NEW CONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE 



Nature is simple, and therefore understandable. 

 That the universe is unthinkably vast does not im- 

 ply that it is without limit. That it is composed 

 of an unthinkably great number of suns does not 

 imply that this number is uncountable. If it is 

 limited in extent and in bulk, the mind of man 

 will find a way to measure and weigh it. That 

 its parts are unthinkably small does not imply that 

 the process of division may be carried on indef- 

 initely. There is probably a material substratum, 

 either granular or continuous, and, if such an un- 

 derlying material exists, all of its properties and 

 actions will one day be known. 



These conclusions are not now current, and the 

 writer is not aware that they have been stated in 

 these terms before. They are implicitly assumed 

 in every effort to further natural knowledge, and 

 their recognition will be necessitated unless the 

 course of physical investigation undergoes a radical 

 and unexpected change. At the present time there 

 is not very much to indicate that an infinite uni- 

 verse exists. If it does not, if cosmos is finite, we 

 might some day know all about it that there is to be 

 known. 



NOTE ON MAN'S PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE 



Something of the same point of view was embodied in a 

 recent address by Simon Newcomb, called " The Universe as an 

 Organism," to which the writer's attention has been drawn. 



