forced to assume the existence of a deity as the originator 

 of events, if they were to maintain the cause-and-effect 

 hypothesis. But with the ever increasing success of scientific 

 discoveries in explaining natural phenomena, including 

 many exhibited by living beings including ourselves, we 

 can today quite reasonably assume that many other un- 

 solved problems will yield to scientific study, and that we 

 can hold our minds open on unsolved issues for which in- 

 suflicient evidence is available to enable a decision to be 

 made. We should note that it is not only in the physical 

 sciences that a deep understanding of Nature is being 

 reached, but also in the life sciences. We are certainly learn- 

 ing a great deal more about the human mind, for example, 

 than was ever known in past centuries, and we are just be- 

 ginning to understand why we behave as we do, and what 

 factors influence our behavior. There seems no valid reason 

 today why we should accept religion as a necessity any 

 longer, although human irrationality may continue to com- 

 pel some individuals to accept the deity hypothesis for the 

 remainder of their lives. 



Since experiment is the distinctive feature of modem 

 science which differentiates it from other forms of knowl- 

 edge, it is worthwhile to enquire what were possibly the 

 first experiments performed by Man. These may include the 

 making of fire, the shaping of stone for weapons, and the 

 use of tree branches as levers. 



Although fire was most likely to have been encountered 

 naturally by primitive Man, started by lightning striking 

 trees or by the spontaneous combustion of decaying vege- 

 table matter, he must have sought some method of generat- 

 ing fire for himself when required. He would have had, at 

 first, to have carried burning wood from a natural fire to his 

 living ground, and to have maintained the fire by addition 



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