﻿THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  43 
  

  

  it 
  is 
  all-important 
  that 
  we 
  get 
  at 
  the 
  facts, 
  for 
  there 
  are 
  

   in 
  currency 
  many 
  conclusions 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  Nature 
  which 
  

   can 
  no 
  longer 
  be 
  accepted 
  as 
  well 
  grounded. 
  What 
  we 
  may 
  

   reach 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  provisional, 
  for 
  the 
  data 
  of 
  science 
  are 
  

   in 
  process 
  of 
  rapid 
  change; 
  but 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  some 
  reward 
  

   if 
  we 
  can 
  eliminate 
  some 
  spurious 
  and 
  obsolete 
  coinage. 
  

  

  Whatever 
  be 
  our 
  philosophical 
  interpretation 
  or 
  religious 
  

   conviction, 
  we 
  do 
  well 
  to 
  have 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  passing 
  acquaint- 
  

   ance 
  with 
  the 
  world 
  without, 
  with 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  which 
  

   our 
  life 
  is 
  part. 
  The 
  aim 
  of 
  this 
  course 
  is 
  to 
  state 
  the 
  

   general 
  results 
  of 
  biological 
  inquiry 
  which 
  must 
  be 
  taken 
  

   account 
  of 
  if 
  we 
  are 
  to 
  think 
  of 
  Nature 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  and 
  in 
  

   relation 
  to 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  our 
  experience. 
  The 
  first 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   course 
  will 
  deal 
  with 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  so 
  far 
  

   as 
  its 
  changefulness 
  permits; 
  the 
  second, 
  with 
  its 
  evolution, 
  

   past, 
  present, 
  and 
  possible. 
  

  

  SUMMARY. 
  

  

  In 
  primitive 
  times 
  man 
  had 
  a 
  slowly 
  growing 
  recognition 
  of 
  an 
  

   empirical 
  order 
  of 
  nature, 
  a 
  very 
  imperfect 
  control 
  of 
  natural 
  

   forces, 
  and 
  a 
  theory 
  of 
  magic 
  or 
  of 
  animism. 
  

  

  The 
  empirical 
  order 
  has 
  gradually 
  given 
  place 
  to 
  a 
  scientific 
  

   order, 
  ever 
  broadening 
  and 
  deepening; 
  and 
  man's 
  control 
  of 
  Nature 
  

   has 
  increased 
  in 
  proportion. 
  One 
  science 
  has 
  been 
  added 
  to 
  another 
  

   in 
  elaborate 
  specialisation, 
  and 
  there 
  has 
  also 
  grown 
  up 
  a 
  scientific 
  

   system 
  or 
  ' 
  world-outlook 
  ' 
  which 
  verges 
  on 
  philosophy. 
  This 
  world- 
  

   outlook 
  has 
  ceased 
  to 
  be 
  geocentric 
  or 
  narrowly 
  anthropocentric. 
  

   The 
  reign 
  of 
  law 
  and 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  evolution 
  have 
  been 
  recognised. 
  

  

  The 
  direct 
  motives 
  of 
  scientific 
  inquiry 
  are, 
  in 
  the 
  main, 
  intel- 
  

   lectual 
  curiosity, 
  a 
  self-preservative 
  dislike 
  of 
  obscurities, 
  a 
  desire 
  

   after 
  unity 
  and 
  continuity 
  in 
  our 
  outlook. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  quite 
  specific 
  

   endeavour 
  to 
  get 
  things 
  under 
  intelligent 
  control, 
  so 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  

   think 
  of 
  them 
  clearly 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  our 
  knowledge, 
  and 
  

   so 
  that 
  we 
  can 
  act 
  effectively 
  on 
  the 
  basis 
  they 
  afford. 
  The 
  aim 
  of 
  

   science 
  is 
  to 
  describe 
  natural 
  phenomena 
  as 
  precisely 
  as 
  possible, 
  

  

  