Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis for further research. But specialization was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity.

No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Neverthelss, the word “amateur” does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialization in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom.

A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper. Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture. Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies in the old way. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in the twentieth century. As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership. A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific societies, where the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way.

Although the process of professionalisation and specialization was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were thus delayed until the twentieth century. In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science.

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專業(yè)化可被看作針對(duì)科學(xué)知識(shí)不斷膨脹這個(gè)問(wèn)題所做出的反應(yīng)。通過(guò)將學(xué)科細(xì)分為各個(gè)小的單元，個(gè)人能夠繼續(xù)處理這些信息并將它們作為進(jìn)一步研究的基礎(chǔ)。但是專業(yè)化僅僅是一系列相關(guān)科學(xué)進(jìn)步中影響交流過(guò)程的的一個(gè)。另一現(xiàn)象是科學(xué)活動(dòng)的日益職業(yè)化。

在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)，職業(yè)人士與業(yè)余人士之間沒(méi)有明確的區(qū)分：任何規(guī)律都有其例外。但是“業(yè)余”這個(gè)詞的確具有一種含義，即相關(guān)的那個(gè)人沒(méi)有完全融入某個(gè)科學(xué)家群體，尤其是他可能并不完全認(rèn)同他們的價(jià)值觀。19世紀(jì)的專業(yè)化的發(fā)展，導(dǎo)致了對(duì)更長(zhǎng)更復(fù)雜的訓(xùn)練的要求，意味著業(yè)余人員進(jìn)入科學(xué)界會(huì)遇到更大的困難。特別是在以數(shù)學(xué)和實(shí)驗(yàn)室訓(xùn)練為基礎(chǔ)的科學(xué)領(lǐng)域，這種傾向自然尤為明顯，這可以通過(guò)英國(guó)的地質(zhì)學(xué)發(fā)展過(guò)程得到證實(shí)。

對(duì)過(guò)去一個(gè)半世紀(jì)的英國(guó)地質(zhì)出版物所進(jìn)行的比較表明不但人們對(duì)研究首要性的重視程度在不斷增加，而且對(duì)什么是可以接受的論文的定義也在不斷變化。因此，在19世紀(jì)，局部的地質(zhì)研究本身就代表了一種有價(jià)值的研究；而到了20世紀(jì)，如果局部的研究能夠被職業(yè)人員接受，那么它就必須結(jié)合和思考一個(gè)更加廣闊的地質(zhì)面貌。另一方面，業(yè)余人員繼續(xù)以傳統(tǒng)方式從事局部的研究。結(jié)果，業(yè)余人員在職業(yè)化地質(zhì)學(xué)雜志發(fā)表文章更加困難。審稿制度首先在19世紀(jì)的全國(guó)性雜志中實(shí)行，后來(lái)在20世紀(jì)一些地方性地質(zhì)雜志中也開(kāi)始實(shí)行，這使這個(gè)結(jié)果得到進(jìn)一步加強(qiáng)。這樣發(fā)展的必然結(jié)果是出現(xiàn)了針對(duì)專業(yè)讀者和業(yè)余讀者的不同雜志。類(lèi)似的分化過(guò)程也導(dǎo)致職業(yè)地質(zhì)學(xué)家聚集起來(lái)，形成一兩個(gè)全國(guó)性的團(tuán)體，而業(yè)余地質(zhì)學(xué)家則要么留在地方性團(tuán)體中，要么以不同方式組成全國(guó)性的團(tuán)體。

雖然職業(yè)化和專業(yè)化過(guò)程在19世紀(jì)的英國(guó)地質(zhì)學(xué)界中已經(jīng)得到迅速發(fā)展，但是它的效果一直拖到20世紀(jì)才充分顯示出來(lái)。然而，從整個(gè)科學(xué)來(lái)看，19世紀(jì)必須被視為科學(xué)結(jié)構(gòu)發(fā)生該變化的關(guān)鍵階段。