SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



ready reign in the various departments of 

 physics." 



In 1846, Lever rier and Adams simultaneously 

 and independently of one another discovered the 

 planet Neptune, and thereby reminded the scien- 

 tists of the vast universe outside of their little 

 specialties. This discovery was a new triumph 

 for empirical science and another blow for revela- 

 tion and metaphysics. For the existence of this 

 planet had been proclaimed by mathematical 

 astronomy long before it was actually observed 

 by human eyes, and reactionary mysticism had, of 

 course, scoffed at such " daring blasphemy." 



Researches concerning the function of elec- 

 tricity, magnetism, and light became more fre- 

 quent, but led to no definite results until the latter 

 half of the iQth century. In 1864, Clerk-Max- 

 well announced his electro-magnetic theory of 

 light, but it was not until 1887, that Hertz dem- 

 onstrated the actual existence of electric waves in 

 the ether. In 1881, J. J. Thompson established 

 the basis of the electro-dynamic theory, and in 

 1888, William Crookes advocated the theory of 

 the formation of chemical elements from one pri- 

 mordial substance. He spoke of an " infinite 

 number of immeasurably small ultimate or 

 rather ultimatissimate particles gradually ac- 



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