210 
NATURE 
[FEBRUARY 17, 1923 

the view should be as extensive as the subject 
itself. 
People have lately been using the term “ science ” 
in a looser and more comprehensive sense than hereto- 
fore. Its roots might be found in the practical skill, 
the mother-wit and sharp senses of the primitive savage. 
In any case the beginnings may be seen in the settled 
communities of the great river-valleys, in Egypt, 
Babylonia, the Yangtze, as well as in Mexico and Crete: 
Can one doubt that the science involved in the drawing 
up of the first calendars by the priests of Egypt and in 
the marvellous structure of the pyramids was a factor 
of the first importance in preserving the social order 
and cohesion of those early theocracies, the first great 
permanent aggregations of mankind upon the planet ? 
The power of prediction involved in science, and first 
exemplified in the making of the calendar,was intimately 
bound up with the power of securing obedience, and 
the acceptance of their lot by the millions who wor- 
shipped the Pharaoh. 
The Greeks were, of course, the founders of science 
in the stricter sense, which seeks the law of change, the 
principle of unity in the manifold; and it might be 
thought that the constant disunion of ancient Greece 
disproved the social or unifying effect of science. But 
this would be to take a narrow and short-sighted 
view. Greek science had from the first a strong social 
value. It formed a link between the early philosophers 
in the Ionian cities of its birth, and in the case of the 
Pythagoreans it was the basis of a brotherhood which 
aimed as much, or more, at social reformation than it did 
at increasing the scope of abstract thought. In fact all 
the early Greek philosophers were also interested in 
social and political problems. They saw that true 
wisdom was a practical thing, fit to inspire, as Anaxa- 
goras said, “a calm religion free from fear.” 
But the chief moral and social effect of Greek science 
came later, first, when Hellenism was spread over the 
Middle East by the arms of Alexander, secondly, when, 
in the Greco-Roman world, Greek science and Roman 
law combined to lay the foundation for the medieval 
and modern world. The younger Pliny, when pro- 
consul in Asia Minor under Trajan, gives an interesting 
illustration. He points to the effect of astronomy in 
allaying the fears and composing the minds of the mass 
of the people. 
In estimating the social influence of science, however, 
the mind turns naturally to its greatest expansion in the 
last few centuries. When in the sixteenth century the 
mind of Ancient Greece awoke again and men began to 
seek in Nature herself for the answer to the problems of 
life, there were two new factors in the world which 
affected the results of their inquiries. One was the 
discovery of new lands, the expansion of the West. 
NO. 2781, VOL. 111] 
The other was the decay of slavery, the recognition of 
manual and mechanical work as a worthy occupation 
of good brains, This the Greeks had never recognised, 
and their failure limited the application of science 
to industry in ancient times. But with the advent 
of a New World and a new spirit in industry, from 
the sixteenth century onwards, the transformation of 
society by science went on apace. From the middle of 
the eighteenth century it has become apparent as the 
dominating force in the world. 
Hence the question of the intrinsic value and the 
social influence of science is primarily a discussion of the 
effects of the Industrial Revolution in which we still 
live. The fact that we are living in it now and making 
it more complete every moment, adds enormously to the 
difficulty of valuation. It is a part of ourselves and 
influences almost every act and thought, and therefore 
to deplore and condemn the tendency, or to wish it 
away as Ruskin did, is futile in practice and pessimistic 
in philosophy. 
Two or three main points stand out clear in the 
contemporary picture. They are, in the first place, facts 
with which the student of social life has to concern 
himself to understand the movement; and, in the 
second place, guides to action, indicating the line which 
those must take who are pressing for the stability and 
betterment of society. 
The world is one in a new—if you will, an artificial— 
sense, due to the application of science to transport and 
communications of all kinds. This process is being 
accelerated by every possible means and is pre- 
eminently a social one. It must find its issue in com- 
plete international trade and a really comprehensive 
League of Nations, acting as the organ of common 
interests and opinion. It is most important to re- 
member that the League of Nations, which we already 
possess, is the fruit of the historical evolution due to 
science and was only precipitated and not caused 
by the war. The unification of the whole world is 
only the result on a large scale of a process which has 
knit up every particular society in a closer organisation 
than before. Science, being itself a social product, 
due to the intercourse of active minds, finds its ex- 
pression in a social organisation impossible without 
the application of science. This is seen not only in the 
organisation of industry but also in every activity of the 
community from the government downwards. All are 
closer and more complicated, just in proportion to the 
extent that the given society has created, imbibed, and 
applied the results of scientific thinking. Expressed 
briefly and broadly, but with perfect truth, humanity 
is the counterpart of science, the practical obverse of 
the abstract reverse of thought. 
To make this process more effective by conscious 
