TO INVESTIGATE THE dissemination of the iron rule, you might take a scientific approach, carefully monitoring the classroom activities and office hours of science teachers in the schools and universities, tagging along on their hole-digging field trips, and eavesdropping on the advice that senior scientists impart to their underlings over the bustle of the lab bench. I propose, by contrast, a more philosophical approach. Ask yourself: if you had to get the iron rule into the heads and hearts of the next scientific generation, how might you proceed?
