THE UNITY OF SCIENCE. 31 



Let us take an illustration from the history of 

 astronomy. Apart from pioneer suggestions, as- 

 tronomy was till the middle of the century a 

 science descriptive of the movements of the heavenly 

 bodies. But the establishment of spectroscopy by 

 Kirchhoff and Bunsen was the beginning of a close 

 correlation between astronomy and other sciences. 

 Formerly " it was enough that she possessed the tele- 

 scope and the calculus. Xow the materials for her 

 inductions are supplied by the chemist, the elec- 

 trician, the enquirer into the most recondite myster- 

 ies of light and the molecular constitution of matter. 

 She is concerned with what the geologist, the meteor- 

 ologist, even the biologist, has to say ; she can afford 

 to close her ears "to no new truth of the physical or- 

 der. Her position of lofty isolation has been ex- 

 changed for one of community and mutual aid." * 



XEED FOB CRITICISM OF SCIENTIFIC WOBK. 



A large part of the scientific work done year after 

 year is instinctive and spontaneous rather than delib- 

 erate and controlled. It is done because the doers 

 have delight in it, a " natural taste," as they say, and 

 thus self-criticism as to the value of it is silenced. 

 The result is an enormous waste of mental energy. 

 Big-brained men often fritter away their intelligence 

 on the study of trivialities, which may be admirable 

 as what used to be called an " elegant amusement," 

 but represents a great loss to science. 



It is perhaps useful at times to stand by and 

 calmly watch the succession of gifts laid upon the 

 altar of science. There are the well-finished offer- 

 ings of those who have what seems to some of us so in- 



* A. M. Clerke, History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth 

 Century, 1885, p. 183. 



