ISAAC NEWTON 99 



majesty of that which he brought to our knowledge, in no 

 way produced a similar state of mind in the next generation; 

 rather the very opposite was the case. We only need think 

 of the 'Encyclopaedists' (Diderot, d'Alembert and others) 

 and also of Voltaire. This obviously depends in part upon 

 the fact that Newton presented to the mathematically gifted, 

 and those with literary powers - both of which types are 

 much more common than those with a gift for science - a 

 great deal to do and to work out, that was already firmly 

 founded in his own achievements. This led to a high regard 

 being paid to those who performed these functions, whereas 

 their sphere of activity was practically devoid of any contact 

 with nature, which always keeps the true investigator humble 

 by reason of the mass of the unknown hidden in it. It thus 

 came about that the first main result of Newton's magnificent 

 achievement was arrogance. Besides, in this period of 'en- 

 lightenment,' the untenability of a great deal of the moral 

 sciences, especially theology, was rendered evident by the 

 sudden advance in natural science due to Newton. Theology 

 was supposed to supply the people with religion (that is, 

 connection with the world of spirit); in this it failed for want 

 of agreement with the unity of reality, and the result was a 

 general uprooting of men's minds.^ This process is not 

 yet concluded even to-day; it results in materialism, 

 which sees the main objects of the successful investigation of 

 nature in mastering nature and in improving technology; and 

 furthermore, allows these successes to serve, not the good of 

 the people, but as a basis for greed of gain. Before matters 

 got as far as this - the age of steam and then electricity - 

 new investigators were still to come, who were again quite 

 humble-minded, and discovered many more and quite dif- 

 ferent things. But it is noteworthy, and in conformity with 



^ We only need to remember that both the Popes and Luther had been 

 opponents of well-founded natural knowledge since the time of Coper- 

 nicus. It is also characteristic in this connection that Diderot and Vol- 

 taire were both educated by the Jesuits. 



