12 CHARLES DARWIN. 



been applied to astronomy — subjects which were 

 not pursued by his father. 



It appears probable that Charles Darwin's unique 

 power was largely due to the inheritance of the 

 imagination of his grandfather combined with the 

 acute observation of his father. Although he possessed 

 an even larger share of both these qualities than his 

 predecessors, it is probable that he owed more to 

 their co-operation than to the high degree of their 

 development. 



It is a common error to suppose that the in- 

 tellectual powers which make the poet or the 

 historian are essentially different from those which 

 make the man of science. Powers of observation, 

 however acute, could never make a scientific dis- 

 coverer; for discovery requires the creative effort of 

 the imagination. The scientific man does not stumble 

 upon new facts or* conclusions by accident ; he finds 

 what he looks for. The problem before him is 

 essentially similar to that of the historian who tries 

 to create an accurate and complete picture of anfll 

 epoch out of scattered records of contemporary im- 

 pressions more or less true, and none wholly true. 

 Fertility of imagination is absolutely essential for 

 that step from the less to the more perfectly known 

 which we call discovery. 



But fertility of imagination alone is insufficient 

 for the highest achievement in poetry, history, or 

 science; for in all these subjects the strictest self- 

 criticism and the soundest judgment are necessary in 



