SCIENCE FOR LIFE 11 



differ greatly in their degree of development, in tlie 

 exactness of formulation which they have received, 

 and in the possibilities that they afford for prediction. 

 Contrast gravitational astronomy — wellnigh perfect — 

 with the young science of animal behaviour ; you can 

 predict with almost perfect precision the return of a 

 comet, but not how the cat will jump. Yet the student 

 of animal behaviour may be as ' scientific ' as his col- 

 leagues in the astronomical observatory or in the 

 chemical laboratory. ^/ 



It is unfortunately necessary to point out that a 

 theory which appeals to the data of science is not 

 necessarily ' scientific' This is a common but fallacious 

 use of the word. To the theory that all human progress 

 depends on the conflict of races, or to the theory that 

 all dreams have a sexual origin, one may give more or 

 less consideration, but to call either scientific means 

 merely that it is not fanciful. 



§2. Science and Human Life 

 What can Science do for Life ? The answer is to be 

 found partly at every turn in our modern day, and partly 

 in the history of those applications of Science which 

 have changed, or are changing, the occupations and 

 environment of mankind. But when we reflect on what 

 has been achieved and how it has been brought about, 

 and when we consider some hints of incipient new 

 controls, we see that the question is unanswerable. 

 We cannot tell what Science may not do for Life. 

 Before 1896 it would not have seemed rash to say : 



