8 PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN THE CENTURY. 



To the obvious objection that these three qualities 

 of truthfulness, alertness, and courage, though, let 

 us hope, possessed by the scientific man, are not in 

 any way peculiar to him, but " may be recognised as 

 belonging to almost every one who has commanded or 

 deserved success, whatever may have been his walk 

 in life,'' Sir Michael answered : " That is exactly 

 what I would desire to insist, that the men of science 

 have no peculiar virtues, no special powers. They 

 are ordinary men, their characters are common, 

 even commonplace. Science, as Huxley said, is 

 organised common sense, and men of science are com- 

 mon men, drilled in the ways of common sense." 



Let us endeavour to make the diagnosis of the 

 scientific mood a little more definite. The follow- 

 ing has at least the interest of having been almost 

 entirely written before the delivery of Sir Michael 

 Foster's stimulating address. 



(a) As a first characteristic of the scientific 

 mood — corresponding to what has been above referred 

 to as " truthfulness," we may note a passion for facts. 

 And what are more difiicult to catch than facts ; they 

 are more elusive than ideas. How difficult it is 

 even in regard to simple problems to get a grip of 

 the facts of the case ! How difficult it is for any one 

 with even a dash of the artistic mood to relate an 

 occurrence accurately ! Most of us are Munchausens 

 in a small way, but with less sense of humour. Just 

 as we may distinguish carpenters who can work to 

 this or that fraction of an inch of accuracy; so we 

 must distinguish one another as able to observe or 

 to record to this or that degree of truthfulness. 



" Man, unscientific man, is often content with 

 ' the nearly ' and ^ the almost.' E'ature never is. 

 It is not her way to call the same two things which 



