Good Scientists Study the Problems They Think They Can Solve

No scientist is admired for failing in the attempt to solve problems that lie beyond his competence. The most he can hope for is the kindly contempt earned by the Utopian politician. If politics is the art of the possible, research is surely the art of the soluble. Both are inmiensely practicalminded affairs. Good scientists study the most important problems they think they can solve. It is, after all, their professional business to solve problems, not merely to grapple with them.