﻿8 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  that 
  the 
  contributions 
  which 
  each 
  science 
  makes 
  are 
  always 
  

   partial 
  views, 
  reached 
  by 
  processes 
  of 
  abstraction, 
  by 
  fo- 
  

   cussing 
  attention 
  on 
  certain 
  aspects 
  of 
  things. 
  Pooling 
  the 
  

   results 
  of 
  the 
  several 
  sciences 
  does 
  not 
  of 
  itself 
  result 
  even 
  

   in 
  a 
  scientific 
  system, 
  for 
  that 
  requires 
  correlation. 
  Still 
  

   less 
  does 
  it 
  result 
  in 
  a 
  philosophic 
  system. 
  This 
  will 
  be 
  

   clearer 
  if 
  the 
  aims 
  of 
  science 
  are 
  discriminated. 
  

  

  3. 
  Aims 
  of 
  Science. 
  

  

  Science 
  expresses 
  a 
  quite 
  specific 
  endeavour 
  to 
  get 
  phenom- 
  

   ena 
  under 
  intellectual 
  control, 
  so 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  think 
  of 
  them 
  

   economically 
  and 
  clearly 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  our 
  

   science, 
  and 
  so 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  use 
  them 
  as 
  a 
  basis 
  for 
  secure 
  

   prediction 
  and 
  effective 
  action. 
  Knowledge 
  is 
  foresight, 
  

   and 
  foresight 
  is 
  power. 
  The 
  direct 
  motives 
  of 
  science 
  are, 
  

   in 
  the 
  main, 
  intellectual 
  curiosity, 
  a 
  self-preservative 
  dis- 
  

   like 
  of 
  obscurities, 
  a 
  desire 
  for 
  unity 
  and 
  continuity 
  in 
  

   outlook. 
  Often, 
  in 
  particular 
  cases, 
  the 
  immediate 
  motive 
  

   may 
  have 
  been 
  utilitarian 
  a 
  desire 
  for 
  mastery; 
  but 
  the 
  

   great 
  majority 
  of 
  important 
  practical 
  discoveries 
  have 
  be- 
  

   hind 
  them 
  a 
  long 
  labour 
  of 
  theoretical 
  research 
  pursued 
  

   for 
  its 
  own 
  sake. 
  

  

  That 
  the 
  chief 
  end 
  of 
  science 
  is 
  descriptive 
  formulation 
  

   has 
  probably 
  been 
  clear 
  to 
  keen 
  analytic 
  minds 
  since 
  the 
  

   time 
  of 
  Galileo, 
  especially 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  discoverers 
  in 
  astron- 
  

   omy, 
  mechanics, 
  and 
  dynamics. 
  But 
  as 
  a 
  definitely 
  stated 
  

   conception, 
  corrective 
  of 
  misunderstandings, 
  the 
  view 
  of 
  

   science 
  as 
  essentially 
  descriptive 
  began 
  to 
  make 
  itself 
  felt 
  

   about 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  quarter 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  

   century, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  Kirch- 
  

   hoff 
  and 
  Mach. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  1876 
  that 
  KirchhofF 
  defined 
  the 
  

   task 
  of 
  mechanics 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  " 
  describing 
  completely 
  and 
  in 
  

  

  