"Frogs and Scientists" is a short short story by science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 author Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...

. It appeared in the August-September 1979 edition of the anthology

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

 Destinies: The Paperback Magazine of Science Fiction and Speculative Fact edited by Jim Baen

Jim Baen

James Patrick "Jim" Baen was a noted U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983 he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction and space opera genres...

 and later in Herbert’s 1985 short story collection Eye

Eye (Frank Herbert)

Eye is a collection of thirteen short stories written by science fiction author Frank Herbert. All of the works had been previously published in magazine or book form, except for "The Road to Dune."-Introduction:...

.

Plot

Two frogs are counting minnow

Minnow

Minnow is a general term used to refer to small freshwater and saltwater fish, especially those used as bait fish or for fishing bait. More specifically, it refers to small freshwater fish of the carp family.-True minnows:...

s in a hydroponics

Hydroponics

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, or coconut husk.Researchers discovered in the 18th...

 pond when a human female comes to take a bath. The two frogs begin discussing the woman, and the frog Lapat tries to explain what is going on to the other frog, Lavu. Lapat tells Lavu about the use of clothing, his theory about the purpose of breasts, and the belief that the woman is there trying to attract a mate. When Lavu asks Lapat why he knows so much about humans, Lapat says "I pattern my life after the most admirable of all humans, the scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

." After Lapat explains what a scientist is, the frogs go back to counting minnows.

Interior artwork

When this short story was originally published in Destinies it was accompanied by two drawings by Alicia Austin

Alicia Austin

Alicia Austin is a US fantasy and science fiction artist and illustrator. She works in print-making, Prismacolor, pastels and watercolors. B...

. The drawings were not reprinted in Eye.