528 THE CHANGING WORLD 



at the seashore. Natural factors that can be observed and measured, 

 and whose effects can be predicted, are all that are involved. 



Truth-seekers do well to exhaust first of all what may be proven 

 or disproven by observation as well as by experiment with natural 

 things and processes that are within reach, before appealing to the 

 supernatural, which lies beyond the realm of science. Natural law 

 is an observed and verifiable sequence of events that is dependable 

 and makes the prediction of future events possible or probable. 

 For example, under the same atmospheric pressure water always boils 

 at the same temperature, you can depend on it. On the other hand, 

 the supernatural is an interference with natural sequences, and is 

 neither predictable nor dependable. 



It is not the scientific way of disposing of difficulties to shake the 

 head and look wise, or to call in unknown supernatural aids, as long 

 as unexhausted natural resources remain at hand. Dr. W. E. Ritter's 

 wise advice to scientists might well be taken to heart by everyone, 

 "Investigate things as they are, not as they might he, or ought to be." 

 Darwin did just this, and consequently his concept of the "Origin 

 of Species hy Means of Natural Selection" is much more than an 

 attempted explanation of how evolution came about. It is a model 

 exposition of the scientific method of thinking, which finds universal 

 application in all fields of human endeavor. Darwin and Abraham 

 Lincoln were born on the same day. Both were great emancipators 

 in different fields. That the theory of natural selection falls short 

 in certain particulars is not important. It has served its purpose in 

 stimulating and giving direction to further investigation, which is 

 what makes life worth living. Any theory is like a temporary 

 scaffolding to be discarded after the building is erected, for if it is 

 still retained intact, it may obscure the building itself. 



Robert Boyle, the physicist (1627-1691), once said with reference 

 to theories in general, 



"Having met with many things for which I can assign no possible cause, 

 and with some for which many different ones might be alleged, I dare speak 

 positively and confidently of very few things except of matters of fact." 



William Harvey (1578-1657), who discovered the circulation of the 

 blood, also summed up the scientific attitude in these words : 



"Some . . . persons vainly seek by dialectics and far-fetched arguments, 

 either to upset or to establish things that are only to be founded on ana- 

 tomical demonstration, and believed on the evidence of the senses. He 



