HENRI POINCARE NOKDMANN. 755 



matter and the ether; again he compared the thousands of suns of 

 the Milky Way to the molecules of a bubble of gas, applying to them 

 the kinetic theory and opening m the stellar universe such astonishmg 

 aspects; then fi-om a ray of light sent from one of the planets he 

 teaches us to learn at the same time the motion of the sun which 

 sends the ray, of the planet which reflects it, and of the earth which 

 receives it. But we must stop; when we are passing through a beau- 

 tiful and vast forest full of varied aspects, we must not stop only in the 

 fii'st j)leasing shade we reach, for yet farther on there ■wall be found 

 others where new rhythms will arouse our emotions and enchant our 

 eyes. 



IV. POINCARE THE PHILOSOPHER. 



From science to philosophy there is but a step to take, they 

 so bound and penetrate each other. The Greeks had but one word 

 to express each. Even to-day the English call the physical study of 

 the universe natural philosophy. Poiacare could not escape that 

 attraction which has forced all the great workers in the exact sciences 

 from Democritus to d'Alembert, toward the end of theii* lives, to 

 reflect upon the primordial mysteries of the strange universe wherein 

 our ephemeral thoughts live and die. When, upon the front of the 

 Parthenon some rival of Phidias had cut that exquisite equestrian 

 frieze, he must have stepped back a moment so as to judge his work 

 the better as a whole, and then later, forgetful of his own efforts, have 

 become absorbed in the vast harmony of the whole great temple. 

 And so all the great wise men worthy of the name feel toward the 

 universe. 



The philosophical ideas of Poincare have deeply impressed all 

 those who think. They have helped through their tendencies to give 

 the intellectual attributes of our generation its so definite profile. By 

 singular chance they have stirred the most adverse camps. Each one 

 has wished to use them for theii- weapons; vain desires, for these 

 ideas soar far above them, and, indeed, such ideas sometimes seem 

 to unchain and reanimate quarrels of other ages. Whence does this 

 man get this strange power of movmg thus, despite himself, by his 

 thoughts alone, in this abstract domain, in a realistic epoch where the 

 conflicts of every-day life press harder than ever upon the world of 

 ideals ? This power is due to Poincare's intellectual superiority and 

 especially to his thorough sincerity. In what way are these new points 

 of view which this great man has developed so suggestive, so useful, 

 so convincing? Let us try to fuid out. 



If we exclude the bitter, ever-present struggle for better living, 

 which does not gain in dignity as we pass from animal to man, it 

 seems as if all man's striving came solely because he thirsts both for 

 truth and for justice. And we always find, save with Dr. Pangloss, 



