Vernadsky's language was never sociology-speak, that's for sure!

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Note added at 17 mins (2008-04-24 13:28:26 GMT) Post-grading
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Usually I don't try to translate Vernadsky before breakfast, but this time...

"Scientific thought does not exist in and of itself, but is created by living human individuals, and is their manifestation. What actually exists in the world is only the individuals, who create and express scientific thought, thus manifesting scientific creativity, or scientific energy."

So, I think it works out better that way, as "what actually exists is..."

The reason for saying "scientific thought" rather than "a scientific thought" is that the author is Vernadsky, and he used "научная мысль" in that general way, as opposed to discrete, single "thoughts". As for "manifest / manifestation", проявление / проявляться were Vernadsky's favorite words, and I've found, after some experimentation, that it's worth it to translate them this way, rather than look for some shorthand. As for "высказывается" - in a longer text, I might opt for "give utterance to", to distinguish it from "выражает", but in a short quotation, "express" is probably OK. Individuals / personalities / persons / beings for "личности" could be discussed (but maybe not before breakfast).