A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



back of it. The new principles of science could not 

 have been evolved had there not been great basal 

 principles which ages of unconscious experiment had 

 impressed upon the mind of our race. Due meed of 

 praise must be given, then, to our primitive ancestor 

 for his scientific accomplishments ; but justice demands 

 that we should look a little farther and consider the 

 reverse side of the picture. We have had to do, thus 

 far, chiefly with the positive side of accomplishment. 

 We have pointed out what our primitive ancestor 

 knew, intimating, perhaps, the limitations of his knowl- 

 edge ; but we have had little to say of one all-important 

 feature of his scientific theorizing. The feature in 

 question is based on the highly scientific desire and 

 propensity to find explanations for the phenomena of 

 nature. Without such desire no progress could be 

 made. It is, as we have seen, the generalizing from 

 experience that constitutes real scientific progress; 

 and yet, just as most other good things can be over- 

 done, this scientific propensity may be carried to a dis- 

 astrous excess. 



Primeval man did not escape this danger. He ob- 

 served, he reasoned, he found explanations; but he did 

 not always discriminate as to the logicality of his rea- 

 sonings. He failed to recognize the limitations of his 

 knowledge. The observed uniformity in the sequence 

 of certain events impressed on his mind the idea of 

 cause and effect. Proximate causes known, he sought 

 remoter causes; childlike, his inquiring mind was al- 

 ways asking, Why? and, childlike, he demanded an 

 explicit answer. If the forces of nature seemed to com- 

 bat him, if wind and rain opposed his progress and 



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