CHAPTER VIII 

 THE APPLICATIONS OF SCIENCE 



THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF SCIENCE 



SO far we have regarded science as a means of satis- 

 fying our purely intellectual desires. And it must 

 be insisted once again that such is the primary and 

 fundamental object of science ; if science did not 

 fulfil that purpose, then it could certainly fulfil no 

 other. It has applications to practical life, only because 

 it is true ; and its truth arises directly and immediately 

 from its success as an instrument of intellectual satis- 

 faction. Nevertheless there is no doubt that, for the 

 world at large the world which includes those to which 

 this book is addressed it is the practical rather than the 

 intellectual value of science which makes the greater 

 appeal. I do not mean that they are blind to the things 

 of the mind, and consider only those of the body ; I mean 

 merely that science is not for them the most suitable 

 instrument by which they may cultivate their minds. 

 Art, history, and philosophy are competing vehicles of 

 culture ; and their sense of the supreme value of their 

 own study should not lead men of science to insist that 

 its value is unique. Indeed, if we are forced to recognize 

 that pure science will always be an esoteric study, it 

 should increase our pride that we are to be found in the 

 inner circle of the elect. On the other hand, since man 

 cannot live by thought alone, the practical value of science 

 makes a universal appeal ; it would be pedantic and 

 misleading to omit some consideration of this aspect of 

 science. 



The practical value of science arises, of course, from the 

 formulation of laws. Laws predict the behaviour of that 



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