August 25, J905.] 



SCIENCE. 



243 



progressive diligence, are little less than be- 

 wildering. It is not merely the vast de- 

 velopment of all the sciences that calls for 

 remark : no less striking is their detailed 

 development. Each branch of science now 

 has an enormous array of workers, a de- 

 velopment rendered more easily possible by 

 the growing increase in the number of pro- 

 fessional posts; and through the influence 

 of these workers and their labors there is 

 .an ever-increasing body of scientific facts. 

 Yet an aggregate of facts is not an ex- 

 planatory theory any more necessarily than 

 a pile of carefully fashioned stones is a 

 cathedral ; and the genius of a Kepler and 

 a Newton is just as absolutely needed to 

 evolve the comprehending theory as the 

 genius of great architects was needed for 

 the Gothic cathedrals of France and of 

 England. Not infrequently it is difficult 

 to make out what is the main line of 

 progress in any one subject, let alone in a 

 group of subjects; and though illumina- 

 tion comes from striking results that ap- 

 peal, not merely to the professional work- 

 ers, but also to unprofessional observers, 

 this illumination is the exception rather 

 than the rule. We can allow, and we 

 should continue to allow, freedom of initia- 

 tive in all directions. That freedom some- 

 times means isolation, and its undue exer- 

 cise can lead to narrowness of view. In 

 spite of the complex ramification of the 

 sciences which it has fostered, it is a safer 

 and a wiser spirit than that of uncongenial 

 compulsion, which can be as dogmatic in 

 matters scientific as it can be in matters 

 theological. Owing to the varieties of mind, 

 Avhether in individuals or in races, the 

 progress of thought and the growth of 

 knowledge are not ultimately governed by 

 the wishes of any individual or the preju- 

 dices of any section of individuals. Here, 

 a school of growing thought may be ig- 

 nored ; there, it may be denounced as of no 



importance ; somewhere else, it may be 

 politely persecuted out of possible existence. 

 But the here, and the there, and the some- 

 where else do not make up the universe of 

 human activity; and that school, like Gali- 

 leo's earth in defiance of all dogmatic au- 

 thority, still will move. 



This complete freedom in the develop- 

 ment of scientific thought, when the thought 

 is applied to natural phenomena, is all the 

 more necessary because of the ways of 

 nature. Physical nature cares nothing for 

 theories, nothing for calculations, nothing 

 for difficulties, whatever their source ; she 

 will only give facts in answer to our ques- 

 tions, without reasons and without explana- 

 tions; we may explain as we please and 

 evolve laws as we like, without her help or 

 her hindrance. If from our explanations 

 and our laws we proceed to prediction, and 

 if the event justifies the prediction through 

 agreement with recorded fact, well and 

 good : so far we have a working hypothesis. 

 The significance of working hypotheses, in 

 respect of their validity and their relation 

 to causes, is a well-known battle-ground of 

 dispute between different schools of philos- 

 ophers; it need not detain us here and 

 now. On the other hand, when we proceed 

 from our explanations and our laws to a 

 prediction, and the prediction in the end 

 does not agree with the fact to be recorded, 

 it is the prediction that has to give way. 

 But the old facts remain and the new fact is 

 added to them; and so facts grow until 

 some working law can be extracted from 

 them. This accumulation of facts is only 

 one process in the solution of the universe : 

 when the compelling genius is not at hand 

 to transform knowledge into wisdom, useful 

 work can still be done upon them by the 

 construction of organized accounts which 

 shall give a systematic exposition of the re- 

 sults, and shall place them as far as may 

 be in relative significance. 



