236 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



SCIENCE AND SOCIAL PEOGEESS 



By FREDERICK A. BUSHEE, Ph.D. 



COLOKADO COLLEGE 



SCIENCE is usually defined as a classified body of knowledge; but 

 this definition implies a completeness in our knowledge which the 

 present discussion can not assume. In considering the effects of science 

 on social progress, it will be necessary to go back of the advanced stage 

 of scientific thought and take account of positive knowledge in its be- 

 ginnings, before it assumed the classified form. Science as here used, 

 therefore, refers to the spirit of investigating phenomena, or studying 

 facts, as over against the spirit of mere speculation and of superstitious 

 belief. The groAvth of science represents not merely a new spirit or 

 state of mind in society, but it presents an explanation of the universe 

 based on intelligence and reason instead of the emotions. 



The consequences of the growth of positive knowledge are so com- 

 plicated and far-reaching that it is impossible to follow them in all 

 their ramifications. Only their more general effects can be indicated. 

 The difference between knowledge and ignorance seems at first to be 

 sufficient to account for the entire difference between progress and stag- 

 nation ; but such is not the case, for certain kinds of progress, such as 

 those which result from selection, take place independently of science. 

 The effects of scientific knowledge are of two kinds, those which influ- 

 ence the mind and those which affect the environment. The first ef- 

 fect of science is to expand the mental horizon, giving us broader con- 

 ceptions and a more active mental life. This is especially true of 

 astronomy, which tends to bring us out of ourselves by giving us en- 

 larged ideas of space and time and by revealing something of the 

 process of the creation of worlds; but the same thing is true of other 

 sciences which reveal the phenomena of matter in our own world and 

 teach the wonderful laws of life. 



A second result of science, which has been emphasized by Eiske, 1 is 

 that it gives man a conception of law, an understanding of true cause 

 and effect. This not only helps to develop man's mind, but it has an 

 immediate effect upon his conduct, removing it from the influence of 

 superstition to the domain of reason. When man learns to separate 

 real cause and effect from the mere sequence of events, he can adapt 

 himself to external influences and avoid much suffering. He learns 



*" Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy," Part II., Ch. XXI.; reprinted in 

 Carver's "Sociology and Social Progress," p. 478. 



