NULLIUS IN VERBA 147 



When asked whether he had seen it he said, "A 

 fine galloper, is it not ? small hoofed, five feet high, 

 tail 3^ feet long. Cheek-pieces of the bit 23-carat 

 gold, shoes silver." They of course begged to 

 know where it was, and he said he had not 

 seen it. 



This will be recognised as the method of 

 Sherlock Holmes, but it is also the method of 

 science. Surely you would like to become scientific 

 under the guidance of that great man. Of course 

 you are not to be Watsons, but actual detectives, 

 with Watsons of your own to admire you. And 

 lest 3'ou should fear that the scientific method is 

 alarmingly difficult, I may add that the method of 

 Zadig or Sherlock Holmes, or of science in general, 

 is nothing more than glorified common-sense. 



It is difficult to talk about a subject which 

 interests one without seeming to claim that it is 

 superior to all others. I have not meant to imply 

 this. I have only tried to explain in what way 

 science differs from some other sort of knowledge. 

 Nor do I wish to imply that the mind that excels in 

 science is better or worse than that which one finds 

 in a great hterary man. An eminent oar is worthy 

 of as much respect as a great cricketer, but he is 

 eminent in a different way. 



I am glad to think that there are points in 

 which science, literature, and art are equally 

 excellent — namely, in giving to mankind some of 

 the deepest pleasures of which he is capable, in 

 making him realise the wonder, the beauty and the 

 romance of the world. I spoke of the power of 

 science in knitting together isolated facts into a 



