Chapter III 

 THE METHOD OF SCIENCE 



In the previous chapter the great pageant of the historical 

 past ^vas discussed, in which \\'e can trace the gro^vth of scien- 

 tific kno^vledge, ^v^hich has followed the rise and fall of civi- 

 lization but Avhich, nevertheless, has increased as tiine has 

 gone on, so that it has been the index of all man's progi^ess. 



Now let us consider the nature and origin of this scientific 

 knowledge. But first it is necessary to re\'ise and clarify the 

 implications of some earlier statements. Progiess in civiliza- 

 tion has been said to correspond to an increase in scientific 

 knowledge and to its application to the social and economic 

 life of the time. Up to the present, science and technology 

 have been treated as synonymous; but we find upon investi- 

 gation that they do not have a common origin. 



Scientific knowledo^e arises from certain characteristics in 

 the mind of man ^vhich cause him to seek to understand 

 phenomena. Technology arises from an entirely different 

 motive— the desire to acquire more or better things. The 

 flint knapper was not a scientist; he '^vas a technologist, and 

 he proceeded by the immemorial method of technology- 

 practice and invention. The science of flint knapping ^vould 

 involve a study of the structure of the flint, of those proper- 

 ties which produce the conchoidal fracture characteristic of 

 the substance, and this was far beyond the ability of anybody 

 who wished to make flints for practical use as tools. In 

 practice, technology advances to an astonishing extent in the 

 absence of any accurate knoTvledge of the principles on ^vhich 

 it is based. ^Vhen the modern building contractor under- 

 takes the erection of a building, he makes a survey of the 

 materials he will need and arranges for the delivery of the 



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