﻿22 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  turn 
  " 
  ; 
  for 
  why, 
  the 
  resultant 
  is 
  just 
  another 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  

   components. 
  In 
  the 
  great 
  majority 
  of 
  cases, 
  however, 
  where 
  

   there 
  is 
  a 
  qualitative 
  change, 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  a 
  given 
  colloca- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  matter 
  and 
  energy 
  gives 
  rise 
  to 
  another, 
  and 
  does 
  

   so 
  uniformly, 
  but 
  we 
  cannot 
  tell 
  why 
  the 
  resultant 
  must 
  be 
  

   as 
  it 
  is 
  and 
  not 
  otherwise. 
  In 
  the 
  great 
  majority 
  of 
  cases 
  all 
  

   that 
  science 
  can 
  say 
  is, 
  " 
  If 
  this, 
  then 
  that 
  " 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  

   very 
  useful 
  thing 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  say. 
  

  

  Every 
  one 
  knows 
  that 
  oxygen 
  and 
  hydrogen 
  will 
  unite 
  vio- 
  

   lently 
  to 
  form 
  water, 
  but 
  all 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  say 
  is 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  their 
  

   nature 
  to. 
  Perhaps 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  explained 
  as 
  due 
  to 
  " 
  the 
  in- 
  

   terplay 
  between 
  electricity 
  and 
  matter 
  ", 
  and 
  then 
  we 
  shall 
  

   shift 
  the 
  pegs 
  of 
  our 
  claim 
  in 
  the 
  desert 
  of 
  ignorance. 
  

  

  We 
  rub 
  our 
  eyes 
  and 
  say: 
  " 
  But 
  surely 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  very 
  

   business 
  of 
  Science 
  to 
  show 
  how 
  things 
  happen, 
  to 
  explain 
  

   occurrences." 
  So 
  in 
  a 
  sense 
  it 
  is, 
  but 
  as 
  Professor 
  Stout 
  

   puts 
  it, 
  " 
  What 
  is 
  really 
  done 
  is 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  a 
  given 
  result, 
  

   often 
  called 
  an 
  effect, 
  is 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  continuous 
  process 
  which 
  

   includes 
  a 
  known 
  antecedent, 
  often 
  called 
  the 
  cause." 
  In- 
  

   deed, 
  " 
  the 
  current 
  scientific 
  conception 
  of 
  a 
  cause 
  ' 
  is 
  the 
  

   ' 
  totality 
  of 
  the 
  conditions 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  which 
  an 
  event 
  

   occurs 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  any 
  member 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  

   occur" 
  (Taylor, 
  1909, 
  p. 
  170). 
  

  

  (/) 
  Finally 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  sense 
  in 
  which 
  science, 
  if 
  not 
  

   asymptotic, 
  is 
  bound 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  to 
  remain 
  approximate. 
  

   The 
  Universe 
  is 
  still 
  unfathomed. 
  

  

  (1) 
  A 
  scientific 
  law 
  formulates 
  an 
  observed 
  routine 
  in 
  

   the 
  order 
  of 
  nature, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  a 
  provisional 
  

   i 
  fit 
  '. 
  Residual 
  phenomena 
  emerge 
  which 
  lead 
  to 
  restate- 
  

   ment. 
  So 
  Kepler 
  improves 
  on 
  Copernicus, 
  and 
  Newton 
  on 
  

   Kepler. 
  

  

  (2) 
  Even 
  when 
  the 
  ' 
  fit 
  ' 
  of 
  the 
  formulation 
  is 
  more 
  

  

  