﻿THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  19 
  

  

  to 
  tell 
  us 
  concerning 
  the 
  peacock's 
  tail. 
  Huxley's 
  de.-la 
  ra- 
  

   tion 
  that 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  science 
  is 
  .-ynnnynmus 
  with 
  de- 
  

   scription 
  in 
  materialistic 
  symbols, 
  assumed 
  too 
  readily 
  thai 
  

   formulations 
  which 
  give 
  Man 
  a 
  considerable 
  power 
  of 
  predic- 
  

   tion 
  and 
  a 
  considerable 
  degree 
  of 
  practical 
  control 
  arc 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  theoretically 
  exhaustive. 
  

  

  t/ 
  

  

  (g) 
  But 
  let 
  us 
  consider 
  further 
  limitations. 
  \\Y 
  de- 
  

   scribe 
  what 
  goes 
  on 
  around 
  us 
  or 
  within 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  simple-t 
  

   possible 
  terms, 
  but 
  the 
  fundamental 
  concepts 
  we 
  use 
  are 
  

   notably 
  in 
  process 
  of 
  development. 
  As 
  Kirchhoff 
  said, 
  It 
  

   is 
  thinkable 
  that 
  a 
  description 
  which 
  to-day 
  is 
  the 
  simplest 
  

   that 
  can 
  be 
  given 
  may 
  in 
  the 
  further 
  development 
  of 
  science 
  

   be 
  replaced 
  by 
  one 
  still 
  more 
  simple." 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  thinkable, 
  

   we 
  may 
  add, 
  that 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  present-day 
  formulations 
  will 
  

   turn 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  too 
  simple, 
  for 
  abstraction 
  often 
  leads 
  to 
  fal- 
  

   lacy. 
  This 
  at 
  least 
  is 
  certain, 
  that 
  when 
  we 
  describe 
  oc- 
  

   currences 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  matter 
  and 
  energy, 
  life 
  and 
  mind, 
  or 
  

   any 
  similar 
  grand 
  concepts, 
  we 
  are 
  working 
  with 
  what 
  can- 
  

   not 
  be 
  called 
  self-explanatory. 
  Every 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  is 
  big 
  

   with 
  mystery, 
  though 
  some 
  are 
  in 
  process 
  of 
  simplification. 
  

   Much 
  so-called 
  ' 
  explanation 
  ' 
  is 
  reducing 
  unusual 
  unintel- 
  

   ligibility 
  to 
  order 
  rather 
  than 
  to 
  radical 
  understanding. 
  

   No 
  achievement 
  in 
  science 
  has 
  been 
  more 
  satisfactory 
  than 
  

   the 
  Law 
  of 
  Gravitation, 
  but 
  can 
  any 
  one 
  tell 
  what 
  actuaily 
  

   happens 
  in 
  the 
  unseen 
  universe 
  when 
  the 
  apple 
  falls 
  in 
  the 
  

   orchard? 
  In 
  language 
  which 
  is 
  a 
  survival 
  we 
  still 
  speak 
  of 
  

   the 
  force 
  of 
  gravity, 
  the 
  force 
  of 
  attraction, 
  and 
  so 
  on, 
  but 
  

   we 
  know 
  that 
  forces 
  as 
  causes 
  do 
  not 
  exist. 
  The 
  earth 
  does 
  

   not 
  pull 
  the 
  stone, 
  the 
  stone 
  gravitates 
  to 
  the 
  earth. 
  Some 
  

   have 
  proposed 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  bodies 
  'tractating' 
  and 
  ; 
  p. 
  Hat- 
  

   ing 
  ' 
  instead 
  of 
  saying 
  that 
  they 
  attract 
  or 
  repel 
  one 
  another. 
  

   But, 
  as 
  Professor 
  Soddy 
  says, 
  " 
  Why 
  two 
  bodies 
  tractate 
  or 
  

  

  