THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



ficient; in order to find working laws which will clas- 

 sify phenomena, we must accumulate a great body of 

 facts obtained from observation and experimenta- 

 tion, and we must measure actions quantitatively. 

 By this method we establish the inductive laws which 

 form what we now call scientific knowledge. The gas 

 law is a good example of inductive reasoning; by ex- 

 periments Boyle found that the quotient of the pres- 

 sure by the density of a gas is always constant. This 

 formula is the basis of calculations for all steam en- 

 gines and could not have been found a priori. In 

 biology, Darwin's law of natural selection and La- 

 marck's of the inheritance of acquired traits to be 

 accepted must be the result of observation and in- 

 duction. 



The Greeks failed almost completely to accumu- 

 late scientific data, to formulate inductive laws, and 

 to devise an adequate system of quantitative measure- 

 ment. Without these, it is impossible to predict future 

 events from generalizations of past experience, and 

 such prediction is the function of science. To solve 

 any problem in mechanics we must employ inductive 

 laws, such as that of Least Action which specifies liow 

 the energy of any system of bodies will change under 

 definite conditions and at the same time does not con- 

 tradict the basic principle that energy is conservative. 

 So, also, the belief that organic forms vary is of little 

 scientific value until we can add to this principle the 

 method, or mechanism, of evolution. 



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