COSMOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY 101 



nature. On this point we are of an exactly opposite opinion: the sym- 

 metry bet\veen matter and hght, which sei-ved as the basis of the de- 

 velopment of wave mechanics, is so satisfying to the mind and to us 

 seems so much to be the profound reason for the success of these new 

 theories, that, in our opinion, we must not abandon it at any price. 



In scientific creation the activity of the aesthetic factor is often patent 

 —if not in de Broglie's own work, for example, then surely in those 

 considerations of "mathematical perfection and beauty" that, says 

 Born, guided "Maxwell's decisive step" in the framing of his elec- 

 tromagnetic theory. In scientific judgment the activity of the aesthetic 

 factor remains evident as long as we characterize the theories we 

 accept as "beautiful," "elegant," and "refined," and those we reject as 

 "clumsy." There is some justice even in the extreme view of du Noiiy, 

 who writes : 



Whenever there is no objective confirmation, our attitude toward cer- 

 tain theories depends, in the last resort, on aesthetic considerations, 

 disturbing as this may seem. 



The ethical factor. A science need only be "true"; a cosmology we 

 hope to find "good." In any society the powers that be ( church, state, 

 school, press, vox populi, etc.) will hold certain cosmologic views 

 *'good" and others "bad"— in that they impugn sound religious doc- 

 trine, good citizenship, the healthy outlook, etc. Thus, for example, 

 to Plato the naturalistic view appeared a danger to the state: 



The theories of our modern men of enlightenment must be held to 

 account for the mischief they cause. Now the effect of their composi- 

 tions is this: when you and I produce our evidence of the existence of 

 gods and allege this very point— the deity or divinity of sun and moon, 

 planets and earth— the converts of these sages will reply that they are 

 but earth and stones, incapable of minding human conduct, however 

 plausibly we have coated them over with a varnish of sugared elo- 

 quence. 



To prevent the "mischief," Plato urged that teaching of the naturalis- 

 tic doctrine be proscribed, and its teachers imprisoned. Apparently 

 action of this sort never became a major factor in the life of ancient 

 science. But as science assumes a larger role in cosmologic construc- 

 tion, the pressure "authority" brings to bear on the shaping of cosmol- 

 ogy will be felt increasingly in science also. The flames that consume 

 Bruno threaten to spread to Galileo: the attempt to suppress Coper- 

 nican cosmologies becomes in time an attack on their essential foun- 



