If, according to Mr. Greene, the real work of
science consists in experimenting, and conclusions unsupported by our
own experiments have no value, it does not appear for what purpose he
has published his answer to my paper; an experiment of his, settling
Marignac's uncertain results, would have justified the reliance he
places on them. The ground he takes is utterly untenable. Experiments
are necessary to establish facts; without them there could be no
science, and the highest credit is due to those who perform successfully
difficult or costly experiments. Experimenting is, however, not the
aim and object of science, but the means to arrive at the truth; and
discoveries derived from accumulated and generally accepted facts are
not the less valuable on account of not having been derived from new and
special experiment.
It is, further, far from true that the real work of science consists
in experimenting; mental work is not less required, and the greatest
results have not been obtained by experimenters, but by the mental labor
of those who have, from the study of established facts, arrived at
conclusions which the experimenters had failed to draw. This is
naturally so, because a great generalization must explain all the facts
involved, and can be derived only from their study; but the attention
of the experimenter is necessarily absorbed by the special work he
undertakes.
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