Science 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



604 



existence, to earn for itself the perpetual 

 gratitude of mankind. PARK BENJAMIN In- 

 tellectual Rise in Electricity, ch. 13, p. 412. 

 (J. W., 1898.) 



2985. SCIENCE FOUNDED ON 



FAITH Confidence in the Order of Nature 

 Man's Thought Sweeps All Space and All 

 Time. It may perhaps appear rash that we 

 restricted as we are in the circle of our 

 observations in space, by our position on 

 this little earth, which is but as a grain 

 of dust in our Milky Way, and limited in 

 time by the short duration of the human 

 race that we should attempt to apply the 

 laws which we have deduced from the con- 

 fined circle of facts open to us to the whole 

 range of infinite space, and of time from 

 everlasting to everlasting. But all our 

 thought and our action, in the greatest 

 as well as in the least, is based on our 

 confidence in the unchangeable order of Na- 

 ture, and this confidence has hitherto been 

 the more justified the deeper we have pene- 

 trated into the interconnections of natural 

 phenomena. And that the general laws, 

 which we have found, also hold for the most 

 distant vistas of space, has acquired strong 

 actual confirmation during the past half- 

 century. HELMHOLTZ Popular Lectures, 

 lect. 4, p. 144. (L. G. & Co., 1898.) 



2986. SCIENCE, FOUR PILLARS OF 



Nothing Proved Till " Foursquare to Op- 

 position" Crude and Hasty Inference Re- 

 buked. Every completed scientific investi- 

 gation must consist of four series of opera- 

 tions. In the first of these an attempt is 

 made to collect the whole of the facts bear- 

 ing on the question, by means of observa- 

 tion and experiment, the latter being only 

 observation under conditions determined by 

 ourselves. In the second stage of the in- 

 quiry the attention is directed to classifying 

 and grouping the isolated facts, so as to 

 determine their bearings upon one another 

 and the general conclusions to which they 

 appear to point. In the third stage it is 

 sought to frame an hypothesis which shall 

 embrace all the observed facts, and shall be 

 in harmony with the general conclusions 

 derived from them. In the fourth stage this 

 hypothesis is put to the most rigid test, com- 

 paring the results which must follow, if it 

 be true, with the phenomena actually ob- 

 served, and rejecting or amending our hy- 

 pothesis accordingly. Every great scientific 

 theory has thus been established by these 

 four processes observation, generalization, 

 hypothesis, and verification. JUDD Volca- 

 noes, ch. 12, p. 331. (A., 1899.) 



2987. SCIENCE HAS ALWAYS NEW 

 WORLDS TO CONQUER As men contem- 

 plate the riches of Nature, and see the mass 

 of observations incessantly increasing before 

 them, they become impressed with the inti- 

 mate conviction that the surface and the 

 interior of the earth, the depths of the 

 ocean, and the regions of air will still, when 



thousands and thousands of years have 

 passed away, open to the scientific observer 

 untrodden paths of discovery. The regret 

 of Alexander cannot be applied to the prog- 

 ress of observation and intelligence. HUM- 

 BOLDT Cosmos, vol. i, int., p. 41. (H., 1897.) 



2988. SCIENCE INDEPENDENT OF 

 PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES Investiga- 

 tor Should Keep to His Own Department. 

 Neither materialism nor spiritualism is a 

 scientific term, and one need have no con- 

 cern with them in a scientific inquiry which, 

 if it be true to its spirit, is bound to have 

 regard only to what lies within its powers 

 and to the truth of its results. It would 

 seem to be full time that vague and barren 

 disputations concerning materialism and 

 spiritualism should end, and that, instead 

 of continuing such fruitless and unprofitable 

 discussion, men should apply themselves 

 diligently to discover, by direct interroga- 

 tion of Nature, how much matter can do 

 without spiritual help. Let each investiga- 

 tor pursue the method of research which 

 most suits the bent of his genius, and here, 

 as in other departments of science, let each 

 system be judged by its fruits, which cannot 

 fail in the end to be the best sponsors and 

 sureties for its truth. MAUDSLEY Body 

 and Mind, pref., p. 6. (A., 1898.) 



2989. SCIENCE IN ITS PRACTICAL 

 BEARINGS The Material Triumphs of the 

 Nineteenth Century. When our century, 

 with justice, is called the age of natural 

 science, when we look with pride upon the 

 immensely important progress made in all 

 its branches, we are generally in the habit 

 of thinking more of immediate practical re- 

 sults, and less of the extension of our gen- 

 eral knowledge of Nature. We call to mind 

 the complete reform, so infinitely rich in 

 consequences to human intercourse, which 

 has been effected by the development of ma- 

 chinery, by railways, steamships, telegraphs, 

 and other inventions of physics. Or we think 

 of the enormous influence which chemistry 

 has brought to bear upon medicine, agri- 

 culture, and upon all arts and trades. 

 HAECKEL History of Creation, vol. i, ch. 1, 

 p. 2. (K. P. & Co., 1899.) 



2990. SCIENCE IN PRESENCE OF 

 THE OLD MYSTERY Infinite Purpose As- 

 sociated with Endless Material Evolution. 

 The wave of life which is now passing over 

 our earth is but a ripple in the sea of life 

 within the solar system; this sea of life is 

 itself but as a wavelet on the ocean of eter- 

 nal life throughout the universe. Incon- 

 ceivable, doubtless, are these infinities of 

 time and space, of matter, of motion, and of 

 life. Inconceivable that the whole universe 

 can be for all time the scene of the operation 

 of infinite personal power, omnipresent, all- 

 knowing! Utterly incomprehensible how 

 infinite purpose can be associated with end- 

 less material evolution! But it is no new 

 thought, no modern discovery, that we 



