SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



anarchic interaction of apparently aimless ele- 

 ments into a consciously directed and organized 

 movement toward a preconceived aim. 



This interaction of two movements, of progress 

 and reaction, pervades every particle of the uni- 

 verse. It is going on in conglomerations of 

 masses as well as in the most minute particle. 

 Is it a wonder, then, that the same fluctuations 

 are also observed in the ideas of mankind, as we 

 find them registered in the pages of history? 



Birth, growth, decay, and death, are the great 

 stages in the existence of all things of this world. 

 This observation was the basis for the early ideas 

 on transformation. But these ideas were vague 

 and crude, as vague as the natural history and 

 as crude as the tools of early man. A glance at 

 the maps of ancient Grecian and Roman geogra- 

 phers shows that their knowledge of the surface 

 of this globe was very limited. Astronomy was 

 then still in its swaddling clothes. Its scientific 

 instruments consisted of sand glasses, astrolabes, 

 sun dials, and the like. General education did not 

 exist. Means of communication and transporta- 

 tion were in an embryonic state. The intercourse 

 between nations through navigation and com- 

 merce was never very extensive, even at the 

 most flourishing period of ancient history, com- 



16 



