TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION. 



KANT'S Cosmogony never stood so high in the 

 estimation of the scientific world as it does to-day. 

 The history of this original and profound speculation 

 of the young Konigsberg thinker on the constitution 

 and formation of the physical universe has something 

 strangely interesting and romantic about it, and may 

 even be regarded as one of ' the fairy tales ' of 

 modern science. His Natural History and Theory 

 of the Heavens, as he ultimately designated its ex- 

 position, will probably be regarded hereafter as the 

 most wonderful and enduring product of his genius. 

 It left the press for we can hardly say it was 

 published in 1755, when Kant was in his thirty-first 

 year; and it bears upon it everywhere the impress 

 of that youthful ardour and unrivalled daring of 

 thought which, in its own sphere, at once outstripped 

 Newton, while most faithful to him, and more than 

 anticipated Laplace in outlining the true Nebular 

 Theory of the origin of the universe. But Kant's 

 immortal work, so pregnant with the spirit of discovery 



and modern scientific thought, fell, as David Hume 



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