72 Social Environment 



for solid support. The importance attached to 

 each detail of magic, the infinite value attrib- 

 uted to every motion of rite and ceremonial, 

 were premonitions of the demands nature 

 makes in the technique of science. The expec- 

 tations aroused by partial successes, as when 

 whirling sticks produced fire, have been pre- 

 served in legends of enslaved genii. Primitive 

 man lived in an atmosphere of mystery and 

 awe, which is necessarily the first stage in prog- 

 ress beyond the known, for it is the belief that 

 there is a transcendental unknown. And the 

 budding ambitions, later to take concrete form, 

 expressed themselves in fable and myth. The 

 ten-league boots, the wings of Hermes, the 

 hammer of Thor, the thunderbolt of Jove, 

 Aladdin's lamp, were the day dreams of the 

 dawning human intelligence which have now 

 been fulfilled in aeroplane, locomotive, artillery, 

 and the uses of electricity. The sciences have 

 passed through the stages of wonder, dream- 

 ing, superstition, and experimentation before 

 reaching relative exactness and commonplace 

 usefulness. Astronomy was once astrology, 

 chemistry was alchemy, physics was magic and 

 miracle, and psychology was divination. 



Not only the physical sciences, but the social 



