In John Barry's The Great Influence, Barry characterizes the tedious and uncertain work of scientific investigators and compares their work to the minimal rewards that are reaped for conveying the enormous amount of courage required to become a scientific investigator. Barry analyzes the qualities and virtues of scientists to paint a picture of the uncertainty of science. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of Barry's main points in his passage is the metaphor in which he compares scientific research to literally exploring the unknown. He writes: “Would analyzing the water after it passes over the rock reveal anything useful? How could you analyze it?” Barry conveys the difficulties of exploring the unknown by emphasizing that it is difficult to make good decisions when everything is suspended in a state of uncertainty. Analyzing anything is questioned: should scientists analyze the substance? How do they analyze the substance? What should they do after finishing the analysis? Conveying the difficulty of the situation researchers often find themselves in, Barry successfully characterizes the tedious and uncertain work of scientific investigators. Barry also writes about the virtues and qualities needed to become a skilled scientific researcher. He writes that in addition to intelligence and curiosity, “passion, patience, creativity, self-sufficiency and courage” are needed. Not only are these virtues necessary to be productive in the scientific field, Barry writes that these virtues are very difficult to develop and obtain; they are not everyday virtues. Barry particularly emphasizes the virtue of courage. He writes that uncertainty causes fear and that true courage is accepting uncertainty. In a field where everything is uncertain, scientific researchers must “move forcefully and aggressively,” even if the situation is uncertain. To do this, researchers must possess “a confidence and strength deeper than physical courage.” By articulating the great amount of virtues and qualities needed to become a skilled scientific researcher, Barry conveys the fact that not only is scientific work boring and uncertain, but it requires a great deal of courage on the part of the researchers themselves. Finally, Barry describes the difficulties researchers face after all the tedious and uncertain work. He writes that, eventually, even after a success, “a flood of colleagues will open up paths on the plotted path, and those paths will be orderly and straight, bringing an investigator in minutes to a place that the pioneer has searched for months or years. ..the perfect tool will be available for purchase.” Barry conveys that after all the hard work put in by the researchers, there are only minimal rewards to be reaped, and the product of their hard work will be sold off to the masses and treated as nothing more than "lab rats". In this way Barry characterizes not only the tedious and uncertain work of scientific investigators, but also the fact that investigators must possess a great deal of courage, not only during the research, but also for the years that follow. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Barry characterizes the tedious and uncertain work of scientific investigators and compares their work to the minimal rewards that are reaped to convey the immense amount of courage required to become a scientific investigator. Barry analyzes the qualities and virtues of scientists to paint a picture of the uncertainty of science.