26 THE CONTROL OF LIFE 



the reason is a deficiency of character, that we do not 

 care enough, that we lack resolution. 



§5. The Larger Ends 



Some critical minds may have been thinking that all 

 this beating of the scientific drum implies the naive 

 assumption that more and more Science and application 

 of Science is necessarily for the good of mankind. 



'* Is it certain, for instance, that Science leads us to 

 the truth ? " One remembers how Ruskin in Fors 

 Clavigera poured out the vials of his wrath on a Botany 

 which showed that there is no such thing as a flower, 

 and a Psychology which proclaimed the uselessness of 

 the soul. The widest answer is probably to go back to 

 where we began : that the chief end of Science is to 

 describe things and occurrences as completely, simply, 

 and consistently as possible, and that this is only on the 

 way to Truth — a noble term which is best reserved for 

 the reward of a synoptic vision. It is contrary to 

 philosophy and to ordinary experience to beUeve that 

 man can come near exhausting the reality of any order 

 of facts by scientific methods only. In many cases 

 in everyday life we are helped by feeling to an under- 

 standing that is beyond Science. But while Science is 

 not Truth, it contributes certain component rays to its 

 sunlight ; and Truth apart from Science has an incon- 

 venient way of turning into moonshine. Superstition 

 lies in wait for the unscientific ; and the anti-scientific 

 invite it. 



These applauded advances of Science that have 



