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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



duct as well as in the sequences of 

 atmospheric change. It means strict 

 inductive inquiry as to how society has 

 come to he what it is, as well as how 

 the rocky systems have come to be 

 what they are. In short, science is not 

 the mystery of a class, but the common 

 interest of rational beings, in whom 

 thinking determines action, and whose 

 highest concern it is that thought shall 

 be brought into the exactest harmony 

 with things and this is the supreme 

 purpose of education. 



If, in this statement of the scope and 

 work of science, we have not laid stress 

 upon those great achievements by which 

 it has given man power over the mate- 

 rial world, it is not because we under- 

 value them. They are noble results, 

 but they are abundantly eulogized, and 

 their very splendor has operated to dim 

 the view of other conquests, less con- 

 spicuous, but even more important. 

 Telegraphs, steam-engines, and the thou- 

 sand devices to which science has led, 

 are great things ; but what, after all, is 

 their value compared with the emanci- 

 pation of the human spirit from the 

 thraldom of ignorance, which the world 

 owes to this agency ? Eightly to appre- 

 ciate what science has accomplished for 

 humanity, we must remember not only 

 that it has raised men to the under- 

 standing and enjoyment of the beautiful 

 order of Nature, but that it has put an 

 end to the baneful superstitions by 

 which, for ages, men's lives were dark- 

 ened, to the sufferings of witchcraft, 

 and the terrors of the untaught imagina- 

 tion which filled the world with malig- 

 nant agencies. 



It is this immense extension of the 

 conception of science, in which all the 

 higher subjects of human interest are 

 now included, that gives it an ever- 

 increasing claim on the attention of the 

 public. Besides its indispensable use 

 in all avocations, and its constant appli- 

 cation in the sphere of dafly life, it is 

 also profoundly affecting the whole 

 circle of questions, speculative and prac- 



tical, which have agitated the minds of 

 men for generations. Whoever carea 

 to know whither inquiry is tending, or 

 how opinion is changing, what old ideas 

 are perishing, and what new ones are 

 rising into acceptance briefly, who- 

 ever desires to be intelligent as to con- 

 temporary movements in the world of 

 thought must give attention to the 

 course of scientific inquiry. Believing 

 that there are many such in this coun- 

 try, and that they are certain to become 

 more numerous in future, The Popular 

 Science Monthly has been commenced 

 with the intention of meeting their 

 wants more perfectly than any other 

 periodical they can get. 



The work of creating science has 

 been organized for centuries. Royal 

 societies and scientific academies are 

 hundreds of years old. Men of science 

 have their journals, in all departments, 

 in which they report to each the results 

 of original work, describe their pro- 

 cesses, engage in mutual criticism, and 

 cultivate a special literature in the in- 

 terests of sciertific advancement. 



The work of diffusing science is, 

 however, as yet, but very imperfectly 

 organized, although it is clearly the next 

 great task of civilization. The signs, 

 however, are promising. Schools of 

 science are springing up in all enlight- 

 ened countries, and old educational es- 

 tablishments are yielding to the refor- 

 matory spirit, modifying and modern- 

 izing their systems of study. There 

 is, besides, a growing sympathy, on the 

 part of men of science of the highest 

 character, with the work of popular 

 teaching, and an increasing readiness 

 to cooperate in undertakings that shall 

 promote it. There is, in fact, growing up 

 a valuable literature of popular science 

 not the trash that caters to public 

 ignorance, wonder, and prejudice, but 

 able and instructive essays and lectures 

 from men who are authorities upon the 

 subjects which they treat. But the 

 task of systematically disseminating 

 these valuable productions is as yet but 





