﻿4 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  the 
  seas 
  of 
  ignorance, 
  so 
  many 
  the 
  straits, 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  

   as 
  yet 
  no 
  discernment 
  of 
  the 
  coherent 
  continents 
  of 
  

   knowledge. 
  

  

  Gradually, 
  however, 
  Man 
  came 
  to 
  himself 
  and 
  grew 
  in 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  empirical 
  order 
  of 
  Nature. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  great 
  

   step 
  when 
  he 
  first 
  recognised 
  the 
  year 
  with 
  its 
  object-lesson 
  

   of 
  recurrent 
  sequences 
  a 
  basis 
  from 
  which 
  to 
  observe 
  other 
  

   practically 
  important 
  uniformities. 
  What 
  a 
  momentous 
  be- 
  

   ginning 
  the 
  Chaldseans 
  made 
  who 
  first 
  discerned 
  that 
  the 
  

   multitude 
  of 
  the 
  stars 
  was 
  " 
  not 
  a 
  confused 
  crowd 
  wander- 
  

   ing 
  at 
  random, 
  but 
  rather 
  a 
  disciplined 
  army 
  " 
  ! 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  

   working 
  knowledge 
  of 
  natural 
  processes, 
  rather 
  than 
  an 
  

   understanding 
  of 
  them, 
  that 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  instance 
  built 
  

   up, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  correlated, 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  hand, 
  with 
  a 
  still 
  very 
  

   imperfect 
  mastery 
  of 
  the 
  forces 
  of 
  Nature, 
  and, 
  on 
  the 
  other, 
  

   with 
  a 
  belief 
  in 
  magic 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  things 
  by 
  

   spirits 
  imaginative 
  constructions 
  which 
  are 
  perhaps 
  analo- 
  

   gous, 
  as 
  Prof. 
  W. 
  E. 
  Hitter 
  suggests, 
  to 
  the 
  materialism 
  and 
  

   animism 
  of 
  later 
  days. 
  

  

  2. 
  Growing 
  Recognition 
  of 
  a 
  Scientific 
  Order. 
  

  

  The 
  empirical 
  order 
  was 
  gradually 
  replaced 
  by 
  a 
  scientific 
  

   order. 
  Some 
  practical 
  need 
  pressed 
  a 
  question 
  home; 
  im- 
  

   agination 
  found 
  a 
  clue; 
  measurement 
  or 
  some 
  other 
  form 
  

   of 
  accurate 
  registration 
  furnished 
  reliable 
  data 
  ; 
  a 
  regularity 
  

   of 
  sequence 
  was 
  discovered 
  and 
  tested 
  ; 
  a 
  law 
  was 
  formulated. 
  

   Especially 
  after 
  the 
  foundation-laying 
  work 
  of 
  Galileo, 
  did 
  

   the 
  scientific 
  reconstruction 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  world 
  proceed 
  

   apace. 
  There 
  was 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Forces 
  

   of 
  Nature 
  ' 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  i 
  Laws 
  of 
  Nature 
  ', 
  and 
  a 
  growing 
  

   clearness. 
  " 
  God 
  said, 
  Let 
  Newton 
  be, 
  and 
  there 
  was 
  

   light." 
  

  

  