Trade secret

Mart kept the talk away from the hearing, and from the general subject of his discoveries. It kept spilling over into their conversation, but he had no intention of letting it be aired at the dinner table. All they had to say now was for the Committee. Only Jennings broke through with one piece of information pertinent to Mart’s work. He reported that Goodman had acquired one of the tavern-size Volcanoes and was working out a system to beat the game.

Testimony was resumed on Tuesday morning. Dykstra was the first to be called. He arose with a clearing of his throat and moved portentously to the front of the room with the faint side-wise waddle that marked his movements.

He said: “From that great moment, now lost in the dim shades of history, when the first cave man struck fire from flint to warm and illumine his cavern, there has been a code which the true scientist unwaveringly observes. Unspoken and unwritten, it is nevertheless engraved upon his heart in letters that burn. That code is that knowledge shall be free. It shall be the rightful possession of all mankind. The true scientist would no more think of taking out a patent upon his work than he would think of deliberately falsifying the reports of his observations. Nowhere, in the presence of scientific men, have I heard anything quite so insulting as the reference made yesterday to the revered name of Dr. Einstein. As if he would actually be concerned with the trivialities of royalties from the manufacture of photoelectric ceils! Royalties are for tinkerers and garage mechanics. Scientists have nothing to do with such!”

Cogswell coughed behind his hand. “It would seem, Dr. Dykstra, that scientists must also eat.”

“The laborer is worthy of his hire,” said Dykstra, “No genuine scientist ever starved or was in want. He must live sparingly, of course, but a Spartan regimen is all the more conducive to the work of the mind at highest efficiency.

“No, indeed, senator, the true scientist is not in need of royalties. A man who is worth his salt will automatically gain the reputation that will take him where he deserves to go — to the laboratories and to the endowments which are his rightfully, in return for the benefit he bestows so freely upon all mankind. Bestows without thought of the vulgar commercialism which we see here being attempted to be thrust upon us.”

In the afternoon, Jennings was called. His spare, sticklike frame settled awkwardly into the witness chair. An amused tolerance was upon his face.

“I would prefer to answer your questions,” he said. “There is no general statement I have to make beyond what has already been said.”

Cogswell said, “What can you tell us, Dr. Jennings, of the allegedly revolutionary principles behind these toys of Dr. Nagle?”

“I can tell you nothing, because I do not know what these principles are,” said Jennings.

“You do not know for certain that Dr. Nagle has actually made the discoveries claimed for him and by him?”

“I am certain. I am very certain that they exist. I am certain that this Volcano which you have there on the table is symbolical of perhaps the most revolutionary discoveries since those that led to the release of atomic energy. Proper utilization of the principles symbolized there would no doubt lead to transmutation of the elements with the simplicity of ordinary chemical reactions. It is difficult to estimate the value of the discovery.”

“And yet you tell us you do not know what the principle is,” said Cogswell. “It appears that the scientific mind runs in channels far removed from the reasoning of ordinary individuals.”

“No, that's a very ordinary channel of thinking — or should be, anyway,” said Jennings. “It simply means that I know the abilities of Martin Nagle. I know him. I trust him. If he says it is so, then I believe that his symbology is based upon actual fact.”

“Well, if you are so convinced of the existence of these discoveries, what is your opinion of Dr. Nagle’s contention that he is entitled to patent protection upon them?”

“I think he is entirely correct in his demands,” said Jennings.

“And these unknown principles would be classified, patent-wise, as Laws of Nature?”

“Yes.”

“If this is the case, why have they not been exposed by others of your profession? Is this symbology not sufficiently understandable to be deciphered? Do you acknowledge that, as Dr. Nagle says, no one else is smart enough to figure these things out for another hundred years? Or do you have another unwritten code — one forbidding you to try?”

Jennings smiled wryly. “Dr. Nagle didn’t say that, but we’ll let it pass. We have no code, either. On the contrary, there is scarcely a scientist in the country who has not tried to crack these three gimmicks of Mart’s since he put them on the market. I know of only one man who has made any partial success of the attempt.”

“Can you give any reason for this lack of success? Is Dr. Nagle truly the singular genius he appears?”