THE AGE OF SCIENCE 233 



learned in regard to the structure and development of the 

 earth shall have been learned, the occupation of the geolo- 

 gist would be gone. But that time will never come. 



And so I might go on pointing out the general character 

 of the work done by different classes of scientific men, but 

 this would be tedious. We should only have brought home 

 to us in each case the fact that, no matter what the science 

 may be with which we are dealing, its disciples are simply 

 trying to learn all they can in the field in which they are 

 working. As I began with a reference to astronomy, let 

 me close with a reference to chemistry. Astronomy has 

 to deal with the largest bodies, and the greatest distances 

 of the universe; chemistry, on the other hand, has to deal 

 with the smallest particles and the shortest distances of 

 the universe. Astronomy is the science of the infinitely 

 great ; chemistry is the science of the infinitely little. The 

 chemist wants to know what things are made of, and, in 

 order to find this out, he has to push his work to the small- 

 est particles of matter. Then he comes face to face with 

 facts that lead him to the belief that the smallest particles 

 he can weigh by the aid of the most delicate balance, and 

 the smallest particles he can see by the aid of the most 

 powerful microscope, are immense as compared with those 

 of which he has good reason to believe the various kinds of 

 matter to be made up. It is for this reason that I say that 

 chemistry is the science of the infinitely little. 



Thus have I tried to show what science is and what it is 

 not. Now let me turn to the second question. 



In what sense is this the age of science? In the first 

 place, it is not true that science is something of recent 

 birth. Scientific work of one kind and another has been 

 in progress for ages not in all branches, to be sure but 

 nature has always engaged the attention of man, and we 

 may be sure that he has always been trying to learn more 

 about it. The science of astronomy was the first to be 

 developed. Astrology was its forerunner. Then came 

 chemistry in the guise of alchemy. It would be interest- 



