268 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



because the earth was big to the eye 

 and the snu small, the former must be 

 the centi'al orb and the latter the satel- 

 lite; that mystic powers resided in cer- 

 tain numbers, and so on ! To-day we 

 come to Nature as simple questioners, 

 not telling her what she must be, but 

 asking her what she is, and what are 

 her laws, A certain amount of knowl- 

 edge, of course, we have gained, and 

 this we use as capital for the accu- 

 mulation of more ; but even our best- 

 established conclusions we hold subject 

 to revision, at least as regards their 

 theoretical expression. Even on the 

 strength of experience we do not under- 

 take to dictate as to what must be, for 

 all experience is, we are aware, imper- 

 fect. We kuow in pra-t, and therefore, 

 when we are wise, we prophesy but in 

 part. To revert for a moment to the 

 science of astronomy, it may be said that 

 we find there an unending series of les 

 sons against a priori and absolute views. 

 The planets are not perfect sphere?; 

 their orbits are not perfect circles, nor 

 do they perfectly retain their form ; 

 their rates of movement are not uniform; 

 their inclinations to the planes in which 

 they move undergo constant changes. 

 It might be supposed beforehand that 

 they would all be developed on the same 

 l)lan and in some regular order of gra- 

 dation; but no, they increase in size 

 from Mercury to the earth; then we 

 have the moon (which is strictly a 

 planet) of much inferior size; then 

 Mars, much larger than the moon, but 

 much smaller than the earth; then the 

 fragmentary asteroids ; then the giant 

 Jupiter; then Saturn and Uranus suc- 

 cessively smaller; and finally Neptune, 

 larger than Uranus but smaller than 

 Saturn. Again, as if to show a unique 

 example of the way in which rings were 

 thrown ofl" from the original nebula, 

 Saturn alone of all the planets is sur- 

 rounded by rings which, in some way, 

 managed to preserve their equilibrium 

 as rings instead of being rolled together 

 by gravitation into spheres. The solar 



system as a whole seems to speak to us 

 in commanding tones and say, "When 

 the laws and phenomena of Nature are 

 concerned, don't assume to know what 

 ought to be, but find out what is." On 

 this line of the patient study of Nature 

 all the victories of modern science, we 

 might almost say of modern civilization, 

 have been won. 



Science is now of age and can take 

 care of itself, but we have not to look 

 back very far in the history of the world 

 in order to come to the time when it 

 had to ask the permission of Theology 

 and so-called Philosophy for every step 

 it took, and when frequently its progress 

 was absolutely barred by some arbi- 

 trary mandate. In our own day even, 

 what opprobrium has been heaped upon 

 geologists like Lyell, and biologists like 

 Darwin, simply because their conclu- 

 sions threatened to disturb those in 

 which the orthodox world, on wholly 

 insuflacient evidence, had been pleased 

 to settle down! Henceforth Science 

 will brook no dictation. She will not 

 herself dictate to Nature, and she will 

 suffer no arbitrary authority to dictate 

 to her. What is scientifically true will 

 be determined by evidence industrious- 

 ly gathered, carefully sifted, and cau- 

 tiously intei'preted ; and the world will 

 reap the benefit of the principles thus 

 established in ever new additions to the 

 comforts and refinements of life. Still 

 more important, however, it may be 

 hoped, will the progress of scientific 

 thought prove in the intellectual and 

 moral sphere. We want what we have 

 never had as yet, but what the labors 

 of that truly great philosopher Her- 

 bert Spencer have at least in part pro- 

 vided for us, a true science of life 

 that is to say, a scientific treatment of 

 the duties of life and the means of hap- 

 piness. But meanwhile much advan- 

 tage will result from the gradual spread 

 of scientific methods of thought meth- 

 ods which incline to caution, to a care- 

 ful scrutiny of causes and consequences, 

 in the sphere of social action. Here- 



