Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



and each painter selects what he paints from his 

 own point of view. And the same is true of every 

 object and process in Nature. 



Then if these things are true (you ask again) how 

 is it that scientific men do arrive at definite con- 

 clusions, and do agree with each other so far as 

 they do ? 



It is, and obviously must be, by the method of 

 isolation ; by the method of selecting certain aspects 

 of the problems presented to them, and ignoring 

 others. For since all the relations of any pheno- 

 menon of Nature cannot possibly be compassed, 

 the only way must be to ignore some and concentrate 

 attention on others ; and when there is a kind of 

 tacit agreement as to which aspects shall be passed 

 over and which considered, there is naturally an 

 agreement in the results. Thus by this method, 

 waiving all other aspects of the problem, the 

 Eye may be described and defined as an optical 

 instrument, the Heart as a common Pump, and 

 the Solar System as a neat illustration of certain 

 mechanical laws discovered by Galileo and 

 Newton. 



On the subject of the Solar System and Astron- 

 omy I will dwell for a few moments, as here — in 

 this great example of the perfection of Modern 

 Science — we have again a case apparently most 

 adverse to my contention. The generalisations 

 by v/hich Newton established the nature of the 

 planetary orbits has been a wonder to succeeding 

 generations ; the positions of the planets can 

 be foretold, eclipses can be calculated with 



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