HISTORY OF SCIENCE 55 



for a new atmosphere and a broader conception of life; their 

 curiosity was insatiable. We have at least this much in common 

 with them. We know also that if science were to be abandoned to 

 narrow-minded specialists, it would soon degenerate into a new 

 kind of scholasticism, without life or beauty — false and wrong like 

 death itself. This would be another good reason for comparing 

 our task with that accomplished by the former humanists. How- 

 ever, their movement was essentially toward the past; ours is 

 much more a movement toward the future. 



Science, divided into water-tight compartments, makes us feel 

 uneasy; — a world split into selfish and quarrelsome nations (simi- 

 lar to the Italian and Flemish municipalities of the Renaissance) 

 is too narrow for us. We need the full experience of other coun- 

 tries, of other races; we need also the full experience of other ages. 

 We need more air! 



It may be useful to lay some stress on the significance of science 

 from the international point of view. Science is the most precious 

 patrimony of mankind. It is immortal. It is inalienable. It cannot 

 but increase. Does not this precious patrimony deserve to be 

 known thoroughly, not only in its present state but in its whole 

 evolution? Now most men — most scientists — are unfamiliar with 

 the glorious history of our conquests over nature. Would it not be 

 a great work of peace and progress to bring them to better under- 

 standing and appreciation of this intellectual domain which is 

 privileged among all others, because it is the only one that is 

 entirely common to all? Science is not only the strongest tie, but 

 it is the only one that is really strong and undisputed. 



Science makes for peace more than anything else in the world; 

 it is the cement that holds together the highest and the most com- 

 prehensive minds of all countries, of all races, of all creeds. Every 

 nation derives benefit from the discoveries that have been made 

 by the others. 



Just as scientific methods are the basis of well-nigh all our 

 knowledge, just so science appears more and more as the bedrock 

 on which every organization has to be built up to be strong and 



