Sinith Markalande 04/30/09 Barry's Methods
Scientist must have a passion and great amount of intelligence to put into their research in order to find what they hope to find. John M. Barry, the author of The Great Influenza, believes that scientist must have certainty in their research and in what they do to bring out the best results in their work. He believes that if one is uncertain in their own work, it can lead to weakness. Scientist must be certain in there own ideas because the entire aspect of their new research relies on how they see it and if they believe in it to begin with. The moment anyone begins to question their work they tend to become fearful as Barry said which could cause them to question the entire purpose of their studies. Scientist must also heavily rely on their own instinct as to whether or not what they are doing would actually work or not.
Claude Bernard believed that “Science teaches us to doubt.” This could very well be true when considering that almost everything in scientific research relies on the scientist to be able to believe in what they are doing or face it not working at all as well. If you do not believe that a certain thing will not work for sure then it causes you to doubt that it would be possible. Coming to some conclusions can cause a person to completely rethink what they are doing at the moment or even what they believe in general about something. If a scientist found something to be true that completely clashed with what he believed in, it could change their opinion. In conducting research, the scientist must also know exactly what they are doing and where they are going from there. If they do not have a set guideline for what they are doing, they may go of on various tangents and never be able to arrive at a conclusion. After a scientist is positive about what they are looking for and if it is plausible or not, they must find a way to make sure that what they believe is true or not. They must work with what they are given and find ways to work around what they do not receive. If they do not have what is necessary to complete their research, they must create something that will aid them in moving forward with their work. Overall it is very important that the scientist has a idea of where he or she is headed and whether what they are trying to accomplish is possible. Sure a scientist has to be smart in order to be able to come up with the things that they are creating but they must manly be smart about how they draw conclusions about it also.
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