Summary Of The Great Influenza By John Barry

During a passage from the Great Influenza, author John M. Barry discusses the qualifications a scientific researcher must yield in order to be efficient to the field and perform intelligent guesswork. Appealing to inspiring scientists, Barry insists that they have to “manipulate and even force experiments to yield and answer.” Without the ability to work with uncertainty, no work done will be enough to illuminate the subject. Through juxtaposition uncertainty and certainty in this professional field, Barry showcases the classifications of scientists with analogies and metaphors in a catalogue form.
Barry begins by promptly identifying the counter argument; how uncertainty is a weakness for a scientist. He dismisses this belief as short sighted and naïve, because certainty is actually a virtue. He proceeds to attack the argument when he specifically says “curiosity, passion, creativity, self-sufficiency, and courage” is needed for a
He offers an example of chain of events in which “[if the researcher succeeds] a flood of colleagues will pave roads over the path laid” and that they will be “taking an investigator [in minutes] to a place the pioneer spent months or years looking for.” This paved road that Barry emphasizes is showcased swiftly. All that scientific discovery happens to be is a cycle that others should be expected to follow, because if they don’t then who is to keep the wheel of new possibilities spinning? People base and build their work off of what has already been accomplished, which in turn leads to more complex thinking skills. With this never-ending cycle, it is indicated that this cycle is a faster route to reaching am educational destination because that basic paved road was already set. From those new ideas do more advanced research stems from; a new road has been paved once again. Barry models the very questions one must ask when on the road to scientific