THE TWO ASPECTS OF SCIENCE 5 



about, and almost every one derives some satisfaction 

 from the answers which it offers. This wider appeal 

 is often attributed to the practical interest of science, 

 but that explanation cannot be the whole truth ; for 

 some scientific doctrines, such as the Copernican theory 

 and the theory of evolution, have convulsed society 

 without having the smallest effect on anybody's 

 material comfort. The true reason is easy enough to 

 discover, but its complete discovery would answer most 

 of the questions which we are going to ask. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF PURE LEARNING 



The main question which this book is designed to 

 answer may be expressed simply : What is Science ? 

 We have already answered it partly in saying that science 

 is a branch of pure learning which aims at intellectual 

 satisfaction. But it is not the only branch, and we must 

 ask next what it is that distinguishes science from other 

 branches. Is the distinction in the subject-matter that 

 it studies, or in the manner in which it studies it, or both 

 together, or, possibly, something quite different ? The 

 formal answer that I propose to give could be given at 

 once and quite briefly, but since at first sight it might 

 not appear plausible or even intelligible, we shall do 

 better to lead up to it more gradually. 



All branches of pure learning spring from a common 

 stock. We generally think of V pure learning " as some- 

 thing peculiarly characteristic of the highest state of 

 civilization and as something which could develop only 

 when man had advanced a very long way from savagery. 

 But as a matter of fact the instinct which inspires pure 

 learning is one of the oldest and the most primitive ; 

 man begins to seek answers to the riddles which still 

 perplex the most abstruse of philosophers before he 

 {begins to wear clothes or to use metal implements. 



