280 SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN MIND 



once more gains the ascendancy in Northern lands, 

 as, by the differential birth-rate and the downward 

 shift of political power, it seems destined to do, it is 

 difficult to believe that scientific results which threaten 

 its prejudices or are not in accord with its ideals will 

 be respected. Science, especially in its newly won 

 field of sociology, might find itself once more in an 

 environment where free and healthy growth was im- 

 possible. Indications are not altogether wanting to 

 remind us that reason is not always the mainspring 

 of human action, and that the reign of ignorance and 

 prejudice may yet again descend as a devastating 

 blight on the human mind. 



We have reached the end of our journey ; we 

 stand at the frontier, where the country opened up 



Science and an< ^ P ar tty surveyed by science touches 



the Human the dark forest of the unknown future. 



Mind What will the coming years disclose? 



No man can say. He would be indeed bold who 



would hazard more than a guess at the direction of 



the next few steps. 



Yet the story of the development of natural know- 

 ledge has an importance and a significance beyond 

 its mere historic interest, great though that may be. 

 The story of how discoveries were made in the past 

 throws light on the means by which further advance 

 becomes possible, and gives a clearer idea of the inner 

 meaning of what is already known than can be obtained 

 by non-historical methods. 



Scientific laws and theories, when taken from the 

 conceptual sphere in which they may be rigidly 

 valid, and referred back to the interpretation of nature 



