Study Strikes at Theory of Science Majors as 'Narrow'

The concept of the "narrow scientist" was exploded yesterday by statistics released through the Committee on Educational Policy. The figures showed that students in the Humanities and Social Sciences are much more prone than those in the Natural Sciences to take most of their courses within their own Department and area.

The study, based upon the Class of 1954, was prepared for the Committee by Carl Kaysen, associate professor of Economics, in the spring of 1955, but was made public only yesterday.

Students in the fields of English, Classics, and Romance Languages were found most likely to pick courses within their own fields. English students in the top half of their class were found to take 50 per cent of their courses in English, while the percentages for Classics and Romance Languages were 49 and 46, respectively.

When it came to courses within their own areas, Classics students took 77 per cent, Upper-half English students 72, and Romance Languages 71.

Similarly, students in the science fields were not found to take more than 37 per cent of their courses in their own field, and only Chemistry students took more than 60 per cent in the area of Natural Sciences.

Commenting upon the report last night, Kaysen observed that it included required freshman English as a Humanities course. He also said that he was "surprised" to have found that the science students took a broader sampling of courses than did Humanities or Social Sciences men.

Professor F.M. Carpenter, Chairman of the Biology Department and a member of the CEP, said that the findings had come as no surprise to him, for previous studies had pointed in that direction and suggested that scientists took a broader distribution of courses.