INTRODUCTION 29 



case of the cathedral, the design in the mind of the archi- 

 tect comes first in order of time, following which, bricks, 

 stones and timber are all manufactured, cut and fash- 

 ioned to fit their predestined places, and then respectively 

 delivered upon the premises systematically so as to fore- 

 stall possible mistakes and confusion. Moreover, the archi- 

 tect takes the builder into his counsels, supplies him with 

 duplicate plans and specifications, and in every other way 

 cooperates with him throughout. In the case of con- 

 structing a science, all this is reversed. The designer 

 never appears ; there are no plans or specifications ; facts 

 the building materials are acquired haphazard and 

 at awkward intervals ; the very size of the foundation is 

 unknown, as are likewise the height, the breadth and the 

 general arrangement of the superstructure. Taking facts 

 as they arrived, astronomers have tried to make progress 

 as they went along, often mistaking capstone for corner- 

 stone, cornice for girder, lintel for sill in short, creating 

 a structure, it is true, but one weirdly different from what 

 it would have been had all the materials been available 

 from the very outset. Now, thanks to time and human in- 

 dustry, all the facts are simultaneously before our eyes 

 inviting and challenging us to test our architectural pow- 

 ers afresh. Shall we decline the challenge t 



