INTRODUCTION 



In any case, as one sees, the " University Lec- 

 tures " offered admirable opportunities to give 

 a hearing to men who had something novel to 

 present to an academic public. 



Fiske was led later to supplement his own lec- 

 tures on "The Positive Philosophy and the Doc- 

 trine of Evolution," and to enlarge their scope, 

 in the way that he describes in the Preface to the 

 present book. The repetitions of the lectures 

 which Fiske also mentions, and the report of 

 them in the New York " World," evidently at- 

 tracted a very general public attention. The vol- 

 umes which were to contain them in finished 

 form were anticipated with eagerness by those in- 

 terested in the doctrine of evolution ; and the 

 reviewer of the " Cosmic Philosophy " in the 

 "Popular Science Monthly" for January, 1875, 

 opened his account by saying : " This long-ex- 

 pected work has at last made its appearance, and 

 comes forth with such completeness that those 

 who have been impatient of its delay will be glad 

 that the author has taken the time needed to do 

 justice to a formidable undertaking." 



4. Our author's preparation for his task had 

 been of the most varied sort. It must be left 

 for his biographer to state in detail the course 

 of his development as a scholar and thinker ; but 

 we here need to bring to mind a few of the most 

 important features of bis early career. Fiske was 

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