46 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 



Many phenomena take place which, although not, 

 strictly speaking, lifeless, are nevertheless not suffi- 

 ciently complex and organised to be regarded as 

 living in the sense in which the word has hitherto 

 been used by most biologists. For this reason there 

 are ample grounds for extending the meaning of that 

 word so as to include a wider class or classes of 

 phenomena. 



The method so much in vogue amongst many of 

 us of regarding the sciences as divided into water- 

 tight compartments is in itself a great hindrance to 

 the discussion of many problems that really come 

 within the scope of two or more such branches of 

 science. 



For the division is arbitrary to a very large 

 extent, and it should be borne in mind that the 

 greatest problems of each are really those which lie 

 in the borderland between them. If more progress 

 is not made in this borderland it is, as we fear, of the 

 awe ^nd dread which, in these departments of 

 knowledge, each professor entertains towards each. 

 And the history of science is not without its reminders 

 of the prejudices— often reasonable prejudices, no 

 doubt — that have stood in the way of progress. 



Not merely in the battlefield does valour form a 

 factor in success. Even the votaries of science need 

 courage. And the dull conservatism of familiar 

 notions, often of the generations which have gone 

 before us, is one of the greatest hindrances to the 

 development of new ideas. This opposition is not 

 infrequently the result of misconception as to the 



