its own interest and charm.
And so it must ever be. The devotee of pure science never has
practical developments as his primary aim; often he not only does not
know, but does not in the least care whether his researches will ever
lead to any beneficial result. In some minds this passive ignoring of
the practical goes so far as to become active repulsion; so that some
singularly biased minds will not engage in anything which seems likely
to lead to practical use. I regard this as an error, and as the sign
of a warped judgment, for after all man is to us the most important
part of nature; but the system works well nevertheless, and the
division of labor accomplishes its object. One man investigates nature
impelled simply by his own genius, and because he feels he cannot help
it; it never occurs to him to give a reason for or to justify his
pursuits.
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