SCIENCE AND CULTURE. 21 



centuries ago. Leaving aside the existence of a great 

 and characteristically modern literature, of modern paint- 

 ing, and, especially, of modern music, there is one feat- 

 ure of the present state of the civilised world which 

 separates it more widely from the Renascence, than the 

 Renascence was separated from the middle ages. 



This distinctive character of our own times lies in the 

 vast and constantly increasing part which is played by 

 natural knowledge. Not only is our daily life shaped by 

 it, not only does the prosperity of millions of men de- 

 pend upon it, but our_wjiole theory of lifejiasjong 

 influenced, 



conceptions fvf_ Jjj ft . n ni vfTRP T .-\sIiiAl^--4tfH^^-4w^B forced 

 upon us bj_plr^sical~science. 



In fact, the most elementary acquaintance with the 

 results of scientific investigation shows us that they offer 

 a broad and striking contradiction to the opinions so im- 

 plicitly credited and taught in the middle ages. 



The notions of the beginning and the end of the 

 world entertained by our forefathers are no longer cred- 

 ible. It is very certain that the earth is not the chief 

 body in the material universe, and that the world is not 

 subordinated to man's use. It is even more certain that 

 nature is the expression of a definite order with which 

 nothing interferes, and that the chief business of man- 

 kind is to learn that order and govern themselves accord- 

 ingly. Moreover this scientific " criticism of life " pre- 

 sents itself to us with different credentials from any 

 other. It appeals not to authority, nor to what anybody 



