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  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  and 
  profundity, 
  except 
  that 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  

   Copernican 
  Astronomy." 
  

  

  (5) 
  Finally, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  useful 
  to 
  remember 
  that, 
  accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  current 
  and 
  probably 
  well-warranted 
  scientific 
  belief, 
  

   there 
  was 
  once 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  what 
  happened 
  upon 
  the 
  earth 
  

   might 
  have 
  been 
  formulated 
  in 
  its 
  immediacy 
  with 
  apparent 
  

   exhaustiveness 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  dynamics 
  of 
  particles. 
  But 
  

   that 
  cannot 
  be 
  said 
  now. 
  New 
  aspects 
  of 
  reality 
  have 
  in 
  

   the 
  course 
  of 
  ages 
  ' 
  weljed 
  up 
  ' 
  and 
  required 
  new 
  sciences. 
  

   We 
  know, 
  too, 
  as 
  we 
  say, 
  the 
  ends 
  of 
  processes 
  which 
  in 
  

   azoic 
  days 
  had 
  only 
  begun. 
  And 
  yet 
  we 
  are 
  not 
  sure 
  that 
  

   we 
  know 
  any 
  ends 
  (in 
  the 
  sense 
  of 
  goals), 
  for 
  the 
  process 
  

   continues. 
  Science 
  seems 
  bound 
  to 
  be 
  not 
  only 
  approxi- 
  

   mate 
  but 
  asymptotic, 
  for 
  its 
  subject-matter 
  continues 
  to 
  

   evolve. 
  

  

  One 
  may 
  have 
  a 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  wholesome 
  dislike 
  of 
  per- 
  

   petual-motion 
  mongers 
  and 
  their 
  successors, 
  but 
  one 
  resents 
  

   scientific 
  absolutism 
  which 
  will 
  consider 
  nothing 
  that 
  seems 
  

   to 
  infringe 
  a 
  law. 
  For 
  these 
  laws, 
  beyond 
  those 
  of 
  mathemat- 
  

   ics, 
  are 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  summations 
  of 
  experience 
  in 
  a 
  certain 
  

   limited 
  here 
  and 
  now. 
  The 
  Uniformity 
  of 
  Nature 
  which 
  

   the 
  legalists 
  hold 
  over 
  us 
  as 
  a 
  sacrosanct 
  principle 
  is 
  a 
  big 
  

   assumption. 
  For 
  who 
  shall 
  define 
  its 
  tenure 
  in 
  a 
  world 
  of 
  

   seonic 
  flux? 
  

  

  We 
  should 
  remember, 
  too, 
  how 
  thickly 
  beset 
  we 
  are 
  with 
  

   unsolved 
  problems 
  of 
  a 
  less 
  ultimate 
  nature. 
  What, 
  for 
  in- 
  

   stance, 
  is 
  the 
  commonest 
  and 
  most 
  universal 
  vital 
  event? 
  

   It 
  is 
  cell-division. 
  And 
  though 
  the 
  literature 
  about 
  it 
  would 
  

   fill 
  a 
  large 
  library, 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  yet 
  know 
  the 
  conditions 
  of 
  its 
  

   occurrence 
  or 
  the 
  forces 
  at 
  work 
  in 
  its 
  accomplishment! 
  

   When 
  we 
  succeed 
  in 
  stating 
  a 
  problem 
  in 
  a 
  clear 
  way 
  it 
  is 
  

   gratuitous 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  it 
  as 
  insoluble, 
  but 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  

  

  