Abstract
A CORRESPONDENT has sent us the following translation of a note under the title “Bequest of Pavlov to the Academic Youth of his Country”, written a few days before his death by Prof. I. P. Pavlov for a student magazine entitled The Generation of the Victors: “What shall I wish for the young students of my country? First of all sequence, consequence and again consequence. In gaming knowledge you must accustom yourself to the strictest sequence. You must be familiar with the very groundwork of science before you try to climb the heights. Never start on the ‘next’ before you have mastered the ‘previous’. Do not try to conceal the shortcomings of your knowledge by guesses and hypotheses. Accustom yourself to the roughest and simplest scientific tools. Perfect as the wing of a bird may be, it will never enable the bird to fly if unsupported by the air. Facts are the air of science. Without them the man of science can never rise. Without them your theories are vain surmises. But while you are studying, observing, experimenting, do not remain content with the surface of things. Do not become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate to the mystery of their origin. Seek obstinately for the laws that govern them. And then—modesty. Never think you know all. Though others may flatter you, retain the courage to say, ‘I am ignorant’. Never be proud. And lastly, science must be your passion. Remember that science claims a man's whole life. Had he two lives they would not suffice. Science demands an undivided allegiance from its followers. In your work and in your research there must always be passion.”
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Pavlov and the Spirit of Science. Nature 137, 572 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137572a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137572a0