Science in Public Affairs 



sciences deal, and finally attempt to explore in 

 a scientific spirit and with scientific methods the 

 world of mind and society with which the psycho- 

 logical and social sciences deal. And this, as 

 already stated, is the normal progress of the 

 mind. We see it exemplified by most of the 

 great leaders. We see it, for instance, in Helm- 

 holtz, who began his career as a mathematician, 

 passed through that to physiology, whence it was 

 but a single step into psychology, and in the later 

 period of his life he interested himself most in 

 education and social questions. The same ten- 

 dency is seen in Darwin's transition from the 

 " Origin of Species" to the "Descent of Man." 

 We have been told that the sociologist is an in- 

 dividual who has failed to make a career in one 

 of the preliminary sciences, just as, according to 

 Disraeli, the critic is a person who has failed in 

 literature. In point of fact this doubtless is often 

 true; but the contrary proposition still more widely 

 holds, that the successful mathematician, physicist, 

 or naturalist, is an arrested sociologist. 



Returning to the question of legal and political 

 definitions, we have to note that these, are to the 

 psychologist and sociologist an essential part of 

 the raw material upon which he has to work. 

 They are points of departure in his observations, 

 and often supply valuable clues in his researches. 

 What definitions of the City are available for the 

 purpose ? They differ, of course, from country 

 to country, but whether propounded by a lawyer, 

 by a politician, or by the man in the street, they 



232 



