FKOM THALES TO LAMARCK 3 



are replaced by harsh and bitter words which the protagonists 

 in both camps hurl at each other unsparingly. 



The cause of this deadly enmity lies deep down in the nature 

 of both schools of thought. For whilst religion -that is, religious 

 dogma represents the ' origin of all that is ' as something 

 absolute, unalterable, and visits with severe punishment _any 

 enquiry after that which lies beyond, science is ever conscious, 

 or should be, that each hypothesis promulgated, each law formu- 

 lated, are but steps in the pursuit of knowledge, the aim of 

 which lies, an eternal task, in the infinite. ' There is no finality 

 to our pursuit of the knowledge of life, and though we may now 

 and then attempt to cast a balance, we know that even the best 

 which we are able to give can but be a step to the better.' 

 These words, which form the introduction to the Lectures on 

 the Evolution Theory by the great zoologist of Freiburg, August 

 Weismann, fittingly describe not only the value of biological 

 research, but also of all science. 



It is not our object to deal with the various creation-theories 

 contained in the mythology of the Indians, Assyrians, and other 

 nations, nor need we refer to the biblical story of the creation 

 of the world and man, for on the one hand it is familiar to all, 

 and on the other of no value for the advancement of scientific 

 knowledge. We may therefore at once direct our attention to 

 the classic period of the Ionic Natural Philosophers. 



At the head of the Greek philosophy, and, indeed, as the 

 first Greek philosopher, is usually mentioned Thales of Miletus 

 who was counted one of the Seven Wise Men. In his teachings 

 we find, for the first time, an attempt to establish a uniform 

 principle of all phenomena, a universal theory of reality. Thales 

 declares that water is the original principle from which all pro- 

 ceeds ; his successors gradually establish the Infinite, the Fire, 

 the Air, and the Atoms as fundamental principles. These are 

 according to modern conceptions crude and primitive theories, 

 but they are nevertheless the first attempts to comprehend the 

 reality scientifically. 



There will be no time in this lecture to deal with every 

 phase of this period of more than 2,000 years, nor shall we be 

 able to deal, except in the briefest manner, with the most 

 important epochs and the men to whom biology owes its 



