Sarah Katz

April 30, 2009

Period 1

Question 2

“Scientific Research”

            To be a scientist requires…the courage to accept-indeed, embrace-uncertainty” (Lines 6-10). The United States of America and the rest of the world would still be living in the stone ages if it were not for scientists and scientific research.  John M. Barry creates a strong opinion on what the characteristics of scientific research are and the way scientists must think in order to be successful at their profession.  Barry uses many rhetorical devices such as rhetorical questions and metaphors in order to express his opinion of scientific research.

            Barry believes that science is the new frontier in the world and that scientists must be open to many different people’s opinions and open to failure in order to succeed in their profession.  Scientists create everything in the world and while thinking of what to build in order to make society function properly, they also must think of how to make the tools to build that certain something for the world.  Barry uses many rhetorical questions in order to get his audience to start thinking the way a scientist would, “A shovel can dig up dirt but cannot penetrate rock.  Would a pick be best…or dynamite…would dynamite be too indiscriminately destructive?” (Lines 39-42).  To think like a scientist takes patience, passion, creativity, self-sufficiency, and courage. A scientist must be ready for his research to fail or be rejected and must take well to critical and constructive criticism.  In scientific research, many different methods to solve a problem must be taken into consideration, “…is there another way of getting information about what the rock holds? Would analyzing the water after it passes over the rock reveal anything useful?  How would one analyze it?” (Lines 44-48).  A scientist must see the whole puzzle and not just the tiny pieces that may or may not fit.  Scientific research is a art form of sorts and Barry’s rhetorical devices help get his audience to start thinking scientifically and logically about his opinion on scientific research.

            Another rhetorical device which Barry uses in his passage to characterize scientific research is the use of metaphors.  Barry uses multiple metaphors to draw on his audience’s imagination and understanding of science.  Scientific research is based on a series of steps and methods.  Many of these steps can, “…take [scientists] through the looking glass into a world that seems entirely different…or…a single step can also take one off a cliff” (Lines 30-35).  This means that depending on which method or idea a scientist chooses, there is always a chance for failure. One of the main characteristics of scientific research is that scientists must be open to failure according to Barry and many other writers and philosophers. Barry explains that, “Ultimately, if the researcher succeeds, a flood of colleagues will pave roads over the path laid, and those roads will be orderly and straight…” (Lines 49-51).  If a scientist’s work is correct, accurate, and globally accepted, scientists will use this accepted theory or hypothesis for many experiments and studies to come.  Barry’s use of metaphors as a rhetorical device is extremely effective in getting his point about scientific research across.

            Rhetorical questions and metaphors are two valuable rhetorical strategies which Barry uses to characterize scientific research.  Without the acceptance of failure, good scientists and scientific research would not exist.  After all, “A scientist must accept the fact that all his or her work, even beliefs, may break apart upon the sharp edge of a single laboratory finding” (Lines 14-16).