2 EXPERIMENTAL GENERAL SCIENCE 



regarding things already known. If we are to extend the 

 boundaries of our knowledge, we must strike out along original 

 lines, and study things themselves, using such knowledge as we 

 already possess to aid us in the work. The laboratory method, 

 therefore, is highly regarded by scientists, and may well be 

 the method of approach by even the beginning student. What 

 one finds out for himself by observation and experiment is 

 understood better and remembered longer than information 

 gained in any other way. Besides, one cannot really be said 

 to know until he has seen and experimented for himself. 



3. Special Sciences. A single scientific principle, such as 

 the fact that bodies expand on heating and contract on cooling, 

 or that the air has weight, has hundreds of applications in 

 industry and in the arts. When such principles are consid- 

 ered in their relations to a single phase of nature, they may give 

 rise to special sciences. Among the special sciences are astron- 

 omy, which treats of the stars and other heavenly bodies; 

 geology, physiography and geography, which are concerned with 

 the structure and configuration of the earth; chemistry, which 

 deals with the composition of all things and the changes which 

 they undergo; physics, which treats specifically of the changes 

 in form, position, and temperature of different substances; and 

 biology, which is concerned with life and its manifestations. 

 The latter is usually divided into zoology, which treats of 

 animals, and botany, which deals with plants. Physiology is 

 concerned with the functions, or life processes, of plants and 

 animals. Arising from these are many other sciences, such as 

 medicine, pharmacy, agriculture and engineering. When a 

 science is studied with the object of enlarging the boundaries 

 of our knowledge, it is usually called pure science; when it is 

 studied in its practical or useful aspects, it is called applied 

 science. These are not, however, distinct divisions. The dis- 

 coveries of workers in the field of pure science are often of the 

 highest value in practical affairs, while were it not for the 



