﻿12 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  dividual 
  experience 
  (a 
  view 
  which 
  would 
  lead 
  us 
  near 
  the 
  

   impasse 
  of 
  solipsism) 
  , 
  for 
  they 
  are 
  verifiable 
  by 
  all 
  normally 
  

   constituted 
  minds, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  must 
  have 
  a 
  close 
  corre- 
  

   spondence 
  with 
  the 
  actualities 
  of 
  Nature 
  since 
  the 
  predictions 
  

   based 
  on 
  them 
  are 
  fulfilled. 
  We 
  continually 
  risk 
  our 
  lives 
  

   on 
  the 
  closeness 
  of 
  this 
  correspondence. 
  That 
  we 
  are 
  not 
  

   betrayed 
  proves, 
  not 
  that 
  the 
  concepts 
  or 
  intellectual 
  count- 
  

   ers 
  used 
  in 
  representation 
  are 
  like 
  the 
  real 
  things, 
  or 
  are 
  

   even 
  the 
  only 
  usable 
  concepts, 
  but 
  that 
  the 
  uniformities 
  

   which 
  the 
  concepts 
  are 
  used 
  to 
  detect 
  and 
  to 
  represent 
  are 
  

   real. 
  

  

  Speaking 
  of 
  the 
  electrical 
  theory 
  of 
  matter, 
  the 
  late 
  Prof. 
  

   J. 
  H. 
  Poynting 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  chief 
  value 
  of 
  such 
  hypothesis 
  

   lies, 
  not 
  in 
  its 
  objective 
  truth, 
  but 
  in 
  its 
  success 
  in 
  account- 
  

   ing 
  for, 
  in 
  co-ordinating, 
  what 
  we 
  actually 
  observe, 
  and 
  in 
  

   predicting 
  results 
  which 
  are 
  afterwards 
  verified. 
  It 
  is 
  to 
  

   be 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  ' 
  working 
  model 
  ' 
  which 
  gives 
  the 
  same 
  

   results 
  as 
  the 
  actual 
  atom, 
  though, 
  it 
  may 
  be, 
  by 
  quite 
  

   different 
  machinery." 
  While 
  adhering 
  to 
  this 
  view, 
  let 
  

   us, 
  however, 
  safeguard 
  it. 
  by 
  recognising 
  that 
  the 
  validity 
  

   of 
  the 
  working 
  model 
  depends 
  on 
  its 
  verifiability, 
  and 
  on 
  

   its 
  correspondence 
  with 
  actualities. 
  As 
  Hertz 
  said, 
  the 
  

   quality 
  of 
  scientific 
  symbols 
  is 
  such 
  that 
  their 
  intellectually 
  

   necessary 
  consequences 
  correspond 
  to 
  occurrences. 
  For 
  

   certain 
  purposes 
  the 
  view 
  that 
  the 
  sun 
  goes 
  round 
  the 
  earth 
  

   is 
  just 
  as 
  effective 
  as 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  the 
  earth 
  goes 
  

   round 
  the 
  sun. 
  We 
  can 
  rise 
  at 
  dawn 
  with 
  equal 
  punctuality 
  

   on 
  either 
  hypothesis. 
  But 
  beyond 
  a 
  short 
  radius 
  the 
  former 
  

   will 
  lead 
  us 
  hopelessly 
  wrong, 
  while 
  the 
  latter 
  never 
  will. 
  

  

  (d) 
  Fourthly, 
  it 
  is 
  interesting 
  to 
  notice 
  that 
  Bacon 
  did 
  

   not 
  include 
  hisioria 
  naturalis 
  in 
  his 
  encyclopedia 
  of 
  the 
  

   sciences, 
  probably 
  because 
  it 
  remained 
  too 
  concretely 
  de- 
  

  

  