468 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



a very slow one. We may well despair of ever reducing the phenomena 

 of nature to such simple laws as that of gravitation. It may be that 

 our hope of doing anything of the kind has received a great set-back 

 by the iconoclastic way in which the discovery of radio-activity has 

 shaken to its foundations what, ten years ago, were supposed to be 

 fundamental principles at play in the material world. 



But we still find the process of integration to be going on as our 

 knowledge advances. The discovery of principles more or less gen- 

 eral which, being mastered, will enable a single mind to grasp a con- 

 tinually widening field of research is constantly going forward. It 

 is true that we are not to expect the revival of the medieval professor 

 of all science ; but we may look for a class of widely educated men who, 

 if not masters of the details of any one science, will yet have at com- 

 mand so comprehensive a grasp of great principles as to be able to 

 form an intelligent judgment on those questions of science and learn- 

 ing which are of the widest human interest, and which most influence 

 the progress of the world. It is not necessary to burden the memory 

 with details of the forms and habits of every species of animal or 

 vegetable in order to form an intelligent idea of the general laws of 

 life and of the conditions of its propagation. The intelligent reader 

 of history may condense its lessons into small space, even though he 

 fails to remember details of dynasties, battles or treaties. 



This process is facilitated by the natural tendency of every science, 

 when pursued by the best methods, to become more precise in the ex- 

 pression of its laws, and thus to bring mathematical conceptions to the 

 aid of its investigators. When we have not only assigned a name to an 

 object of study, but have made measurement of its size, or of the in- 

 tensity of any ascertained properties it exhibits, we have taken a great 

 step toward giving precision to our results, and making them com- 

 prehensible to a wider body of investigators. 



With these preliminary considerations we see what interest attaches 

 to the enterprise of bringing all the sciences together for a week's dis- 

 cussion of their problems and relations. That this is no easy task will 

 be conceded, indeed serious doubts and great incredulity as to its prac- 

 ticality were expressed. But the promoters of the plan have gone on, 

 confident that the farther it was pursued and the better it was under- 

 stood, the more hopeful the view that Avould be taken of its outcome. 

 The central theme around which the whole is grouped is the unity of 

 science. This theme is carried through from the center into details 

 which shall include every branch of learning. Willi it is associated 

 the discussion of the conceptions, progress, relations and problems of 

 the various sciences. The details of the plan as finally worked out 

 .iiv round in the programs of the congress, which so many readers of 

 The Popular Science Monthly have probably seen, that only a 



