34o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



wait till the first dawnings open slowly by little and little into a full 

 and clear light." Commenting upon this somewhat modest remark 

 Lodge says : " That is the way — quiet, steady, continuous thinking, 

 uninterrupted and unharassed brooding. Much may be done under 

 these conditions ; much ought to be sacrificed to obtain these conditions. 

 All the best thinking work of the world has been thus done." 



In closing, let us pause and consider the state of knowledge before 

 and after Newton. Before him are the foreshadowings of Copernicus, 

 the dim gropings of Kepler, the elementary truths of Galileo, the 

 flashes of Borelli and Huygens, the fantastic speculations of Descartes; 

 after him is a magnificent and comprehensive system of well-ordered 

 knowledge. As we contemplate this we can understand the significance 

 of the inscription on Newton's tomb. " Let mortals congratulate them- 

 selves that so great an ornament of the human race has existed." 



