﻿14 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  science 
  of 
  his 
  day 
  could 
  not 
  offer 
  any 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  

   origin 
  of 
  life, 
  the 
  apparent 
  purposiveness 
  of 
  Nature, 
  and 
  the 
  

   origin 
  of 
  language; 
  but 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  hold 
  that 
  these 
  enigmas 
  

   were 
  insoluble. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  essence 
  of 
  

   matter 
  and 
  energy, 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  motion, 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  sensa- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  the 
  freedom 
  of 
  the 
  will, 
  his 
  pronouncement 
  was 
  

   not 
  only 
  Ignoramus, 
  but 
  Ignorabimus. 
  Similarly 
  to-day, 
  

   without 
  ceasing 
  for 
  a 
  moment 
  to 
  admire 
  the 
  splendour 
  of 
  

   scientific 
  achievement, 
  and 
  the 
  promise 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  of 
  fur- 
  

   ther 
  conquests, 
  we 
  have 
  to 
  say 
  many 
  times 
  Ignoramus, 
  and 
  

   perhaps 
  it 
  is 
  no 
  bad 
  sign 
  of 
  the 
  wholesomeness 
  of 
  modern 
  

   science 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  acutely 
  aware 
  of 
  its 
  limitations 
  both 
  in- 
  

   trinsic 
  and 
  extrinsic. 
  

  

  (a) 
  To 
  begin 
  with, 
  there 
  is 
  less 
  forgetfulness 
  of 
  the 
  

   fact 
  that 
  we 
  know 
  Nature 
  only 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  mirrored 
  in 
  our 
  

   minds. 
  When 
  we 
  think 
  of 
  what 
  science 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  if 
  

   the 
  stars 
  had 
  been 
  always 
  hidden 
  in 
  cloud, 
  we 
  realise 
  that 
  

   much 
  has 
  depended 
  on 
  the 
  stimuli 
  of 
  the 
  outer 
  world 
  ; 
  but 
  

   the 
  discernment 
  of 
  the 
  cosmos 
  has 
  been 
  within 
  us, 
  growing 
  

   with 
  our 
  strength 
  and 
  hindered 
  by 
  our 
  limitations. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  

   familiar 
  experience, 
  for 
  instance, 
  that 
  our 
  immediate 
  per- 
  

   ceptual 
  power 
  increases 
  at 
  compound 
  interest, 
  the 
  eye 
  per- 
  

   ceiving 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  as 
  the 
  mind 
  is 
  educated. 
  Our 
  

   concepts 
  stimulate 
  our 
  perceptual 
  powers 
  to 
  a 
  higher 
  degree 
  

   of 
  intensity. 
  

  

  (b) 
  A 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  even 
  the 
  near 
  at 
  hand 
  world 
  is 
  

   invisible, 
  like 
  the 
  air. 
  Much 
  may 
  escape 
  all 
  our 
  senses, 
  

   as 
  the 
  ultra-violet 
  rays, 
  which 
  the 
  ants 
  feel, 
  escape 
  our 
  

   eyes. 
  It 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  living 
  creatures, 
  the 
  Chlamy- 
  

   dozoa, 
  which 
  lie 
  just 
  on 
  the 
  border-line 
  of 
  microscopic 
  

   visibility; 
  and 
  beyond 
  these 
  minima 
  scnsibilia 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  

   organisms 
  still 
  smaller. 
  An 
  alien 
  observer 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  in 
  

  

  