250 
Scientific Arrogance. 
[May 
undoubtedly have included in his c Bundle of Paradoxes.’ 
Mr. Ward’s particular paradox consists in a belief that the 
world and the solar system generally are growing bigger. 
Those misguided authorities, the astronomers, from Laplace 
downward, have been of opinion that they were contracting; 
but Mr. Ward has changed all that, and £ shows cause.’ why 
they are now and have always been expanding. The planets, 
it seems, are little orbs knocked off from the Sun ; and they 
are receding from it, instead of slowly approaching it, as the 
physicists vainly talk. The older a planet is, the farther has 
it got from the Sun. Moreover, it picks up a satellite or 
two on the way ; and the age ' of a world may thus be 
roughly guessed by observing how many moons it has 
managed to annex. As planets become older they become 
hotter. ‘ Growing old is growing cold,’ says the ancient 
proverb ; and certainly the accepted dodtrine that heat 
radiates would seem to lead towards the same conclusion ; 
but Mr. Ward has changed all that too, and announces that 
the crust of the Earth is cracking, not because of contrac- 
tion in the molten centre, but because of expansion. Alto- 
gether physical science is turned upside down by him with 
a boldness and originality quite remarkable. Chemists, 
physicists, astronomers, and biologists are all equally wrong. 
Matter is constantly coming into existence and passing away. 
Sunbeams add many thousand tons annually to the Earth’s 
weight. Rain falls from the sky diredt, and is not, as meteor- 
ologists absurdly assert, a product of evaporation. And so 
forth. All this is very excellent fooling ; but there is a 
method in Mr. Ward’s madness none the less. In spite of 
profound ignorance of many simple chemical and physical 
fadts, gleams of real cleverness burst out here and there : 
while you have only to reverse exactly all that he says about 
the solar system, and you get a forcible and in many ways 
original summary of the current nebular hypothesis. If 
Mr. Ward were possessed of a really scientific training he 
would probably have made a bold and vigorous inquirer ; as 
it is, he has only succeeded in producing an exceedingly 
absurd and extravagant work.” 
As the publication from which I have quoted is accus- 
tomed to insert letters, I addressed the following to the 
editor, in the hope that he would allow me to show that my 
book was not quite so “ absurd and extravagant ” as it was 
represented 
“ Sir,— Will you kindly permit me to correct a mistake 
into which your reviewer has fallen when noticing my book, 
* The Constitution of the Earth,’ a few days ago ? He 
