Y

AN INTROD U CT ION TO

THE HIS T OR OF S CIENCE

W A L TER L IBBY M A
PRO FES S OR OF T HE
,

HIS TO R Y
. .
,

O F SC IENCE
Ph D
. .

T HE A
Y
C R NE G IE IN S TITU T E
O F T ECHNO LO G

Y
B OSTO N RO K C HIC A GO
HOUG HTO N M IFFLIN COM PAN
abs m ai n: pa n aamhri m
Y
 W
Y
T O M Y S TUD ENTS OF THE LAS T T E L VE
EARS IN THE CHICAG O AN D P I TTSB URGH
D IS TR IC TS TH IS B OOK IS INSC R IBED IN
F URTH ERAN CE O F THE EN D EA V O R To
I N CUL C ATE A D EM O C RAT IC CULT UR E ,

E VE R M I ND FUL O F THE D A IL Y T AS K
,

N OT ALTO GETH ER IGN ORA NT O F THE

A C HIEVEME N TS OF THE PAS T

358887
 PREFACE

THE hi s t or y of science has something to o fier to

the h umblest in telli gence It is a means of i m par t
.

ing a kno w ledge of scientific facts and principles to

unschooled minds At the same time it affords a
.

S i mple method o f school instruction Those who

.

understan d a business o r an institution best as a ,

contemporary writer on finance remarks are those ,

who have made it o r grown up with it and the next,

best thing is to kno w how it has grown up and the n ,

watch or take part in its actual working Generally .

S peaking we know best what we know in its origins

,
.

The history of science is an aid in scientific research .

It places the student in the current of scientific .

thought and gives him a clue to the purpose and

,

n ec essity o f the theories he is required to master It .

presen ts science as the constant pursuit o f truth

rather than the formulation of truth long since r e
vealed ; i t S hows science as progressive rather than
fixed dynamic rather than static a growth to which
, ,

each may contribute It does not paralyze the self

.

activity of youth by the record of an infallible past .

I t is only by teaching the sciences in their hi s tor i

cal development that the schools can be tr ue to the

two principles of modern education that the sciences

,

should occupy the foremost place in the curriculum

and that the indivi d ual mind in its evol ution should
rehearse the history of civiliza tion .

The histo r y o f science should be given a larger

place than at prese n t in gen eral history for as ,
vi PRE FAC E
Bacon said the history of the world without a his
,

tory o f learning is like a statue of Polyphemus with

the eye o ut The his tory of science studies the p as t
.

for the sake o f the future It is a story of continu .

o us progress It is rich i n biographical material It

. .

shows the sciences in their i n terrelations an d saves ,

the student fro m narrowness an d premature special

i z at i on It afio r d s a unique approach to the study
.

o f philosophy It gives n ew motive to the study of

.

foreign lang uages It gives an interest in the ap .

plications o f knowledge ofier s a clue to the complex ,

civilization o f the present and renders the mind hos ,

p i tab l e to n ew discoveries an d inve n tion s .

The history o f science is hostile to the spirit of

caste It shows the sciences rising from daily needs
.

an d occ up ations formulated by philosophy enrich

, ,

ing philosophy giving rise to ne w industries which

, ,

re act in turn upon the sciences The history of sci .

ence reveals men o f all grades of intelligence an d

o f all social ranks co O e r ati n i n the cause o f huma n
p g
progress It is a basis o f intell ectu al an d social homo
.

n e i ty
g e .

Scie n ce is international English German s French

Italian s Russian s —
, , , ,

,
all n ations con tributing to
advance the general interests Accordingly a survey .
,

o f the sciences tends to increase mutual respect an d ,

to heighten the h uman itarian sentimen t The history .

o f science ca n be taught to people o f all creeds and

colors and cannot fail to enhance in the breast of

,

every yo ung man o r woman faith in human progress , ,

an d good wi ll to all man kind

- .

Thi s book is intended as a simple introduction ,

t aking advan tage of the i n terests of youth o f from

 PRE FAC E vii

seven tee n to twen ty two yea rs of age ( an d their i n

-

te ll ect ual compeers ) i n order to di rect their atten

tio n to the story o f the developmen t o f the scien ces .

It makes n o claim to be i n any sense complete or

comprehe n sive It is therefore a psychological i n
.
, ,

t rod uct i o n ha ving the me n tal capacity o f a certai n

,

class of readers always in View rather than a logical ,

in tr oductio n which would presuppose in all readers

,

both full maturity of i n tellect and con siderable in i

ti al i n terest i n the history o f scie n ce .

I cannot conclude this preface without thankin g

those w ho have assisted me i n the preparation o f
this book S ir William Osler who read the first ,

draft of the man uscript an d aided me with hi s coun

,

sel ; D r Charles Singer who re ad all the chapters i n

.
,

man uscript and to whom I am indebted for advice

,

i n referen ce to the ill ustrations and for many other

valuable suggestions ; the offi cers o f the Bodleian L i
b r ar y whose courtesy was unfailing during the year
,

I worked there ; Professor Hen ry Cre w who helped ,

i n the revision of two of the chapters by his ju d icious

criticism ; Professor J E Rush whose knowledge. .
,

o f bac teriol ogy improved the chapter o n Pasteur ;

Professor L O Grondahl who read one o f the chap

. .
,

ters relating to the history of physics and suggested

importan t emendation s ; an d Dr Joh n A Brashe ar . .
,

who con tribut ed valu able i nformation i n referen ce to

the activities of Samuel Pierpont L an gley I wish to .

express my gratitude also to M iss Floren ce Bo nn et

for aid in the correctio n of the manuscript .

W Lunar
. .

Febr uar y 2 , 1 91 7 .
 CONTENTS

I . AND PRAC TICAL NB ED S

SCI EN C E -
EGY PT
AN D BAB YLO NIA
II . THE INFLUEN CE O F AB STRA CT THO UGHT
G REEC E : ARI STO TLE

III S CIENTIFIC THEO RY S UB O RD INAT ED

. To

PLICATIO N ROM E : VI TRUVI US

THE CO NTI NUI TY S C IEN C E

OF THE MED I
EV AL C HURC H AN D THE ARAB s
V THE C LASS IFI C AT I O N
. OF THE ScIENCE s
FRAN C I S BAC O N

VI SCI ENT IFIC M ETH O D

. GI LB ERT , G ALI LEO ,

HAR VEY D ES C ARTES,

SCIEN C E AS M EAS UREMENT TY C HO BRAH E ,

KEPLER BOYLE ,

CO O PERATI ON IN SC I EN C E —TH E RO Y AL

IX S CI EN C E AND T HE S TRUGGLE F O R LIB ERTY

.

BENJ AM IN FRANKLIN

W
THE INT ERAC TION
RN ER HUTTO N
E

SMI TH
, ,
OF

BLAC K
THE

, HALL , W
S C I EN C ES
I LLIAM

XI S CI NC E AND RE
. E

LAPLAC E SI R
A

ILLIAM HERS C H EL
, W
LAMB ERT —
LI G ION K NT , ,

THE REI GN O F LAw D ALT ON J O ULE

,
x C ONTENTS
THE SCIEN TI S T SI R HUMPHRY DAVY
XIV SCI ENT IFIC PRED IC TI O N
. THE DS RY
I C OVE
O F NEPTUNE

XV S CI ENC E AND TRAV EL

. THE VOYAGE OF

W
THE BEAGLE

XVI SCIEN C E AN D
. AR —PAST E UR , LI STER

XVII SC I EN C E AN D IN VENT I ON LANGLEY S AERO

’
.

PLANE
SCI ENT IFI C HYPOTH ES I S RADIOACTN E S UB
STAN CES
IRE S CI ENTI FIC IMAG INAT ION
SCI EN C E AND DEM OC RATIC C ULTU RE
 ILLUSTRATIONS

W
Y
EARLIES T PICTURE KN O
TI ON _ EG PT 25 00 B
.
,
N
. C .
OF A SURGICAL OPERA

ST TH OMAS AqUINAs OVER C OMIN G AvERRO Es

W
.

DR GILB ER T SH O ING HI S ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS

.

To QUEEN ELIZAB ETH AND HER C OURT

W
THE TICHONIC QUA DRANT .

ADHAM COLLEG E OXFO RD

WN
,

S IR ISAAC NE TO 1 12

J OHN DALTON COLLECTING M ARSH GAS 1 62

THE FIRS T SUCCES S FUL HEAVIER THAN A IR

- - Y
FL IN G
236
AN INT RO D U C T IO N T O THE
HIS T O R O F S CIENCE Y
Y
C H A PTER I
—
S C IE NC E AND P RA C TICA L

B AB Y
O L
N EED
N IA
S E G P T AND

IF you consult e n cyclopedi a s an d speci al works i n

referen ce to t he early history of any one of the sci
cuce s —astr o n omy
, geology geomet ry physiology
, , , ,

logic or political scie n ce for example o u wi ll fin d

y
-
, , ,

strongly emph asized the part played by the Greeks

in the developme n t o f organized knowledge Gre at .
,

in deed as we shall see in the n ext chapter are the

, ,

con tributions to the g rowth of science of this highly

rat ion al an d speculative people It must be co n ceded .
,

al so th at the influe n ce on Western scie n ce of civili

,

zati o n s ea rlier than theirs has come to us to a co n ,

s i d er ab l e ext e n t at least through the chann els of

,

G reek lite rature .

Nevertheless if you seek the very origi n s of the

,

s cie n ces yo u will i n evitably be dra w n to the ban ks

,

o f the Nile an d to the valleys o f the Tigris an d the

,

Euphrates Here in Egypt in Assyri a and B abylo n ia

.
, , ,

dwelt from very remote times nations whose ge n ius

w as practical an d religious rather than intellec t u al
an d theoretical an d whose mental life therefore w a s
, , ,

more akin to our own than was the highl y evolved

culture of the Greeks Though more remote i n time
.
,
the wi sdom and practical kn owledge o f Thebes an d
M emphis Nineveh and Babylon are more readily
, ,

comprehended by our mi n ds than the difficult spec

ulat i o ns o f Athe n ian philosophy .

M uch that we have i nherited from the earliest

civiliz ation s is so famili ar so homely that we si m ply
, ,

accept it much as we may light o r a ir o r water

, , , ,

W
wi thout an alysis without inquiry as to its origin
, ,

an d without full re cogn itio n of h o w i ndi spensable it

is
. hy a re there seve n days i n the week and n ot ,

eight ? Why are there sixty minutes in the hour and ,

why are there n ot sixty hours in t h e day ? These

artifici al divisions o f time are accepted so unquestion
i ngly that to ask a reason for them may to an indolent ,

mind seem almost ab s urd This acceptan ce of a week

, .

o f seve n days and of an hour o f s i xty minutes ( almost

as if they were n atural division s of time like d ay and

n ight) is o w in g to a tradition that is Babylonian i n
its origin From the O ld Testament ( which is on e
.

o f the greatest factors i n preserving the continuity

o f human culture an d the only ancient book which

,

S peaks with authori ty concerning Babylonian history )

we le arn that Abraham the progenitor o f the He

,

brews migrated to the west from southern Babylonia

,

about tw e n ty three hundred years before Christ

- .

Eve n in that remote age however the Babylonian s, ,

had established those divisions of time which are

f amiliar to us The seve n days of the week were
.

closely associated in men s thinking with the beav ’

enly bodies I n our modern languages they are named

.

after the sun the moon M ars M ercury J upi t er

, , , , ,

Venus an d Saturn which from the remotest times

, ,

were person ified an d worshiped Thus we see th at .

 SC IENCE AND PRACTICAL NEEDS 3

the us age of makin g seve n days a unit of time de

pends o n the religious belief an d astronomic al science
o f a very remote civilization The usage is so com
.

p let ely est a blished that by t he majority it is simply

taken for gran ted .

An other piece of comm onplace kn owle d ge the

c a rdin al poi n ts o f the compass —may be accepted ,

like s e without in quiry o r without reco gnition o f its

,

impo r tan ce Unl ess thrown on your o wn resources in

.

an unsettled country o r o n u nkno w n waters you may ,

long fail to re alize ho w in dispensable to the practical

co n duct o f lif e is the knowledge o f east an d west and

n orth and south I n thi s matter again the records

.
, ,

o f an cient civilizations show the pains that were take n

to fix the s e essenti als o f science M odern excava .

tion s have demonstrated that the sides or the corn ers

o f the temples an d pal a ces o f Assyri a an d Bab lo
y
n i a were directed to the four cardin al points o f the

compas s I n Egypt the pyramids erected before

.
,

3 000 B C were laid out with such strict regard to

. .
,

dire ctio n that the conjecture h as been put forw ard

that their mai n purpo s e w as to establish in a lan d ,

o f shi ft ing san ds e a st a nd west an d n orth an d south

, .

Tha t co nj ecture seem s extravagan t ; but the fact that

the Pt ni ci ans st udied astro nomy merely because o f
i ts practic al val ue i n navigation the e arly inventio n
,

o f the compa ss in China the influence o n discovery

,

of the later improvements o f the compass make us ,

realize the importance of the alleged purpose of the

pyramids Without fix ed points without something
.
,

to go by men before they had acquired the elements

, ,

o f astronomy were altogether at s ea

, As they ad .

vanced i n kn owled ge they looked to the sta rs fo r

4 THE HIST O RY OF SC IENCE
guidance especiall y to the pole star and the imperish
,

able star group of the northe r n heavens The Egyp

-
.

tians even developed an apparatus fo r telling the

time by reference to the stars — a star clock similar -

in its purpose to the sundial By the Egyptians .

,

also wa s carefully observed the season o f the year

,

a t which certai n stars and constellations were visible

at dawn This w a s o f special importan ce in the cas e
.

o f Sirius for its heli acal rising that is the pe rio d

, , ,

when it rose i n conju nctio n with the sun marked ,

the coming of the Nile flood ( so important i n the

lives o f the inhabitants) and the beginning o f a
n ew year No t un n aturally Sirius was an object o f
.

worship O ne temple is said to have been so con

.

structed as to face that part o f the eastern horizon

at which this star arose at the critical season o f in
u n dation Of another temple we are told that onl y
.

at sunset at the time o f the summer solstice did the

s un throw its r ays throughout the e di fice The fact .

that astronomy i n Egypt as i n Babylonia where ,

the te m ples were observato r ies was closely associated

,

with religion confirms the view that this science was

first cultivated bec ause of its bearing on the practical
n eeds of the people The priests were the preservers
.

o f s uch w i s d o m
. as had been accumulated i n the
course Of ma n s immemorial struggle with the forces
’

o f nature .

It is well known that geometry had its o r l gm In

the valley of the Nile that it arose to meet a pr acti
,

cal need and that it was in the first place as its name
, ,

i m plies a meas urement of the ear th a crude sur

,

v e yi n g
,
employed in the restoration o f bo undaries
obliterated by the annual in undations of the river .
6 THE H I ST OR Y OF SC IENCE
equation s involving one unknown an d had a hiero ,

glyph for a million ( the d r aw i ng o f a man overcome

with wonder) and another for ten milli on
,
.

The Rhi n d m ath em ati cal papyrus in the British

'

M useum is the main source o f o ur present kn owledge

“
o f early Egyptian arithmetic geometry an d o f what , ,

might be called their trigo nometry and algebra It .

describes itself as In struc t ion s fo r arriving at the

kn owledge of all things an d of things obscure and
, ,

o f all mysteries It w as copied by a pries t about

.

1 6 00 B C . the cl assical period o f Egyptian culture

.

from a document seven hu n dred years Older .

M edici n e which is al most certain to develop in the

,

early history o f a peo ple in response to their urgent

n eeds has bee n justly called the foster mother of
,
-

man y sciences In the records of Egyptian medi cal

.

practice can be traced the origin of chemistry anat ,

o m y physiology and botany

, , O ur most definite i n .

formatio n con cerning Egyptian medicin e belongs to

the s ame general period as the mathematical docu
ment to which we have just referred It is true some .

thing is kn own o f remoter times The first physician .

o f whom hi story has preserved the name I em h ete -

p
-
,

( H e who c ometh i n peace

- -
)-
lived about
- 4 5,0 0 B C . .

Re cent researches have also brought to light n ear ,

M emphis pictures no t later than 25 00 B C of surgi

, , . .
,

cal operations They were fou n d sculptured o n the

.

doorposts at the en tran ce to the tomb o f a high offi cial

“
o f o n e of the Pharaohs The patients as show n in
.
,

“
the accompanying ill ustration are s nfler i ng pain an d

"
, , ,

according to the in scription o ne cries out D O this , ,

”
and] let me go and the other D on t h urt me
, ,
’

so I O ur most s atisf actory data in reference to Egyp

 SCIEN C E AND PRACTIC AL NEED S 7

tian medicine are derived however from the E be rs , ,

papyrus This document displays s ome little kn owl

.

edge o f the pulse in di ff erent parts of the body of a ,

relati o n between the heart and the other organs an d ,

o f the p a ssage of the breath to the lungs ( and heart) .

It contains a list of di se ase s I n the m ain it is a co l .

lection of prescriptio n s for the eyes ears stomach , , ,

to r educe tumors e ff ect purgatio n etc There is n o

, , .

evidence o f a te ndency to homeopathy but mental ,

healin g seems to h ave been call ed in to play by the

us e o f n umerous spell s an d inca nta tio n s Each pre .

scriptio n as i n medical practice to d ay con tains as

,
-
,

a rule several in gredients Amon g the seven h undred .

recogniz ed remedies a re to be n oted poppy castor ,

o i l gentian
,
colchicum squill s and man y other fa
, , ,

mili ar medicin al pl ants as well as bicarbo n ate of sod a

, ,

an timony an d salts of lead and copper The fat of

, .

the lion hippopotamus crocod i le goose serpe nt an d

, , , , ,

wi ld goat in equal parts served as a prescription for

, ,

b aldn ess In the i n terests o f hi s art the medical prae

.

t i ti oner ran sacked the reso urces o f organ ic an d in

organ ic n ature The Ebers papyrus shows that the
.

Egyptians kn ew of the developmen t of the beetle fro m

the egg of the blow fly from the larva and of the
,
-
,

frog from the tadpole M oreover for precisio n in the

.
,

use of med icamen ts weights of very s m all d enom i

nations were employed .

The Egyptian embalmers relied o n the preserva

tive properties of commo n salt wine aromatics , , ,

myrrh cassi a etc By the us e o f li n en smeared with

, , .

g u m they ex cluded all putrefactive agencies They .

u n derstood the Virtue o f extreme dryn ess in the

exercise of their an tiseptic art S ome kn owledge o f .
8 THE H ISTOR Y OF S CIEN C E
an atomy was i n volved in the removal o f the viscera ,

and much m ore in a part ic ular method they followed

in removing the brain .

In their various in dustries the Egyptian s m ade

use o f gold silver bron ze ( which on an alysis is
, ,

found to consist of copper tin and a trace of lead , , ,

metallic iro n an d copper an d their oxides ,

man ganese cobalt alum cinnab ar i n digo m adder

, , , , , ,

brass white le ad lampblack There is clear evidence

, , .

th at they smelted iron or e a s early as 34 00 B C . .

mai n taini n g a blast by means of le ather tread be l -

lows They also con trived to tempe r the metal an d

.
,

t o make helmets swords lance points ploughs tools

, ,
-
, , ,

and other implements o f iron Besides metallurgy .

they practiced the arts o f weaving dyeing distill a , ,

tion They prod uced soap (from soda an d o i l)

.
,

transpare n t and colored glass en amel an d ceramics , , .

They were skilled in the prep aration of leather .

They S howed aptitude for painting and for the other ,

fin e arts They were expert builders an d possessed the

.
,

engi n eering skill to erect obelisks w eighin g hun dreds

o f to n s They cultivated nume r ous vegetables grai n s
.
, ,

fruits an d flowers They had m any domestic ani

, .

mals In seeking the satisfaction of their practical

.

n eeds they laid the foundation of geometry botany , ,

chemistry ( n amed as some think from the Egyptia n

, ,

Khem the god of m edicin al herbs ) an d other sci

, ,

ence s But their practical achieveme nts far tran

.

scended their theoretical formulations To all time .

they will be kn own as an artistic noble and reli , ,

gions people who cherished their dead and woul d

,

n ot allow that the good an d be autiful an d great

should altogether p ass away .
 SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL NEEDS 9

Exca vatio n s i n Assyria an d Babylonia especially ,

since 1 8 43 have bro ught to o ur kn owledge an an

,

cient culture stret ching back four o r five thousan d

years before the begi nn ing o f the C hristian era The .

r ecords of Assyri a an d Babylonia ; like those o f Egypt ,

are fr agmen ta ry an d still i n need o f in terpretation .

Here again however it is the fundamental the i n

, , ,

dispen sable the pr actical forms of kn owledge that

,

s tan d reveal ed rather th an the theoretic al specula ,

ti ve an d purely intellectual
, .

By the Babylo nian priests the he avens were made

the object of expert observation as early as 3 8 00
The length of the year the len gth o f the month the, ,

comin g of the se asons the course o f the s un i n the

,

he avens the movements of the pl anets the recur

, ,

rence of eclipses comets an d meteors were studied

, , ,

with p articular care O ne motive w as the n eed of a

.

measurement of time the s ame motive as underlies

,

the commo n in terest in the cal endar and alm u ac .

It w as foun d that the year contained more than 3 65

days the m onth ( synodic ) more than 2 9 days 1 2
, ,

hours an d 44 m inutes The su n s apparent diameter

, .
’

was contain ed 7 2 0 times i n the ecliptic that is i n , ,

the app arent path o f the sun through the heavens .

L ike the Egyptian s the Babylonian s took special

,

n ote o f the stars an d star groups th at were to be -

s ee n at dawn at difi er en t times o f the year These .

co n stellation s lying in the imaginary belt encircling

,

the he ave ns on either side of the ecliptic bore names ,

corresponding to those we have adopted f or the sign s

o f the zodiac Balan ce Ram Bull Twins S oor
, , , , ,

pion Archer etc The Babylonian astronomers also

, , .

observed that the successive vern al (or autum nal )

10 THE H I STORY OF SC IENCE
e quin oxes follow e ach other at interval s of a few sec
o n ds less than a year .

A second motive that in fluen ced the Babylonian

priests in studying the movements o f the he avenly
bodies was the hope o f foretelli ng events The plan .

ets s ee n to shift their position s with reference to the

,

other he ave nly bodi es wer e called messengers o r

, ,

an gels The appe a ran ce of M ars perhaps o n account

.
,

o f its reddish color was associated in their i m agi na

,

tions with war Comets meteors an d eclipses were

.
, ,

considered as ome n s porte n din g pes tilen ce national ,

dis aster or the fate of kings The fortun es of i n

, .

d i vi d uals could be predic ted from a knowledge o f

the aspect of the hea vens at the hour o f their birth .

This interest in astrology or divination by me an s of ,

the stars n o doubt stimulated the priests to make

,

careful observations and to preserve r eligiously the

record of astronomical phenomena It was eve n e s .

t ab l i shed that there is a cycle in which eclipses solar ,

and lunar repeat themselves a period ( s ar os ) some

, ,

what more than eightee n years an d eleve n months .

M oreover from the Babylonian s we derive some o f

,

o ur most sublime religious an d scientific concep

tion s They held that strict law governs the appar
.

e n tly erratic movements of the he ave nly bo di es .

Their crea tio n myth proclaims : Merodach n ext

arran ged the stars i n order along with the sun and ,

m o on an d gave them laws which they were n ever to

,

transgress .

The mathematic al kn owledge of the B abylonians is

relate d o n the one han d to their astronomy and on the
other to their commercial pursuits They posses sed .

highly developed systems of measuring weighing , ,

1 92 THE H I ST OR Y OF S C IENC E
eve n recovered the n ame ( Ilu b an i ) of a physician
-

who lived in southern Babylonia about 2 7 00 E C .

The most I n teresting information however i n refer , ,

en ce to Babyloni an medicine dates from the time o f

Hammurabi a contemporary of the patriarch Abra
,

ham It appears from the code drawn up in the reign

.

o f that monarch that the B a bylonian surgeons oper

ated i n case of cataract ; that they were entitled to

twenty silver shekels (half the sum for which Joseph
was sold into slavery an d equivalent to seven o r
,

eight dollars ) for a successful ope ration ; and that in

c ase the patient lost hi s life o r his sight as the res ul t
o f an u n success ful operation the surgeo n w a s con
,

d em ned to have his han ds amp utated .

The Babylon ian records of medicin e like those o f

as t r onomy reveal the prevalence of man y superstitious
beliefs The spirits of evil bring mal ad ies upon us ;
.

the gods heal the di seases that affli ct us The Baby .

lonian books of medicine contained strange inter

min gli ngs of prescriptio n and in cantation The priests .

studied the livers of sacrificial an imals in order to

divine the thoughts o f the gods —a practi ce which
stimul ated the study of anatomy The maintenan ce .

o f state menageries n o doubt had a si m i lar influe n ce

o n the Study of the natur al history o f animals .

The Babylonians were a n ation of agricul turists

and merchants Sargon of Akkad w ho foun ded the
.
,

first Semitic empire in Asia ( 3 8 00 w a s brought

up by an irrigator and was himself a gardener Bel
,
.

sh az z ar the son o f the last Babylonian ki n g dealt

, ,

i n wool o n a co n siderable scale Excavation in the.

lan d watered by the Tigris and E uphrates tells the

tale o f the money lenders impo rters dyers f ullers
-
, , , ,
 SCIENC E AND PRA C TICAL NE EDS 13

tann ers saddl ers ‘smiths carpe n ters shoem akers

, , , , ,

s tonec ut ters ivory cutters brickmakers porcelain

,
-
, ,

makers potters Vi n tn ers sailors butchers e n gi

, , , , ,

neers archi tects pain ters s c ulptors musicians deal

, , , , ,

ers i n rugs cl othi ng an d fabrics who contributed to

, ,

the cultur e of this gre at historic people It is not .

surpri sing that science shoul d fin d its m atrix i n so

rich a civili zatio n .

The lever an d the pulley lathes picks saws h am , , , ,

mers bronze operating lan ces sun dials w ater clocks

,
-
, ,
-
,

the gn omo n ( a vertical pill ar for determining the sun s ’

al titude ) were in use Gem cutting was highly de

.
-

veloped as early as 3 8 00 B C The Babyloni an s made . .

us e o f copper harden ed wi th an timony an d ti n lead , ,

incised shells glass alab aster lapis lazul i s ilver an d

, , ,
-
, ,

gold Iron w as n ot employed before the period of con

.

tact with Egyptian civi li zation Their b uildings were .

furnished with systems of d rains and flushes that seem

t o us altogether modern O ur museums are enriched
by specimens of their han dicraft —realistic statuary
.

in dolerite o f 2 7 00 B C ; rock crystal worked to the

. .

form of a pi an o convex lens 3 8 00 B C ; a beautiful

-
, . .

silver v ase of the period 3 95 0 B C ; and the he ad of . .

a goat in copper about 4 000 B C . .

Excavatio n has not disclosed n or scholarship i n

t e r pr ete d the full record of this an cient people in the
valley of the Tigris an d the Euphrates not far from ,

the Gulf of Persia superior in religious in spiration

, ,

not inferior in practical achievements to the Egyp

ti ans Both these great nations of an tiquity however
.
, ,

failed to ca r ry the sciences that arose in connectio n

with their arts to a high degree o f generalization .

That was reserved for another people o f an cien t

times namely the Greeks
, , .
14 THE H ISTOR Y OF SC IENC E

RE FERE NCE S
F. G ar ri so n An Intr od ucti on to the Hi s tor y of Med ici ne
H
.
, .

H V Hilprecht Excavati ons i n As syri a and Babyloni a

. .
, .

Max Neub ur ger Hi stor y of M ed i ci ne

, .

A H S ay ce, Babyloni ans and As syri ans

. . .
 C H APTER H
THE INFLU ENC E OF AB STRA C T THOUGHT
G R EE C E : AR IST O T LE

W
characteristic intellectual qual
g enius e e al ed i tSelf Thales .

( 6 4 0 5 46. B ho I s usually regarded as the first

“
o f the Greek philosophers was the founder of
, fg ek

an d stronom He was o n e o f the se ve n

W
m t a
g eo e
g .

y
i se me n 0 reece an d might be cal led the
,

Ben jamin Fran klin of an tiquity fo r he was i n ter,

es te d In commerce fam o us Ib r politic al sagacity and

, ,

honored for his disin tereste d love of ge n eral truth .

His birthplace was Miletus a Greek City o n the

,

coast of Asia M in or There is evide n ce that he ao

.

quired a kn owled ge of Babylonian astron omy The .

p ursuit of commerce carried him to Egypt an d there ,

he gain ed a kn owledge of geometr y Not o nly so .

,

but he was a ble to advan ce this study by general

izing an d formulatin g its truths For the Egyptian s
.
,
“
was con cerned with surfaces and di m en
8 1 0 11 8 with are a s and cubical co n te n ts ; for the G reek
, ,

with his pow er s of abstrac tion it becam “ e a St

uy
d of

line and angle I b r exarfiple ThH

,
-

.
, eS saw tthat the
angles at the base of an isosceles trian gle a re equ al ,

and that when two straight lines cut o ne an other the

vertically oppo site angles are equal However after .
,

havi ng established gen er al pr i n cipl es he S howed him ,

16 THE H I ST OR Y OF S CIE NC E
s elf capable of applyin g them to the solution o f par
ti cul ar problems In the presence of the Egyp ti an
.

priests t o which class he was solely indebted for In

,

struction Th al es demo n strated a method of m eas ur

,

i n g the height of a pyramid by reference to i t s

shadow And again o n the basis of his kn owledge
.
,

o f the relation o f the sides o f a tri angle to its an gles ,

he developed a practical rul e for ascertai ni n g the

distan ce of a ship from the shore .

The philosophical mi n d o f Thales laid hold no ,

do ubt of some o f the essenti al s of astronomical sci

,

ence The particulars us ual ly brought forward to

.

prove his originality ten d rather to show his indebt

ed n es s to the Babylonians The number of days i n .

the year the length o f the syn odic month the rela
, ,

tion of the sun s apparent diameter to the ecliptic

’

the times of recurrence of eclipses were m atters that ,

had lon g been known to the Babylonian s as well as ,

to the Ch inese However he aroused great interest

.
,

in astronomy amo n g the Greeks by the prediction

o f a solar eclipse This was probably the eclipse of
.

5 8 5 B C which interrupted a fierce battle betwee n

. .
,

the M edes and the Lydians The advice o f Thales .

t o marin ers to steer by the L esser Be a r as ne arer ,

the pole r ather than by the G reat Bear shows al so

, ,

that i n his astron omical studies as i n his geometri

cal he w as not in different to the applications of
scientific k n owledge .

I n fact some writers mai n tain that Thales was

,

n ot a phi losopher at all but rather an as tronomer ,

and engineer We know very little of his pure

.

spec ulative thought We do kn o w however that he .

, ,
‘
x

arrived at a gen er aliz atio n fan tastic to most mi n ds

INFL UENC E OF AB STRACT TH O U GHT 17

that all t hing s are wate r Attempts have bee n n .

made to add to this statement and to explain it ,

away Its gr eat in terest for the histo ry of thought

W
.

lies in the fact that it is the resul t offieg i ng the

constant in the variable-
the unitary pri nciple i n the
,

Efl fi mBnROf n ature This abstract an d .

general Vie w ( though perhaps suggested by the

Babylonian belief t hat the world originated i n a
watery chaos or by the teaching of Egyptian priests)
,

was pr eéminenfly G reek and was the first o f a '

,

series o f att em pts to discover the basis or origi n of

all things On e of the followers o f Thales taught
.

th at air was the fun d amental principle ; while Her

acli t us an ticipating to some exte n t modern theories
,

o f th e origi n o f the cosmos declared in fa vor of a ,

fiery vapor s ubject to ceaseless change Em ped o .

cles the gre at philo sopher physician first set forth -

the doctrine o f the four elem ents — earth air fire

, ,

, , ,

and water For D emocritus indivisible particles or

.

atoms are fun damental t o all phenomena It is evi .

den t that th e theory of Thales w as a startin g point

fo r G reek abstract th ough t and that his inclin atio n ,

to s eek out pri n ciples an d ge n er a l laws accoun ts for

his i nfluen ce on the developme n t both of philosophy
and the scien ces .

Pyt hagoras o n the advice o f Thales Visited Egypt

, ,

i n the pIIPSifit Of ma thematics ; There is reason to

I ' I I ‘

believe th at he also visited Babylon ia Fo r hi m and .

his followers mathematics became a philosophy

almost a religion They had discovered ( by e xper i
.

m e n ti ng with the monochord th e fi r st piece of ,

physical laboratory apparat us consisting o f a te nse

-
,

har ps t r i ng with a movable bridge ) the effect o n the

18 THE H IST OR Y OF SC IENC E
tone o f the string of a m usical in strument when the
length is reduced by on e half and also that strings ,

o f like thick n ess and under equal tension yield har

m on i o us tones when their lengths are related as

4 : 5 The Pythagoreans d r ew from
.

this the extravagant inference that the heave nly

bodies would be in distance from the earth as 1 2 , ,

3 4 5 etc M uch of their theory must seem to the

‘
.
, , ,

m odern mind méi e ly fa néi fu

Ia
'

n d unsuppo r ted spec

u l at i o n At the s ame ti me i t I s only j ust to this

.

school of philosophers to recognize that their ass um p

tion that simple mathematical relationships govern
the pheno m ena of nature has had an immense i nflu
ence o n the advance o f the sciences Whether their .

fanaticism for n umber was owing to the infl uence of

Egyptian priests o r had an Oriental origin it gave ,

t o the Pythagoreans an enthusiasm for pure math e

m ati cs They disregarded the bearing of their sci
.

ence“o“n the p ractical ne eds o f life Ol d problems .

like s cifiEHAg the ci r cle tr i s ecting the angle and

"

, ,

doubling the cube were now attempted in a ne w

,

spirit an d with fresh vigor The first second and .

, ,

fourth books o f Euclid are largely of Pythagorean

origin For solid geometry as a science we are also
.

indebted t o this sect o f number worshipers One of - .

them (A r chytas 4 2 8 —347 B C a friend of Plato )

, . .
,

was the first to apply geometry to mechanics We .

see again here as in the case o f Thales that the

, ,

love of “ abs tract tho ught the purs ui t of ed e m a as

,
-

science di d not i nt er fer e with ultimate practical

,
f

Plato (4 2 9—347 l ike many other Greek

philosophers traveled exten sively Visiting Asia
, ,
20 THE HIST OR Y OF SC IENCE
gr w
i a
flg s‘p
o h er fs po i nt of View
The m
story is told .

that o ne o f his p upils arrived perhaps at the p ans ,

a s i nor um asked , What do I get by learning these

,
”
things ? E uclid calling his servant said
, Give , ,

him S ixpence since he m ust p a ke g airr o ut o f what

,
-

”
he learns Ad ults were also found even amon
.
,

n imble witted Gr eeks to whom abstract reasoning

-
,

was not altogether congenial This is attested by the .

familiar story o f Ptolemy Ki n g of Egypt w h o once , ,

asked Euclid whether geometry coul d not be learned

“
in some easier way than by studying the geomet er s ’

book The E lem ents To this the schoolmaster r e

, .

plied There is n o royal road to geometry For

, .

the acad emic intelligence abstract an d abstruse

mathematics are tonic and an Grid in themselves AS .

already stated their u l ti m ate pr act i cal value is al so

, r

immense O ne of Plato s associates working under

.
’

his di rection investigated the curves produced by

,

cutting con es of d i fler e nt kinds in a certain plan e

These curves —the ellipse the parabola hyperbola
.

—play a large part in the subsequent history of

, ,

astronomy an d mechanics Another Platonist m ade .

'

the first meas urement o f the earth s circumference .

Ar istotle the greatest pupil of Plato was born at

, ,
Y
S tagi ra III 38 f B C f He Came o f a family Of physi
"
1

e iaus was trained for the medical professio n and

, ,

had his attention early directed to natural phenomena .

He entered the Academy at Athens about 3 6 7 B C . .

,

and studied there till the de ath o f Plato twenty

years later He was a diligent but as was natural
.
, ,

considering the character o f his early education by ,

n o mean s a passive student Plato said that Aristotle .

reacted against his instructor as a V igorous colt kicks

INFL U ENC E OF A B STRACT TH O U GHT 21
’
th e mother that no urishes it The physician s s o n .

did not accept wi t hout modification the V ie w that the

philosopher should turn his b ack upo n the thin gs o f
sense He had been train ed in the physical scien ce
.

o f the time an d be lieved in the reality o f concrete

,

thi n gs At the same ti me he absorbed what h e found

.

o f value in his master s teachi n gs He thought that ’

.

science did not consist in a mere study of individual

thi n gs but that we must pas s on to a form ulatio n of
,

general principles an d then return to a study of the

OM S w as a gre at syst em atizing in tellect ,

wh ich h as left its impri n t o n ne arly every depa rt

W W
ment OI know led ge P hysical astronomy physi cal .
,
w

geography mete orology physics chemistry geology

, , , , ,

botan y anatomy physiology embryology and zool

'

, , , ,

dgy were e n riched by his teaching It w as through .

hi m t h at logic e thics psychology rhetoric aesthetics

, , , , ,

politica l science z o Olo gy (especially ichthyology)

'

, ,

first received s ystem atic treatment As a great mod .

ern philo s opher has said Aristotle pressed his way ,

through the mass o f thi n gs kn owable and subjected ,

its diversity to the power of his tho ught No wonder .

”
that fo r ages he was known as The Philosopher ,

master o f those who kno w Hi s purpose was to co m V .

prehend tO defin e to cl assify the phenomena o f or

, ,

g an i c and inorganic nature t o systematize the kn owl ,

ed ge of his o w n time .

Twenty years apprenticeship i n the school of Plato

’

had sharpened his logical powers an d added to his

stock of general ideas but had not taught him to dis ,

tr ust his senses When we say that o ur eyes deceive

.

us we really confess that we have misinterpreted the

,

da ta that o ur sight h as furnished Properly to kn ow .

22 THE H IST OR Y OF SC IENC E
involves the right us e o f the senses as well as the
right use o f reason The advance of s cience depends
.

o n the development bo th
"
an d Ob se r va
t IOn Ari stotl e ad w s eHi nvestigators to m ake s ure o f
.

the facts before s eekIng t he explanatIon of the facts .

Where preconceived theory was at variance with oh

served facts the former m ust of course give way
, .

Though it has been said that while Plato was a

dreamer Aristotle was a thinke r yet it must be ac
, ,

kno w ledged in qualification that Plato Often showed

gen uine kn owledge o f natural phenomena in anatomy
and other departments O f study and that Aristotle
,

was carr ied away at times by his o w n presuppositions ,

o r failed to bring his theories to the test of observa

tion The Stagirite held that the velocity o f falli ng

.

bodies i s proportional to their weight that the func

,

tion o f the diaphragm is to divide the region of the

n obler from that o f the animal pa s sions an d that the
,

brain is intended to act in opposition to the heart ,

the brain being formed o f earthy and watery mate

rial which brings about a cooling e ff ect The theory
, .

o f the four elements — the hot the cold the moi s t

the dry —led to dogmatic statements with little at

, , ,

tempt at verification From the standpoint o f modern

.

studies it is easy to point o ut the o f Ari s

Y
”

t o tl e even Science I s progressive not infallible

.
, .

"
In his o wn tun e was rather repr oach ed f r what
was co nsidered an up d i gni fie d and sordid familiarity
w ith observed facts His critics said that having
.

sq uandered his p at ri mony he had served I n the army

, ,

and f ailing there had become a s eller of d r ug s His

, ,
.

observations o n the effects o f heat seem to have been

drawn from the common processes of the home and
IN FL U ENCE OF AB STRACT TH O U GHT 23

the workshop Even in the ripening of fruits heat ap

.

pears to him to have a cooking efle ct Heat distorts .

articles made of potters clay after they have been ’

hardened by cold Again we find him describing the

.

manufac t ure o f potash and of steel He is no t disdain .

ful of the st udy o f the lower animal s but invites us ,

t o investigate all forms in the expectancy o f discover

ing so mething natural and beautif ul I n a sim ilar .

spir it of the Aristotelian work

Tlie P r o bl em s studies the pri nciple o f the lever the ,

rudder the wheel and axle the forceps the balance

, , , ,

the beam the wedge as well as other mechanical

, ,

pri nciples .

I n Aristotle in fact we find a mind exceptionall y

, ,

able to form clear ideas and at the same time to ,

observe the rich variety o f nature He paid homage .

both to the m ultiplicity and the uniformity of n a

ture the wealth o f the phenomena and the simplicity
,

o f the law explain ing the phenomena M any general .

and abstract ideas ( category energy entomology , , ,

essence mean between extremes metaphysics me

, , ,

t eo r o logy motive natural history principle s yllo

, , , ,

gism) have through the influence of Aristotle become

the common property of educated people the world
over.

Plato w as a mathematician and“an astronomer .

Aristotle was fir st an d foremost a biologist His .

books treated the history of anIm als the parts Of -

,

an imals the loco m ofioT Of REi m a

,
l s thegeneration of ,

animals respiration life and death length and short

, , ,

n ess of life youth and O ld age His psychology is 4

, .
,

lik e that of the present d ay a biological psychology , .

In hi s contributions to biological scie n ce is man i

 24 THE H ISTOR Y OF SC IENCE
fes ted his ch aracteristic in clin ation to be at once ah
stract an d concrete His works display a knowledge
.

o f over five hundred living forms He dissected speci

.

m ens o f fifty di fferent sp ecies o f animals O ne might .

mention especially his min ute kn owledge of the sea

urchi n o f the murex ( source of the famous Tyrian
,

dye) o f the chameleon o f the habits o f the torpedo

, , ,

t he s o called fis hi ng frog an d n est making fishes as

- -
,
-
,

well as o f the man ner o f reproduction of whales and

certai n species o f sharks One o f his chief co nt r i b u
.

y t i o n s t o ana to my is the descriptio n o f the heart an d _

o f the arran gement o f the blood vessels A r epug - .

have checked to some extent his cur i os Ity in refer

ence to the anatomy o f m an but he was acquainted
,

with the structure of the internal ear the passage ,

leading from the pharynx to the m i ddl e ear an d the ,

two o uter membran es o f the brai n o f man Aristotle s .

’

gen i ps di i p9t p
_ g m i t him t o get lost in the mere de
ta ils o f observed phenomena He recogn ized resem .

bl an ces and d ifi er ence s be tween the various species ,

classified animals as belonging t o two large groups ,

distingui shed whales and dolphins from fishes recog ,

ni z ed the family likeness of the domestic pigeon the ,

wood pigeon t he rock pigeon and the turtle dove

, , .

He laid d o wn the characteristics o f the class o f i n

vertebrates to which octopus and sepia belong Man .

’
fi t akes a place in Aristotle s system of nature as a
social an imal the highest type of the whole series o f
,

livi n g be ings c haracterized by certain powers o f re

,

call reason deliberation Of course it was n ot to be

, ,
.

expected that Aristotle sho ul d work o ut a fully sat

i s fact or y classification o f all the varieties o f plan ts
IN FL U ENC E OF AB STRACT TH O U GHT 25

W
meth od mark him as t he father of nat ural science .

He had the eye to observe an d themind to g rasp the

re lafions fi pi i a nd t h e I mpo r t Of what he observed

W
.

M si L according t oi lléha
fi

ture of their teeth ( dentition ) has been criticized as

thi s principle of cl as sificatio n is still
o f us e and may be regarded as typical o f his mind
, ,

at once careful and comprehensive .

On e instan ce of Aristotle s combin ing philo sophi

’

cal specul atio n with acut e observ atio n of n atural

phenomena is afforded by his work on ge n eration
and development He kn ew tha t the tran smissio n o f
.

life deserves speci al study as the predomi n an t fun c

tion of the various species of plants and animals .

D eformed parents may have well formed o ffsprin g -

.

Chi ldren may resemble grandparents rather th an

parents It is only toward the close of its develop
.

ment that the embryo exhibits the characteristics of

its parent species Aristotle traced with some ca re
.

th e embryological development o f the chick fro m

the fO
'
“
b rth d ay of in cubati on His kn owledge o f the
.

propagation of an imals was however not sufficie n t to

, ,

make him reject the belief In spontan eous generatio n

from mud san d foam an d dew Hi s errors are
, , , .

readily comprehen sible as for ex am ple in attrib

, , ,

n ting spo n taneo us generation to eels the habits and ,

mode of reproduction of which on ly recent studies

have made fully known In regard to generation as
.
,

in other scientific fields the philosophic min d of Aris

,

to tl e an ticipated modern theories and also raised ,

general questions only to b e Sol d 133? later in vesti

g a ti o n o f t he facts .
26 THE HIST O RY OF SC IENC E
Only one indication need be given o f the practical
resul ts that flowed from Aristotle s scientific work ’
.

In o n e o f his wr itings he has stated that the S ph e

r i ci t o f the earth can be observed from the fact that
y
its shad ow o n the moon at the time o f eclipse is an
arc That it is both spherical and small in comparison
.

with the heavenly bodies appears moreover from , ,

this that stars visible in Egypt are invisible in cou n

,

tries farther north ; while stars al ways above the

horizon in northern co untries are seen to set from
countries to the south Consequently the earth is not
.

only spherical b ut also not large otherwise this phe

n om eno n w ould not present itself on so limited a

chan ge o f position on the part of the obser ver It

, ,

"
seems the r efore not incredible that the regio n about
the Pillars o f Herc ules Gibraltar] i s connected with
that o f India and that there is th us only one ocean
, .

It is known that this p assage fro m The P hi los op her

i nfluenced Columb us in his undertakin g to reach the
O rie nt by sailing west from the coast o f Spain .

We m ust pass ove r Aristotle s observation of a

’

relationship ( homology) between the arms o f man ,

the forelegs o f quadr upeds the wings of bi rds and

, ,

the pectoral fins o f fishes as well as many other

,

truths to which his genius for generalization led

him .

In the field O f Aristotle had a wi d e

kn o w ledge of natur and rai s ed general
q uestions as to mode of propagation nourishment
“
, ,
‘
relation o f plants t o animals e tc His pup i l and life
, .

long f r iend and successor as leader ofi e Peripa

,

t et i c school o f philosophy Theophrastu s combined

, ,
m
a knowledge o f mathematics ast r ono m yjbotany and
, ,
28 THE H ISTOR Y OF SC IENC E
ar t is i gnl
if connected with daily needs His I n
e .

t er e s t lay I n a

W “
bstruse mathematical p r oblems His .

special pride was in having determined the relative

“
dimensions of the sphere and P tE cyli n der
g .

He wor k ed o ut the pr Inciple o f t he lever Give .

”
h e said a place on which to stan d and I will
,

move the earth He approximated more closely

.

than the Egyptians the sol ution of the problem o f

the relation between the area o f a circle and the r a
dins HM Qrk had
"
valu e i n Spi t e o f L IE
”

self At the request

. i end the Ki n g o f S icily ,

he applied hi s ingenuity to discover whether a cer

tain crown were pure gold o r alloyed with silver an d ,

he hit upon a method which has found many appli

cations i n the in d ustries His name is associ ated
.

with the endless screw In fact his practical contri v

.
,

anc os won such repute that i t is not easy to separate

the h istorical facts fr om the legen ds th at e n shroud .

his n ame He aided i n the defen se o f his native city

.

agai n s t th e Romans in 2 1 2 B C an d devised war. .

,

with which to repel the besiegers Afte r the .

enemy had entered the city says tradition he stood , ,

“
absorbe d I n a mathematical problem which he had
di agrammed o n the san d As a rude Roman soldier
.

approached Archimedes crie d D o n t spoil my cir

, ,
’

”
cles and w as instantly killed The Victorious gen
,
.

eral however buried him with honor and on the

, , ,

tomb of the mathematician caused to be inscribed

the sphere with its enclosing cylin der The triumphs .

o f Greek abstra t thought teach the lesson that pr ac

c

tical me n shoul d pay homage to speculation even

when they fail to comprehen d a frac tio n of it .
INFL UE N CE OF AB STRACT TH O U GHT 29

W
RE FE RE NCE S
Hi s tori c Ani m ali um
W t r anslated b y D A
’
. Thom p
.

so n .
(Vol . Iv o f t he or ks o
f Ari s totle Tr ans lated i nto Engli s h .

Oxfor d : Clar e nd o n Pres s

A B Buckley (M r s Buckley Fis her ), A S hor t Hi s tor y of Natur al
. . .

S ci ence .

G H Le w es , Ari s totle A Chapter i n the Hi s tor y of S ci ence

W
. . .

T E Lo nes Ari s to tle s Res ear ches i n Natur al S ci ence

’

W
WW
. .
, .

DA Th o m pso n On Ari stotle as a Bi olo gi s t

’
. . , .

i l liam h ew ell, Hi s tor y of the Ind ucti ve S ci ences .

Alfr ed eber , Hi s tor y of P hilos ophy .

 C HA PTER III
S C IE N T IFIC T HE O R
AP P LIC AT IO N
Y
O
O
R ME
SU B RD INAT E D
V IT RU V IU S
TO

V ITRU V IU S was a cultured engineer and architect .

He was employed in the ser vice of the Roman State

at the time of Augustus shortly before the begi n
,

ning o f the Christian era He plan ned basilicas and

.

aqueducts and designed powerful war engines capa

,
-

ble o f h urling rocks weighing three o r four hundred

pounds He knew the arts and the sciences held
.
,

lofty ideals o f professional conduct and dign ity an d ,

was a diligent student of Greek philosophy .

We know of him chiefly from his ten S hort books

o n Architec ture
( D e A r ch i tectur e L i br i D ecem
, ) ,

in w hich he touches upon much of the lea r ning of

his time Architecture for Vitruvius is a science
.

arising o ut o f many other sciences Practice and .

theory are its parents The merely practical man

.

loses much by not knowing the bac k gro und of his

activities ; the mere theorist fails by mistaking the
shadow for the s ubstance Vitruvi us in th e theoret
.

ical and historical parts of his book draws largely

o n G r eek writers ; b ut in the parts bearing on pr ac

tice he sets forth with considerable sh r ewdness the

, ,

out come of years of thoughtf ul professional ex per i

ence One cannot read his pages w ithout feeling that
.

he is more at home in the concrete than in the ah

st r act and spec ulative in describing a catapult than
,

in explaining a scie ntific theory or a philosophy He .

 RO M E : VITRUV IUS 31

w as n ot a Plato an Archimedes but an e fficie n t

or ,

officer of State conscious of indebte dn ess to the

,

great scien tists and philosophers With a j ust se n se .

o f hi s limitations he undertook to wri t e not as a lit ,

crary man b ut as an architect His education had

, .

been mainly professional but the whole circle o f , ,

learn in g being one harmonious system he had been ,

drawn to m an y branches of knowledge in so far as

they were related to his calling .

In the j udgment of Vitruvius an architect should

be a good writer able to give a l ucid explanation o f
,

his plans a skillf ul draftsman versed in geometry

, ,

an d optics expert at fig ures acquainted w ith history

, , ,

i nform ed in the principles of physics and of ethics ,

kno w m g s omething of music (tones and aco ustics ) ,

“
n o t ign oran t of law o r o f hygiene or of the mo
, ,

tions laws and relations to each other of the beav

, ,

enl y bodies For since architecture is founded upon

.
,

an d adorned wi th so man y different sciences I am ,

o f opinion that those who have not from their early ,

youth grad ually climbed up to the summit cannot

, ,
”
without presumption call them selves masters of it
, .

Vitr uvius was far from sharing the V iew of Archi

m ed es that art which was connected with the satis
faction of daily needs was necessarily ignoble and
vulgar O n the contrary his interest centered in the
.
,

practical ; an d he was mainly concerned with s ci en

t ific th eory by reason o f its application in the arts .

Geometry helped him plan a staircase a kn owled ge

o f tones was necessary in discharging catap ults ; law

de al t with boundary lines sewage disposal and co n

-
,
-
,

tracts ; hygi ene enabled the architect to show a Hip

ocr at i c wisdom in the choice of buildin g sites with
p
-
32 THE H I STORY OF S CIEN C E
due reference to airs and waters Vitruvius h ad the .

Rom an practical and regulative genius not the ah ,

stract an d speculative genius of Athens .

The second book begins with an accoun t of dif

fer en t philosophical Views concer n ing the origi n o f
m atter and a discussion of the earliest dwellings o f
,

man Its real theme however is building materi al

—brick sand lime ston e con crete marble stucco
.
-
, ,

, , , , , , ,

timber pozzolano In referen ce to the last ( V ol

, .

cani c ash combin ed with lime an d rubble to form a

ceme n t) Vitruvius writes in a way that indicates a

discriminating knowledge of geological formation s .

L ikewise his discussio n of the influe n ce o f the Ape n

n ines on the rainfall and co n sequently o n the tim, , ,

b e r o f the firs o n the east an d west o f the range ,

shows a grasp of meteorological pri n ciples His re al .

power to gen eralize is shown in conn ectio n with hi s

specialty in his trea tment of the sources o f bui ld
,

ing material rather than in his co n sideratio n of the

-
,

origin of matter .

Similarly the fifth book begi n s with a discussio n

o f the theories o f Pyt hagor a s but its real topic is ,

public buildings fora bas ilic as theaters b aths , , , ,

a l s t r as harbors an d quays I n the theaters bronze

p z
e , ,
.

vases of various sizes arranged according to Pyt hag ,

orea n musical principles were to be used in the ,

auditorium to reinforce the voice of the actor ( This .

recommendation was misunderstoo d centuries later ,

when Vitruvius was considered of great authority ,

and led to the futile practice o f placing e arthe n ware

jars beneath the floors o f church choirs ) According .

to o ur author The voice arises from flowing breath

, ,

sen sible to the he ari n g through its percussio n on

 RO ME : VITRUVIUS 33
”
the air It is comp ared to the wavelets p r oduced by
.

a sto n e dropped in water only that i n the case of ,

soun d the w aves a re n ot con fin ed to o ne plan e This .

generali zation con cerning the nature of sound w as

probably n ot origin al however ; it may h ave been
,

s uggested to Vitruvius by o ne of the Aristoteli a n

The seve nth book treats of in terior decoration

mosaic floors gypsum mouldi n gs w all pai n tin g
, , ,

whi te le ad red lead verdigris mercury ( which may

, , ,

be used to recover gold from worn o ut piece s of em -

broidery ) en caustic painti n g with hot wax colors

, ,

( black, blue ge n ui n e an d imit

, a tio n murex purple ) .

The eighth book de als with w ate r an d with hydraulic

engin eerin g hot spri n gs min eral waters levelin g
, , ,

instrumen ts co n structio n of aqueducts lead an d

, ,

clay pipin g Vitruvius w as n ot ign orant of the f act

.

that w ate r seeks its own level an d he eve n argued ,

that air must have weight in order to accoun t for

the ri se of w ater in pumps I n his time it was m ore .

eco n omical to co n vey the hard water by aqueduct s

than by such pipes as could the n be con structed .

The n i n th book un dertakes to rehearse the eleme n ts

o f geometry an d astro n omy the sign s o f the zodi ac ,

the su n moo n plan ets the phases of the m oon the

, , , ,

mathematical di visions of the gn omo n the use of the ,

su n dial etc O ne feels i n re ad ing Vitruvius that his

,
.

purpose was to turn to prac tic al account what he h ad

gained from the stud y of the sciences ; and at the ,

same time one is convinced that his applications te n d

,

to react o n theoretical knowledge and lead to n ew ,

insights through the suggestion o f new problems .

The ten th book of the so called D e Ar chi tectur a -

34 THE H IST O R Y OF SC IENC E
is concerned with machinery wi n dmills windlasses , ,

axles p ulleys cranes p umps fir e engines revolving

, , , ,
-
,

spiral t ubes for raising water wheels fo r irrigation ,

wo r ked by water power wheels t o register d istance

-
,

traveled by land o r water scali ng ladders batter ,

-
,

ing rams tortoises catapults scorpions an d ballistae

-
, , , , .

O n the s ubject o f war engines Vitruvius speaks with -

special authority as he h ad ser ved probably as mili

, ,

tary engineer under J uli us C aesar in 4 6 B C and

, . .
,

had been appointed superintendent of b all i s tee an d

other military engines in the time of Augustus It .

was to the divine Emperor that his book w as dedi

cat e d as a protest against the administration of
Roman p ublic works In its pages we see reflected .

the life of a nation employed in conq uering an d

rul ing the world with a genius m ore distinguished
,

for practical achievement than for theory and s pecu

lation I ts author is trul y representative of Roman
.

c ulture for nearly everything that Rome had o f a

,

scientific and intellectual sort it drew from Greece ,

and it sele cted that part o f Greek wisdom that minis

t e r ed to the daily needs o f the times In his work .

o n archi tect ure Vitruvius shows himself a diligent

,

an d devoted student o f the sciences in order that

he may turn them to account i n his o wn departmen t
o f technology .

If you glance at the study of m athematics astro n ,

om
y and
,
medicine among the Romans prior to the
time of Greek influen ce you find that next to noth ,

ing had been accomplished Their method o f field .

measurement was far less developed than t he ancient

Egyptian geomet r y and even for it (as well as for
,

their system of n umerals ) they were indebted to

36 THE H I ST OR Y OF S CI E N C E
aq ueducts public buildi ngs organizatio n o f the
, ,

State an d the army the formulation o f legal proc o

,

dure the enactment and codific atio n o f laws were

, ,

n ecessary to secure an d mai n tain the Empire The .

use in building constructio n of a knowledge of the

right an gled trian gle as well a s other matters kn own
-

to the Egypti an s and Babylo n ian s and Archimedes

’
,

method of determin in g specific gr avity were of pecul

iar i n terest to the practical Rom an s .

Julius C ae sar 1 02—44 B C i n stituted a reform o f

, . .
,

the c alen dar This was very much n eeded as the

.
,

Ro m an s were eighty five days out of their reckoning

-
,

and the date for the spring equi n ox i n ste ad o f co m ,

i n g at the proper time was falling i n the middle of

,

wi n ter An Al exan dri an astronomer ( Sosige n es) as

.

sisted i n establishing the new (Julian ) calen dar The .

pri n ciple followed was based on an cient Egyptian

practice Amo n g the 36 5 days of the ye ar was to
.

be inserted o r intercalated every fourth ye ar an

, ,

extra day This the Romans did by giving to two

.

d ays in leap year the same name ; thus the sixth day
-

before the first o f M arch w as repeated an d lea p ,

year w a s kn own as a bissextile year C aesar trai n ed .

,

himself i n the Greek learning an d known to his con

temporaries as a writer o n m athematics an d astro n
o m y also plan n ed a survey o f the Empire which w a s
, ,

finally c arried in to execution by Augustus .

There is evidence that the need of tech n ic ally

tr ained me n became more and more pressi n g as the
Empire developed At first there were no special
.

teachers o r schools L ater we find mention of teach

.

ers of architecture and mechanics The n the S tate .

came to provide classrooms for techn ical i n structi o n

 ROM E : V ITRU VI US 37

an d to p ay the salaries of the teachers Fi n ally, .

i n the fourth cent ury A D further meas ures were

. .
,

adopted by the State The Emperor Constantin e

.

writes to o ne o f his o fi ci als : We need as man y eu

g i n ee r s as possible Si
. n ce the supply is small induce ,

to begin thi s study youths o f about eightee n ye a rs

o f age who are alre ad y a cquainted with the science s

r equired i n a general education Re lieve their par

.

e n ts from the payme n t o f taxes , an d furn ish the stu

den ts with ample means .

Pli n y the Elder ( 23— 79 i n the e n cyclopedic

work which he compiled under the title Na tur al
Hi s to r y d r ew freely on hundr eds o f Greek and
,

Latin authors for his facts an d fables I n the selec.

tio n that he made from his sources c an be traced as ,

i n the work of Vitruvius and other Latin writers the ,

ten dency to make the sciences subservient to the

art s For example the one thousan d species of plants
.
,

o f which he makes mentio n are considered from the

med ici nal or from the eco nomic poin t of View It was .

l argely i n the interest o f their practical uses that t he

Ro m an rega rded both plan ts an d animals ; his chi ef
m otive w as n ot a disin terested love of truth Plin y .

th ought that e ach plan t had its special Virtue an d ,

much of his botany is applied botany So compre .

h en si ve a work as the Natur al Hi s to r y w as sure to

co n tain i n te resting anticip ation s of modern science .

Pliny held th at the ea rth hovers i n the heavens up

held by the a ir th at its sphericity is proved by the
,

fact that the mast of a ship approaching the land

i s Visible before the hull comes in sight He also .

taught that there are inhabitants o n the other side o f

the e arth ( an tipodes ) that at the time of the win ter
,
38 THE H I STO R Y OF SC I ENC E
solstice the polar night must last for twe nty four -

hours and that the moon plays a part in the produc

,

tion of the tides Nevert heless the whole book is

.
,

permeated by the idea that the purpose o f n ature is

to m i n ister to the needs of man .

It further marks t he practical spirit among the

Romans that a work o n agricul ture by a Car th agi n
ian ( Mago ) was translated by order o f the Senate .

C ato ( 2 34—1 4 9 so characteristically Roman

in his genius wrote ( B e B e Rus ti ca) co ncern in g
,

grains an d the cul tivation of fruits Col umella wrote .

treatises on agriculture and forestry Among the .

technical writings of Varro besides the book on agri

cul ture which is extant are numbered works o n
, ,

law mensuration and naval tactics

, , .

It was but natural that at the time of the Rom an

Empire there should be great advances i n medical
science A Roman s interest in a scien ce was kee n
.
’

when it could be proved to have immediate bearin g

o n practical life The greatest physic i an o f the time
.
,

however was a Greek Galen ( 1 3 1 —

, 2 01 .who
coun t ed himself a di s ciple o f Hippocrates began to ,

practice at Rome at the age o f thirty three He was - .

the only experimental physiologist before the time

o f Harvey He studied the vocal apparatus i n the
.

l arynx and understood the contraction and relax

,

ation of the muscles and to a considerable extent , , ,

the motion of the blood thro ugh the heart lungs an d , ,

other parts of the body He was a vivisector made .

,

sections of the brain i n order to determine the func

tions o f its parts and severed the g us tatory O ptic
, , ,

and a uditory nerves with a similar end in V iew His .

dissection s were confin ed to the lower animals Yet .

 R OM E : V ITRUV I US 39

his works on human anatomy and physiology wer e

authoritative for the s ubsequent thirtee n centuries .

It is di ffic ult to say how much of the work and

credit o f this practical scientist is to be given to the
race from whi ch he sprang and how much to the
social environment of his professional career ( In .

the ruins of Pompeii destroyed in 7 9 A D have

, . .
,

been recovered some two hundred kinds of surgical

i n strument and i n the later E mpire certain depart
,

ments of surgery developed to a degree n ot sur

p as sed till the sixteenth century ) If it is to o much .

to say that the Rom a n environment is responsible

for Galen s achievements we can at least say that
’

it was characteristic o f the Roman people to wel

come such science as his capable oi demonstratin g
,

i t s utility .

D ios corides was also a Greek who long resident ,

at Rome applied his science in practice He knew

, .

six hundred different plants one hundred more than ,

Theophrast us The latter laid much stress as we have

.
,

seen in the precedi n g chapter on the medicin al prop ,

orties of plan ts but in this respect he was outdone

,

by Dioscorides ( as well as by Pliny ) Theophrastus .

was the founder o f the science of botany D i o s co r ,

ides the fo under o f materia medica .

Qui n tili an born in Spain s pent the greate r pa rt

, ,

o f hi s life as a teacher of rhetoric in Rome He val .

ued the sciences not on their o wn account but as they

, ,

might subserve the purposes of the orator M usic .

,

astronomy logi c and even theology m ight be ex

, , ,

p lo i te d as aids to p ublic speech In the time of Quin .

tilian (first cent ury as in our o w n oratory was ,

considered on e o f the great factors in a young man s ’

40 THE H I ST OR Y OF S CI E N C E
success ; mock debatin g co n tests were frequen t an d ,

the peri ods of the future orators reverberated among

the seven hills of Rome To him our schools are also
.

in debted for the method of te achin g foreign lan guages

by declension s co n j ugations vocabularies formal
, , ,

rhetoric and an notations He considered ethics the

.

most valuable part of philosophy .

I n fact it would n ot be pressing our argumen t nu

,

duly to say that so fa r as the m inds of the Rom an s

,

t urn ed to speculation it was the t en de n cy to pr act i

cal philosophy Epicurean ism or Stoicism —that
,

w a s most ch aracteristic This was true eve n of Lu

.

cr et i us ( 98 55 -
author o f the noble poem con
cern ing the Nature o f Thi n gs (D e Rer um Natur a) .

I n this work he writes u n der the inspiration of Greek

philosophy His model was a poem by Empedocles
.

o n Nature the grand hex a meters o f which h ad fasc i

,

n at ed the Roman poet The distinctive feature of the

.

work of Lucretius is the purpose ethical rather than ,

S peculative t o curb the ambition p a ssio n luxury of

, , ,

t hose hard pagan times an d likewi se to free the souls

,

o f his countryme n from the fea r of the gods an d the

fe ar of death and to replace superstitio n by peace of

,

m ind an d purity o f heart .

F rom the work on Physical Science ( Quw s ti o num

Natur ali um L i br i S ep tem ) o f Sen eca the tutor of
, ,

Ner o we learn that the Rom an s made use of globes

,

filled with water as m agni fier s employed hothouses ,

i n their hi ghly developed horticulture a n d observed ,

the refr action of colors by the prism At the same .

time the book contains i nterestin g conjectures i n

referen ce to the relatio n of earthquakes an d vol
can oes an d to the f act that comets travel i n fix ed
,
 ROM E : V ITRUV IUS 41

orbits In the mai n however this work i s an attempt

.
, ,

to fin d a b asis fo r ethics in natural phenomen a Se n .

eca was a Stoic as Lucretius was an Epicure an

W
, ,

moral ist .

hen we glan ce b ack at the cul ture or cultures , ,

of the great peoples o f an tiquity Egyptian Baby , ,

lo n ian Greek and Ro man that which had its center

, , ,

o n the ban ks o f the Tiber o ff ers the closest an alogy

t o our ow n Among English speakin g peoples a s

.
-

amo ng the Roman s there is n oticea ble a certai n co n

tempt for s cien ti fic studies stran gely mingled with
an in clinatio n to exploit all theory i n the in terest of
mediate application An E n glish author writin g
.
,

in 1 8 34 remar ks th at the Rom an s emin en t i n war

, , ,

i n polite literature an d civil poli cy showed at all

, ,

times a remarkable in dispositio n to the pursuit of

m a them atical an d physical scien ce Geometry an d .

astr onomy so highly esteemed by the Greeks were

, ,

no t merely disrega rded by the Ital ians but eve n co n ,

si d er e d bene a th the attention o f a man o f good birth

an d liberal ed ucation ; they were imagined to partake

o f a m ech ani cal and therefore servile character
, The , .

results were see n to be made use o f by the m echani

cal artist an d the abstract pri n ciples were therefore
,

s upposed t o be a s it were contami n ated by his touch

, , .

Thi s u nfo r tun ate peculiarity i n the taste o f his cou n

tr y m en is r emarked by Cicero A n d it may no t be .

irr elevan t to inquir e whether similar prejudices do

,
”
n ot prevail to some exte n t even amo n g ourselves .

To American s also must be attributed an impatience

o f theory as theory an d a predomi n an t in terest i n the
,

applica tion s o f scie n ce .

42 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE

RE FE RENCE S
Lucret i us The Natur e of Thi ngs
, t r anslated b yHA J
. . .

Pli ny Natur al Hi s tor y t r ans lated b y

, Phile m o n Ho lland .

Pr ofes s or Bad en Po w ell His tor y of Natur al P hi lo s ophy

, .

S e neca P hys ci al S ci ence tr ans lated b y Jo hn Clar ke .

V i t r uvIus Ar chi tectur e tr anslat e d b y Jo s eph Gw ilt 1 826

, , .

Vi tr uvi us , Ar chi tectur e tr anslat ed by Pr ofessor M H Mo rgan,

. .

19 14 .
44 THE H I ST OR Y OF S CI E N C E
everythi n g he co uld lay han ds on He copied o ut .

what most appealed to him A few books he read .

and re read ti ll he h ad almost memorized them .

What constituted his library ? The Bible £3 0193

W
,

F abl es Ro bi n s on Cr us o e The P i lgr i m s P r og r es s

’
, , ,

a L ife of as hi ng to n a Hi s tor y of the Uni ted ,

S tates These established for hi m a vit al relation

.

with the past an d laid the foundatio n s of a demo

,

cratic cul ture ; n ot the culture of a Chesterfield to ,

be sure but somethin g immeasurably better an d

, ,

n o n e the less good for being almost universally ac

cessible L in coln developed his logical powers con
.

n in g the diction ary Lo ng be fore he u n dertook the

.

regular study o f the law he spe n t lon g hours po ring ,

over the revised statutes of the S tate in whi ch he

w as living From a book he mastered with a pur
.

pose the principles oi grammar I n the sa me spirit .

he learn ed surveying also by means of a book , .

There is no n eed to ign ore any of the i nfluences

th at told toward the developme n t of this great
state sm an the greatest of English spe akin g orators
,
-
,

but it is evident that remote as w as his habitatio n

from all the famous cen ters of learn ing he was n ever ,

t heles s early immersed i n the curre n t o f the wo r ld s

’
,

best thought .

Similarly i n the history of science every great

, ,

thi n ker has his intellectual pedigree Aristo tle w as .

the pupi l o f Plato Plato w as the disciple o f 8 0 0

,

rates an d the latter s i n tellectu al gene al ogy in turn

’

can readily be traced to Thales and beyond —to

,

Egyptian priests an d Babylonian astronomers .

The city o f Alexan dria founded by the pupil of ,

Aristotle i n 3 32 B C succ eeded Athe n s as the cen ter

. .
,
 THE C ONT INUITY OF S CIE N C E 45

of Greek culture O n the de ath of Alexander the

.

G rea t Egypt was ruled by o ne o f his generals

, ,

Ptolem y who assumed the ti tle of ki n g This m on

, .

a rch though ofte n e n gage d i n war fou n d time to

, ,

en courage learning an d drew to his capital scho lars

,

an d philosophers from Greece an d other coun tries .

He wrote himself a history of Al exan der s ca m ’

ai n s an d i n stituted the famous library of Alexan

p g ,

dri a Thi s was greatly developed ( an d suppleme n ted

.

wi th schools of science an d an observato ry) by his

so n Ptolemy Philadelphus a pri n ce distinguished by,

his ze al i n pr omoti n g the good of the human species .

He coll ected vast n umbers of man uscripts had ,

s tr an ge an imals brought from distant lands to Al ex

an dria an d otherwise promote d scien tific research

, .

This movement w as co n tin ued un der Ptolemy III

( 2 4 6 — 2 2 1
S omething h as already been said o f the early as
tr o no m er s an d mathematicians o f Alexandria The .

s cie n tific moveme n t of the later Al exandrian period

fou n d its co nsummatio n in the geographer as tr ono ,

mer an d mathematician Claudius Ptolemy (not to

,

be confused with the rulers of that n ame) He was .

m ost active 1 2 7 1 5 1 A D -
an d is be st kn ow n by his
. .
,

work the S ynt acci s which summarized what was

,

known i n as tronomy at that time Ptolemy drew up .

a catalogue o f 1 08 0 stars based o n the earlier work

o f Hipparchus He followed that ast r onomer i n

.

teaching that the earth is the ce n ter o f the move

ment o f the heavenly bodies an d this geocentric ,

system o f the heavens became known as the Pto le

mai c system of astr on omy To Hipparch us and .

Ptolemy we owe als o the begi nni n gs of the scien ce

46 THE H I STOR Y OF SC I ENC E
of trigonometry The S y ntaoei s sets for th his method
.

o f draw ing up a table of cho r ds For e x ample the .

,

side o f a he x agon inscribed in a ci r cle is equal to

the radius and is the chord o f
,
o r o f the sixth

part of the circle The radius is divided into sixty

.

equ al parts and these agai n divided and subdivided

,

sexagesimally The smaller divisions and the sub

.

divisions are known as prime minute parts an d sec

o n d minute parts ( ar t es m i nutes i m and a r tes
p p r ce p
m i nutce s ecun cl oe) whence o ur terms minute and
,
”
second The sexagesim al method o f dividing the
.

circle and its part s was as we have seen in the first ,

chapter of Babylonian origin

, .

Ptolemy was the las t o f the great Greek as tr ono

mers In the fo urth century and at the beginning
.

o f the fifth Theon and his ill ustrious daughter H

, y
patia commented on and taught the astronomy of
Ptolemy In the Gr eek schools o f philosophy Plato s
.
’

doctrine of the s up r eme re al ity o f the invisible world

was harmoni z ed for a time with Christian mysticism ,

but these schools were suppressed at the beginning

o f the sixth cent ury The extinctio n of scientific an d
.

o f all other learning seemed imminent .

What were the causes of this threatened break i n

the historical continuity of science ? They were too
many and to o varied to admit of adequate statement
here From the latter part o f the fourth cen t ury the
.

Roman Empire had been overrun by the Visigoths ,

the Vandal s the Huns the Ostrogoths the Lom

, , ,

bards an d other barbarians Even before these incur

,
.

sions learning had suff ered under the calamity o f

war In the time o f Julius C aesar the larger o f the
.

famous libraries of Al exan dr ia co n ta inin g it is com , ,

 THE C ONT INU IT Y OF SC IENC E 47

puted ,
some rolls caught fire from shi ps
,

burning i n the harbor and perished This alone

,
.

in volved an incalculable setback to t he march o f

scientific thought .

An other infl uence tending to check the advance of

the science s was the clash between Christian and Pagan
ideal s To man y of the bishops of the Church the ai ms
.

an d pursuits o f science seemed vain an d trivial whe n

compared with the preservati on o f purity o f charac
ter or the assurance of etern al felicity M an y were .

convinced that the end of the world was at han d ,

and strove to fix their thoughts solely o n the world

to come Their austere disregard of this life found
.

some support in a noble teaching o f the Stoic phi

lo so phy that death itself is no evil to the j ust man .

The early Christian teachers held that the body

should be mortified if it interfered with spiritu al
welfar e D isease is a punishment o r a discipli n e to
.
,

be patiently borne O ne should choose physical un

.

cleanliness rather than r un any risk of moral con

tam i nat i on I t is not impossible for enlighte ned
.

people at the prese n t time to assume a tolerant atti

t ude tow ard the worldly Greeks or the other worldly -

Christi ans At that time however mutual an tipathy

.
, ,

w as inte nse The long and cruel w ar betwee n scie n ce

.

an d Christian theology had begun .

Not all the Christian bishops to be sure took a

, ,

hostile View o f Greek learnin g Some regarded the

.

g reat philosophers as the allies o f the Church S ome .

held that churchme n should study the wisdom of the

Greeks in order the better to refute them Others .

held that the investigati on of truth was no lon ger

necess ary after m ankin d h ad received the revelatio n
48 THE H I ST OR Y OF SCIENCE
of the gospel O ne of the ablest of the Church Fa
.

t her s regretted hi s early educatio n an d sa id that it

would have been better for h i m if he had n ever heard of
D emocri t us The Christian writer Lact an t i us a sked
.

shrewdly whence a toms came an d what proof there,

was o f their existe n ce He also allowed himself to

.

ridicul e the idea of the an tipodes a topsy turvy ,

-

world o f unimagi n able disorder In 38 9 A D o ne of. . .

the libraries at Alexan dria was destroyed an d i ts

books were pill aged by the Christian s I n 41 5 .

Hypati a Greek philosopher an d m athematician was

, ,

murdered by a Christi an mob In 6 42 the Ar abs .

having pushed their con quest i n to n orthern Afric a

gain ed possession of Alex an dri a The cause of le ar n
.

ing seemed fi n all y an d irrecoverably lost .

The Arab co nquerors however showed themselves

, ,

singularly hospitable to the c ul ture of the n ation s

over which they h ad gai ned con trol Since the t im c .

o f Alexander there had been m any Greek settlers i n

the larger cities o f Syri a an d Persi a and here learn ,

ing had be en maintained in the schools of the Jews

an d of a sect o f Christians ( Nestorians ) who were ,

particularly active as educators from the fifth century

to the eleventh The prin cipal Greek works on sci
.

e n ce had bee n t r anslated into S yrian Hindu arith .

met ic an d astronomy had found their way in to Persia .

By the n inth century all these source s o f scientific

kn owledge h ad be en appropriated by t he Arabs .

So me fanati cs am ong them to be sure held that

, ,

o ne book the Koran w as of itself su fficie n t to i n

, ,

sure the well being o f the whole human r ace but

-
,

h appily a more enlightened view prevailed .

I n the time of Harun Al Rashid -

an d
 THE CONTINUITY OF SCIENCE 49

hi s the Caliphate of Ban w as the ce n ter

son ,

o f Arab science M athematics and astron omy were

.

especiall y cultivated an observ atory w as established ;

an d the work o f transla tion was systematically ca r
ried on by a sort of institute of transla tors who re n ,

dered the writin gs of Aristotle Hippocrates Galen , , ,

Euclid Ptolemy an d other Greek scien tists into Ara

, , , f

bic The n am es of the gr eat Arab astrono m ers an d

.

mathematici an s are n ot popularly known t o us ; thei r

influen ce is gre ate r than their fame O n e of the m .

describes the method pursued by him in the n i n th

ce ntury in takin g measure of the circumfere n ce of
th e earth A second developed a trigon ometry o f
.

sines to replace the Ptolemaic trigon ometry of chords .

A third made use of the s o called Arabic ( really -

H in du) system of n umerals an d wrote the first work

,

o n Algebra under that name In this the writer did

.

“
n ot aim at the mental discipline o f students but ,

sought to co n fine himself to what is easiest and most

useful i n cal culation such as me n constantly r e
,

quire i n cases of inheritan ce legacies partition la w

, , ,

suits an d trade an d in all their dealin gs with on e

, ,

an other o r where the measuring of lan ds the dig

, ,

gi n g o f c anals geometrical computation an d other

, ,

objects of various sorts an d ki n ds are concern ed .

In the foll owin g cen turies Arab in stitutio ns of

higher learnin g were widely distributed an d the flood
ti de of Arab science was borne farther west At .

Cai r o about the close o f the ten th cen tury the firs t
accurate records o f eclipses were made an d tables ,

were const r ucted of the motion s of the s un moo n , ,

an d plan ets Here as elsewhere the Arabs di splayed

.

ingen uity i n the m aki n g of scie n tific appa ratus celes ,

30 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
ti al globes sextants of large size quadran ts of vari
, ,

o us sorts an d contrivances from which in the course

,

o f time were developed modern surveying in struments

for meas uring horizontal and vertical angles Before .

the end o f the eleventh century an Arab born at

Cordova the capital of M oorish Spain constructed
, ,

the Toletan Tables These were followed in 1 25 2

.

by the publication of the Alphonsine Tables an ,

event which astronomers regard as marking the

dawn of E uropean science .

Physics and chemistry as well as mathematics an d

,

as tronomy o w e much in their development to the

,

Arabs An Arabian scientist o f the eleventh cent ury

.

studied the phenomena o f the reflection and r efr ac

tion o f light explained the causes of morning and
,

evening twilight understood the magn ifying power

,

o f lenses and the an atomy o f the human eye O ur .

use o f the terms retina cornea and vitreo us humor

, ,

may be t raced to the tran slation of his work o n op

tics The Arabs also made fair approximations to
.

the correct specifi c weights o f gold copper mercury , , ,

and lead Their alchemy was closely asso ciated with

.

metal lurgy the making o f all oys and am algams an d

, ,

the handicrafts of the goldsmiths an d silversmiths .

The al chemists sought to discover processes whereby

o ne metal might be transmuted into another S ul .

ph ur aff ec ted the color and substance M ercury was .

supposed to play an important p art in metal trans

mutations They thought for example that tin con
.
, ,

t ai n e d more m ercury than lead and that the baser , ,

more un healthy metal might be converted into the

n obler and more healthy by the addition of mercury .

They even sought for a substan ce that might effect

52 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
m entar i es of
Averroes that Aristotelian scien ce he
came known in E urope during the M iddle Ages In .

his view Aristotle was the founder and perfec ter o f

science ; yet he showed an independent knowledge of
physics and chemistry and wrote on astronomy and ,

medicine as well as philosophy He set forth the .

facts in refere n ce to n atural phenomena purely i n

the interests of the truth He could no t conceive of .

an ything being created from n othing At the same .

time he taught that God is the essen ce the ete rn al ,

cause of progress It is in humani ty that intellect

, .

most clearly reve als itself but there is a tran scend ,

ent intellect beyond union with which is the highest

,

bliss o f the indi vidual soul With the death of the .

Commentator the cult ure of liberal science among

the Arabs came to an end but his i nfluence (and ,

through him that of Aristotle ) was perpetuated i n all

the western centers o f edu cation .

The preservation of the ancient learning had n ot

,
"
howe ver depended solely on the Arabs At the be .
.
,

ginning of the sixth century before the taking of ,

Alexandria by the followers of M ohammed St Be n e , .

dict had founded the monastery o f Monte Cas sino i n

Italy Here was begu n the copying of manuscripts
.
,

an d the preparation of compendiums treating of

grammar di al ectic rhetoric arithmetic ast ronomy
, , , , ,

music and geometry ) These were based on ancient

, .

Roman writin gs Works l ike Pliny s Natur al Hi s

.
’

t o r y the encyclopedia of the M iddl e Ages had sur

, ,

vi ve d all the wars by which Rome had been devas

tat ed L earning which in Rome s darkest days had

.
,
’

found refuge in Britai n and Ireland returned book ,

i n han d Charlemagn e ( 8 00) called Alcuin from

.
 THE CONTINUITY OF SC I ENCE 53

York in struct pri nces and nobles at the Fran kish

to
court At this same pal ace school half a century
.

later the Irishman Scotus Erige na exhibited his learn

ing wit an d logical acumen I n the tenth century
, ,
.

G er ber t ( Pope Sylvester II ) le arned m athematics

at Arab schools in Spain The tran slatio n of Arab .

works on scien ce in to the L atin lan guage freer i n ,

t er cour se of E uropea n peoples with the East through

w ar an d trade economic prosperity the liberatio n
, ,

o f serfs and the development o f a well to do middl e - -

clas s the voyages of M arco P0 10 to the O rie nt t he

, ,

foun din g of universities the enco uragement of le

,

in g by the Emperor Frederick II the s t udy of logic ,

by the schoolmen were all in dicative of a n ew era in

,

t he history o f scientific thought .

The learned Domi n ican Al bertus Magnus ( 1 1 9 3

1 2 8 0) was a careful student o f Aristotle as well as
o f hi s Arabian co mmentators In his many books on .

"
natural history he o f course pays great deference to
the Philosopher but he is n ot devoid of original oh
,

s ervatio n As the o fficial visitor of his order he h ad

traveled through the greater part o f German y on
foot and with a keen eye for natural phenomena was
,

able to en rich botany an d zo ology by much accurate

in formation His intimacy with the details of n atu
.

ral hi story made him suspected by the ignorant of

the practice of magical arts .

His p upil an d disciple Thom as Aquinas ( 1 2 2 7

1 2 7 4 ) was the philosopher an d recognized champion
of the Christian Church I n 1 8 7 9 Pope L eo XII I
.
,

while proclaiming that every wise saying every use ,

ful discovery by whom s oever it may be wrought

, ,

should be welcomed with a wi llin g an d gra teful

54 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
min d exhorted the leaders o f the Roman Catholic
,

Ch urch to restore the golden wisdom of St Thomas .

and to propagate it as widely as possible for the good

o f society and the advancement of all the sciences .

Certain ly the genius o f St Thomas Aqui nas see ms

.

comprehensive enough to emb r ace all science as well

as all philosophy from the Christian point of view .

According to him there are two sources o f kn owl

edge reaso n and revelation These are not i r r econ
, .

ci lab l
y opposed The Greek .ph i losophers speak with
the voice of reason It is the duty o f theology to
.

bring all kn owled ge into harmony with the truths of

revelation imparted by God for the sal vation o f the
h uman race Averro es is in error when he arg ues
.

the impossibility o f something being created fro m

n othing and again when he implies that the individ
,

ual intellect becomes merged i n a transcendental i n

t ellect ; for such teaching wo uld be the contrary o f
what has been revealed in reference to the creation
o f the world and the immortality o f the individual

so ul In the accompanying illustration we see St

. .

Thomas inspired by Christ in glory guided by M oses , ,

St Pe ter and the E vangelists and instr ucted by

.
, ,

Aristotle and Plato He has overcome the heathen

.

philosopher Averr o es who lies below d i s co m fite d

,
.

The English Franciscan Roger Bacon ( 1 21 4

1 2 94 ) deserves to be mentioned with the two great
D ominicans He w as acq uainted with the works o f
.

the Greek and Arabian scientists He transmitted .

in a treatise that fell under the eye of Col umbus the

view of Aristotle in reference to the proximity o f an
other continent on the other side o f the Atlantic he
an ticipated the principle o n which the telescope was
ST T
. H OMA S AQUINA S O V ERC OM IN G A V ERRO ES
 THE CONT INUI TY OF SC I ENCE
'

55

afterwards constructed ; he advocated basing natural

s cience o n experience an d careful observation rather

than o n a process o f reas oning Roger Bacon s writ

.
’

in gs are characterized by a ph i losophical breadth o f

view To his mind the earth i s only an insignificant
.

dot in the center o f the vast heavens .

In the cent uries that followed the death of Baco n

the relation of this plan et to the heavenly bodies was
m ade an object of study by a s uccession of scientists
who like him were versed in the achievements o f pre
ceding ages P eur b ach ( 1 4 2 3
. author of New
Theo r i es of the P lan ets developed the trigonometry
,

o f the Arabians b ut died before fulfilling his plan

,

t o give Europe an epitome o f the astronomy of

Ptolemy His pupil Regiomontanus however m ore
.
, , ,

than made good the intentions of his master The .

work of Pe ur b ach had as commentator the first

teacher in astr onomy of Copernicus ( 1 4 7 3
La ter Copernicus spent nine years in Italy study ,

in g at the universities and acquainting himself with

Ptolemaic an d other ancient views concern ing the
motions of the plan ets He came to see that the ap
.

parent revolution of the heavenly bodies abo ut the

earth from east to west is really owing to the revol a
tion of the earth on its axis from west to east This .

view w as so cont rary to prevailing beliefs that Cc

r n i cus refused to publish his theory for thirty six
p e -

years A co py of his book teaching that our earth is

.
,

n ot the center o f the universe was brought to him on

,

his deathbed b ut he never opened it

, .

Momentous as was this discovery setting a side the

,

geocentri c system which had held captive the best

minds for fourteen slow ce n turies an d substitutin g the
56 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
helioce n tric it w as but a link i n the chai n of suc
,

cesses i n astronomy to which Tycho Brahe Kepler , ,

G alileo Newto n an d their followers co n tributed

, , .

REFERENCES
The Catholi c Encycloped i a .

J L E D reyer Hi stor y of the P lanetary S ystem s

. . .
, .

Encyclo pced i a Bri tanni ca Ar ab ian Philo soph y ; Roger Bacon

. .

W J To wns end The Gr eat S choolm en of the Middl e Ages

V
W W
. . .
,

R B aughan S t Thom as of Aqui n hi s Life and Labour s

. .
, . .

And r ew D hi te A His tory of the

. arfar e of S ci ence wi th Theol
,

ogy i n Chri s tendom .

58 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
Hi s classification of human kn owledge was cele
b r ate d an d very influential in the progress of sci
,

ence He kept one clear purpose in view n amely

.
, ,

the control o f n at ure by man He wished to take .

stock of what had al re ady been accomplished to sup ,

ply deficiencies and to enlarge the bounds of human

,

empire He was acutely conscious that thi s w a s an

.

enterprise too great for any one man an d he used his ,

utmost endeavors to induce James I to become the

patron of the plan His project admits o f very simple
.

statement n ow ; he wished to e di t an e n cycloped i a ,

but feared that it might prove impossible without cc

operation and without state support He felt capable .

o f furni shing the plan s for the building but thought ,

it a hardship that he was compelled to serve both as

architect and laborer The worthi n ess of these plan s
.

was attested in the middle of the eighteen th ce n tury ,

whe n the great French Encyclop aed ia was proj ected by

D iderot an d D Ale m be r t The former i ts chief edi
’
.
,

t o r an d contributor wrote in the Prospectus :

,
If
we come out successful from this vast undertaking ,

we shall ow e it m ainly to Chancellor Bacon who ,

sketched the plan of a un iversal di ction ary of sciences

and arts at a time whe n there were n ot so to speak , ,

either arts o r s ciences This extraordinary genius

.
,

when it was impossible to write a history of what men

”
kn ew wrote one o f wh at they had to learn
, .

B acon as we shall amply see wa s a firm believer

, ,

in the study of the arts and occupations and at the ,

same time reta ined his devotio n to principles and ah

tract tho ught He kn ew that philosophy could aid
.

the a rts that supply daily n eeds ; also that the arts
an d occupatio n s en riched the field of ph i losophy ,
 CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES 59

and that the basis of o ur generali z ations must be

”
the uni ve r se of things k nowable For he writes .
, ,

if men judge that learning shoul d be referred to

use and action they judge well ; but it is easy in thi s
,

to fall in to the error pointe d o ut in the ancient fable

in which the other parts of the body foun d fault with
the sto m ach because it neither performed the office
,

o f motion as the limbs do n or o f sense as the head , ,

d o es ; but yet notwithstan ding it is the stom ac h which

digests an d distributes the al iment to al l the rest So .

that if any man think that philosophy an d un iversal

ity are idle and unprofitable studies he does not co n ,

sider that all arts and professions are from thence

”
supplied with sap an d stren gth For Bacon as for .
,

Descartes n atural phi losophy w as the trunk of the

,

tree of knowledge .

O n the other hand he looked to the arts crafts and

, , ,

occupation s as a source of scientific principles In his .

survey of learni n g he fou n d some records of agri

culture an d likewise of many mechan ical a rts S ome .

think them a ki nd of dishonor But if my judgment .

be of an y weight the use o f History M echanical is

, ,

o f all others the most radic al and fundament al

,
”
towar ds n atural philosophy When the different .

a rts are kn own the sen ses will furnish sufficient

,

concrete materi al for the inform ation of the u n der

standing The record of the arts is of most use b e
.

cause i t exhi bits things in motion and leads more ,

directly to practice Upo n this history therefore

.
, ,

me chanical and illiberal as it may seem (all fi n eness

and daintiness set aside ) the gre atest diligence m us t,
”
be bestowed Again among the partic ular arts
.
,

those are to be preferred which exhibit alter an d pre , ,

 Ph i los ophi a pr i m a , o r s api ence

Medi ci ne , h
A t l et i cs , et c .

Phys i cs
(Mat er i al and Seco nd
ar y Causes )

M etaph y s i cs
(F o r m an d F i nal
C aus es )

Mech ani cs
Pu fie d M ag i c
ri

Natur al Theo logy Natur e o f Ang els and

, S pi r i ts

Narr at i ve , or He r oi cal
D r am ati c

Par ab o li c (F ab les )

Pol i ti cal
(Ci vi l H i s t or y pre per )

Li t er ar y

Eccl es i as t i cal

Bo n ds
l
a
r Err o rs Pr et e r g en er at i on s
t
u (An o m i cs ) (M o n s t e r s )
a
N F r ee d om
 Know le dg e Clas s i fi e d (Hug o of S t Vi ct or.
, (1
.

T heoreti cal T h eo l og y
Natur al Ph i losophy
(Ph y s i c)

h
A r i t m et i c

M us i c (s tudy o f h ar m ony)
G e om e t r y

As t r o no m y

h
Et i cs , or d dual m o
i n i vi r al it y
(M or al )
Econom i cs , or f am i ly m orali t y

Po li t i cs , o r ci vi cs

M ech ani cal W eavi ng , s pi nni ng , se w i ng ; w or k i n w oo l , flax , et c .

Eq ui pm en t ar m s , s hi ps ; w o r k i n s to ne , w ood , m etal

Navi g at i on
Ag r i cul t ur e

Hunti ng , fis hi ng , f oo d s

M edi ci ne
h
T eatr i cal s d r am a, m us i c, at let i cs , h e t c.

O r at o ry
62 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
pare n atural bodies and materials of thin gs as agri
culture cooki ng chemistry dyeing ; the man ufacture
, , ,

o f glass enamel , sugar g unpowder artificial fir es

, , , ,
”
paper and the like Weaving carpentr y ar chi t e c
.
, ,

t ure manufact ure of mill s clocks etc f ollo w

, The , , . .

purpose is not solely to bring the arts to per fect ion ,

b ut all mechanical e x periments should be as stre ams

flo w ing from all sides into the se a of philosophy .

Shortly after James I came to the throne in 1 6 03 ,

Bacon p ublished his A d vancem ent of L ear ni ng He .

contin ued in other writings however to develop the , ,

organization of kn owledge and in 1 6 2 3 s ummed up ,

his plan m the D e Aug m enti s S ci en ti ar um .

A recent writer (Pearson 1 900) has attempted

to summarize Bacon s classification of the di ffe r ent
’

branches of learning When one compares this s um .

mary wi th an o utline o f the classification of knowl

edge made by t he French monk Hugo o f St Victor ,
.
,

w h o stan ds m idway between Isidore o f Seville ( 5 7 0

6 3 6 ) and Bacon some points o f resemblan ce are o f
,

course obvio us M oreover Hugo li ke B acon insisted

.
, , ,

o n the importance o f n ot bein g narrowly utilitarian .

M en he says are often accustomed to val ue knowl

, ,

edge not on its own acco unt b ut for what it yields .

Thus it is with the arts of h usbandry weaving paint , ,

ing and the like w here s k ill is considered absolutely

, ,

vain u nl ess it results in some usef ul p r od uct If

,
.
,
’
however we judged after this fashion of God s wis
,

dom then no doubt the creation would be prefe r red

, , ,

t o the Creato r But wisdom is life and the love of

.
,

wisdom is the joy of li fe (f el i ci tas vi tae) .

Nevertheles s when we compare these classifications

,

diligently we fin d very marked d i fler ences betwee n

,
 CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES 63

Baco n s views an d the medieval The we akest part

’
.

of H ugo s clas si fication is that which deals w ith

’

natural phfloso phy P hys i ca he says underta k es the

.
, ,

in vestigation of the causes of things in their effects ,

an d of eflects in their causes I t deals with the ex .

plan ation o f earthquakes tides the virtues o f plants

, , ,

the fierce instincts o f wild animals every species of ,

s tone shrub an d reptile

, , When we turn to his spe
.

ci al work however o n this branch of knowledge

, , ,

Concer ni ng B eas ts and Other Thi ng s we find n o ,

attempt to subdivide the field of phy s i ca but a se ,

ries o f details in botany geology Z oology and hu

, , ,

an atomy mostly arranged in diction ary form

, .

Wh en we refer to Bacon s cl assification we find ’

that Physics corres ponds to H ugo s P hy s i ca I t ’

.

st udies nat ural phenomena in relation t o their m a

t e r i al cause s Fo r this study Nat ural History ao
.
, ,

cording to Bacon suppli es the facts Let us glance

, .
,

then at his work on natural history and see how

, ,

far he h ad advanced from the medieval toward the

modern conception o f the scie n ces .

For purposes of scie n tific study he divided the

phen omena of the u nive r se in to ( I) Celestial phe
n o m en a ; 2
( ) Atmosphere 3
( ) Globe ; 4
( ) Substa n ce
of earth air fire w ater ; 5 Gener a species etc
, ,
( )
, , , .

Great scope is given to the n atural history o f man .

The arts ar e classified as n atur e m o d ified by m an .

His tor y mean s of course descri ptive science

, ,
.
64 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE

(1 6330)
His to ry of t he Heav enly B od ies ; or As tronom ical
His t o ry .

His t ory of nfigur ati on of t he Heavens and the

t h e Co
p a r t s t he r eo f t o w a d s t h e Ear th and the parts thereo f ;
r

o r C os m o gr aphi cal His tor y .

O
O Hi s t ory of C o m ets .

Q Hi s t or y of Fi ery M ete ors .

V
Q His t o ry o f Li ghtni ngs Thunderbolts Thunders and , , ,

C o r uscations .

His t o ry o f Winds and Sudden Blas ts and Undulations

of t he Air .

a Hi s tor y of Rainbo w s .

o
c His t or y of Clo uds as they are seen ab ove, .

o
c His t or y of t he B lue Expans e o f Twilight of Mock , ,

S uns M ock M oo ns Haloes v ari ous colo ur s o f the

,
-
, ,

Sun ; and of ev e r y v ari ety in the as pect of th e b eav

e ns caus ed b y t he medi um .

10 . Hi s t or y of S ho w ers , Or d inar y , S tor m y , and Pr od i

gi ons ; als o o f Waters po uts (as they ar e called ) ; and
t he like .

11 . His tory of Hai l, Snow , Fr os t , Hoar fr os t , Fog D ew , -

,

and the like .

12 . His t or y of all o ther things that fall or d es cend fr om

ab ov e , and that ar e gener ated in t he upper r egion .

13 . His tory of S ound s in t he upper region (if the re be

any b esi d es Th un d e r .

Y
14 . His tor y of Ai r as a w hole , or in the Configuration of
t he W or ld .

Y
15 . His t or y o f t he Seas ons o r Te mper atures of t he ear ,

as w ell acc or di ng t o t h e v ar iat i ons o f Regi ons as ac

co r d i ng t o acci d ent s of Ti m es an d P e ri od s o f ear s ;

o f Fl ood s Heat s D r o ught s and t h e lik e

, , , .

16 . Hi s t or y o f Ear th and Se a ; of t he Shape and Com pas s

o f t he m an d thei r C o nfig ur ati ons co m par ed with each
,

other ; and o f t hei r b r oad eni ng o r nar r ow i ng ; o f Islands

in the Sea ; of Gulfs of t h e S ea and S alt Lak es w ithin ,

t he Land ; Is thmuses and Pro m ontori es .

66 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
His tor y S t o nes ; as M ar b le To uchs t o ne Fli nt , et c
of , , .

Hi s t o r y o f t h e M ag n e t .

Hi s t o r y o f M i s ce llaneo us B o d i es w hi ch ar e nei t her ,

e n t ir ely F os s i l n or Ve ge t ab le ; as S al t s Am b er Am , ,

b e r gr i s e t c
, .

C h e m i cal Hi s t o r y o f M e tals an d M i ne r als .

Hi s t o r y o f Plan ts Tr ees S hr ub s Her b s ; and o f t heir

, , ,

par ts Roo ts S talks W o o d , Leav es , Flo w ers , Fr uit s ,

, , ,

S e e d s G um s etc , .

C he m i cal His t o ry o f Vege tab les .

His t o r y o f Fis hes , and t he Part s and Gener ati on of

t hem .

His t o ry of B ir ds and t he Par t s and Gener ati o n of ,

t he m .

Hi s t o y o f Quadrupe d s an d th e Parts and Gener at ion

r ,

o f t he m .

Hi s t o r y o f S er pe nt s W or m s Flies an d o t her insects ;

, , ,

and o f t h e Pa t s and G e n er at i n o f t he m
r o .

C he m i cal His t or y o f t he t hings w hi ch ar e taken b y

Next com e Hi s tor i es of M an

Hi s t or y of F i gur e and Ext e r nal Li m bs o f m an hi s
the ,

S t at ur e , Fr am e C o unte nan ce and F eat ur es ; and of

, ,

t he v ari e t y o f t he s am e accor di ng t o Races and

Cli m at es or o t her s m alle r di ffer ences
, .

Phy s i o gn o m i cal Hi s t or y o f t he s ame .

An at o m i cal His t o r y o r o f t he In ternal M e m b er s of ,

M an ; and o f t he v ar ie t y o f t hem as i t i s f o un d i n t he ,

Nat ur al Fr am e and S t r uct ur e and not mer ely as ,

r e g ar d s D i se as es and Acci d en t s o ut o f t he co ur s e o f

Nat ur e .

Hi s t o r y of t he p ar ts of U ni fo r m S t r ucture in Man ;
as Fle s h B o nes M e m b r ane s
, , , etc.

Hi s t or y o f Hum o ur s i n M an ; B lo o d B il e Seed et c , , , .

Hi s t o r y o f Excr e m e nt s ; Spi t tle Ur ine S w e at s S t o o ls , , , ,

Hair o f t h e He ad Hai r s o f t he B o d y Whi tl o w s Nails

, , , ,

an d t he li ke .

Hi s to r y o f F aculties ; Attr acti on , Diges tion Ret en ,

CLASS IFICATION OF THE SCIENCES 67

ti o n Expul s i o n S angui ficat i o n As sim il ati on o f Ali

, , ,

m ent int o t he m e m b e s co nv e r s i o n o f B loo d an d r ,

Flo w er o f B loo d i nt o S pi ri t e t c , .

His t o r y o f Nat u al and Inv oluntar y M o ti o ns ; as M o

r

tio n o f the Heart the Pulses Sneez i ng Lungs , , , ,

E ecti on et c
r , .

Hi s t o ry of M ot i o ns par tly Natur al and Part ly Violent ;

as o f Res pi r at i o n C o ugh Ur ine S t oo l e t c , , , , .

His tor y of Vo luntary M o t i ons ; as o f t he Ins tr um ents

o f Ar ticulat i o n o f W o r d s ; M o ti o ns o f t h e Ey es .

To ng ue Jaw s Hand s Fi nge s ; o f S w allo w ing e t c

, , , r , .

His t o ry of Slee p an d D r ea m s .

His t o ry o f d iffer ent habi t s o f B od y Fat Lean ,

o f the C om plexi o ns (as t he y call t he m ) e t c , .

Hi s t or y of t he Gener ati o n o f M an .

His to ry o f C once pt ion Vi vificati o n Ges tation in the , ,

Wo mb B i r t h e t c
, , .

Hi s t or y o f t he Foo d o f M an ; and of all thi ngs Eatable

and D r i nkab le ; and o f all D i e t ; and o f t he v ar i e t y
of t he same accor di ng to nat i o ns and s mall er d iffer
e nces .

His t o ry ofh and Incr eas e of the B o d y in

t he Gr o w t ,

Y
t he w hole and in i ts pa t s r .

His t o ry o f t he Co ur se of Age ; I nfancy B o y hoo d , ,

o ut h Old Ag e ; o f Le ngt h an d S hor t n es s o f Lif e and

, ,

t he li ke acco r d i ng t o nat i o ns and les s er differ ences

, .

His t ory of Li fe and D eat h .

Hi s tory M e d icinal of D iseas es , and o f the Symptoms

and hem
S i g ns of t .

His t o ry M e di ci nal of t he Tr eat m ent and Re m e d ies

and Cur es o f Di s e ases .

His t o r y M e d ici nal o f t ho se t hin gs w hi ch pr es er v e t he

B od y and t he He al th .

Hi s to r y M edi cinal o f t hos e t hi ngs w hich r elate t o t he

F o m and C o m elin
r f t he B o d y ess o .

Hi s t o y M ed i ci nal o f t h o s e t hi ng s w hi ch alter t he
r

B o d y and pe t ain to Alt er ative Regim e n

, r .

64 . His t or y of D rugs .
‘6 8 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Hi s tory f Sur g er y
o .

Chem i cal Hi s t or y o f M e d i cine s .

Hi s t or y o f Vi s i o n and o f thi ngs Vis ib le

, .

His t o ry o f Pai nt i ng Sculpt ur e M od e lling, etc “ .

, ,

Hi s t o r y o f He ar i ng and S ound .

Hi s t o r y o f M us i c .

Hi s t o ry o f S m ell and S m ells .

Hi s t or y o f Tas t e and Tas t es .

His to r y o f Touch , and t he ob ject s o f To uch .

Hi s t or y o f Ve nus , as a s peci es o f Touch .

Hi s t o r y o f B od i ly P ai ns , as s pecies o f To uch .

Hi s t or y o f Pleas ur e and Pain i n gene r al .

Hi s t or y o f t he Aff ecti o ns ; as Anger , Love Shame, ,

et c .

Hi s t o r y f t h e Int elle ct ual F acul t ies ; Reflexi on ,

o

Im ag i nati o n D is co ur s e M e m o r y , et c
, , .

His t o r y o f Nat ur al D i v i nat i o ns .

Hi s t or y o f Di agnos tics , or Secr e t Natural Judgem ents .

81 . His t or y o f Coo ker y an d o f t he ar ts ther eto b elonging

, ,

as o f t h e B ut ch er P o ult e r er e t c
, , .

82 . His t o r y o f B aki ng an d th e M aking o f B r ead and the

, ,

ar t s ther e t o b elo ngi ng, as o f t he M iller , etc .

His t or y of the Cellar and o f d iffer ent kinds of Drink .

Hi s t or y of Sw eetm eats and Conf ecti o ns .

Hi s t o ry o f Honey .

His t o r y o f S ugar .

Hi s t o r y o f t he D ai r y .

His t ory of B at hs and Oi ntm ents .

M iscell aneo us Hi s t o ry co ncer ning t he care of the

b od y as o f B ar b e rs P e r f um er s e t c , , .

Hi s t o r y of t he w or king o f Gold and t he ar ts t her e t o ,

b elo ngi ng .

Hi s t o ry o f t he m anufact ur e s o f W ool and t he ar t s ,

t h e r e t o b e lo n g i n g .

Hi s t or y o f t he m anufact ur e s o f S ilk and t he ar ts ,

t h e r e t o b elo ngi n g .

His t o ry of t he m anufact ur es o f Flax He m p C o t t on , , ,

CLASSIFICAT ION OF THE SC IENCES 69

Hai r , and o ther kind s of Thr ead , and t he arts

ther et o be lo nging .

His t o r y o f m anufact ur es o f Feathers .

His t o r y of We avi ng and th e ar ts t her eto b elonging , .

His to y of D y e ing
r .

His t ory of Leather making Tanning and t he ar ts -

, ,

ther e to belo nging .

His to ry of Ti cki ng and F e ather s .

His t o ry o f w o ki ng in I o nr r .

His t or y of S t one cut t i ng - .

Hi s t o r y of t he m aking o f B r icks and Tiles .

His tor y o f Po t ter y .

His t ory of Ce m ents et c , .

His t ory of w or king in W oo d .

His t or y of w or king i n Lead .

His t ory o f Glas s and all v i t r eous s ub s tances and of ,

Hi s t o ry Ar chi t ectur e gener ally

of .

His t o r yo f W agg o ns C har i o t s Li t t e rs e t c , , , .

His t or y o f Pr in t i ng o f B o o ks o f W r i t ing o f Sealin g

, , ,

o f Ink Pe n Pape r Par chm ent e t c

, , , , .

His to ry o f Wax .

His t or y o f B as ke t m aking -
.

His t ory of M at m aking and of m anufactures of

-
,

S tr aw Rus hes and the li ke

, , .

His t ory o f Was hin g Scour ing etc , , .

His t ory of Agr icult ur e Pas t ur age Cul ture of Wo od s , , ,

et c .

Hi s tory of Gar d eni ng .

His to ry o f Fi s hi ng

W
.

His tory o f Hunti ng and F o w ling .

His t or y of t he Art o f ar and of the arts the r eto ,

be lo ngin g as Ar m o ury Bo w m ak ing Ar r o w m aki ng

, ,
-
,
-
,

M us ke tr y Or d nance Cr os s b o w s M achi nes et c

, ,
-
, , .

His t or y o f t he Ar t o f Nav i gat i o n and of th e cr af ts ,

and ar t s t her e t o b elo gi g n n .

His t or y of At hle ti cs and Hum a n Exer cis es of all kinds .

Hi s t or y o f Ho r sem ans i p h .

His t o r y o f Gam es o f all ki nds .

Hi s tor y of J ugglers and M o unteb anks .

70 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Bl i scellaneo us Hi s t or y o f v ar i o us Ar ti fici al M ater ials ,
Enam el Por celai n v ar io us ce m e nt s e t c
, , , .

Hi s t o r y o f S alt s .

l\Ii s ce llaneo us Hi s t o r y o f v ar i o us M achi nes and M o

'

tio ns .

M i s cellane o us Hi s t o r y o f Com m o n Expe r i m ents

w ic h h hav e no t gr o w n int o an Ar t .

Hi s tor i es m us t als o be wr i tten of P ur e M athem ati cs though

they ar e r ather obs er vati o ns than exper i m e nts

1 29 . Hi s t or y o f t he Nat ur es and Po w e r s of Num b er s .

1 30 . Hi s t or y o f t he Natur es an d Po w e r s of Fi gures .

The fragment containing this catalogue (P ar as ceve

—Day o f Preparation ) was added to Bacon s work ’

o n method The New L o gi c ( No vum Or g anum )

,
'
,

1 6 20 Besides completing his sur vey and cl ass ifica

.

tion of the scien ces (D e Aug m enti s S ci enti ar um )

W
,

1 6 2 3 he p ublished a fe w separate writings o n topics

,

in the catalogue i n d s L ife and D e ath Ti d es , , ,

etc In 1 62 7 a year after his deat h appeared his

.
, ,

much misunderstood work S y lva S yluar um He had ,

f
.

found that t he Latin word s y lva mean t s tuf or r aw

“
m ater i a l as well as a w oo d and called this final
, ,

work S ylva S y lvar um which I woul d tran slate , ,

“
Jungle of Raw M aterial He himself referred to
”
.

it as an un digested heap of particulars yet he was

willing it sho uld be published because he preferred
the good o f men to anything that might have relatio n
to himself In it foll owing his catalogue he fulfilled
.
, ,

the promise made in 1 6 20 of putting nat ure and the ,

arts to question S ome of the problems s uggested for

.

investigatio n are : congealing of air t ur ning air into ,

water the secret n ature of flame motio n of gravity

, , ,
 CLASSIFICATION OF THE SC I ENCES 7]

production of cold n ourishing of young creatures i n

,

the egg or womb p r olongation of life the media of

, ,

sound infectious diseas es accelerating and prevent

, ,

ing p utrefaction acceleratin g and staying growth

, ,

prod ucing fr uit without core or seed prod uction of ,

composts and helps for ground flying in the air ,

.

In the New A tl anti s a work of im agination Bacon , ,

had represented as already achieved for mankind

some of the benefits he wished for : artificial metals ,

various cemen ts excell ent dyes animal s for vi vi s ec

, ,

tion and medical experiment instruments which ge n ,

c rate hea t s olely by motion a rtifici al precious stones , ,

conveyan ce of sound for great distan ces and i n to r

”
tuo us lines new explosives We imitate s ays the
, .
,

guide in the Utopian land al so flights of birds ; we ,

have some degree of flying i n the air ; we have ships

”
an d boats for going under water Bacon believed i n .

honori ng the great discoverers and inve n tors an d ,

ad voca ted m a intaining a calendar of inventions .

He was a fertile and stimulating thi nker an d much ,

of his great influen ce arose from the comprehensive

n ess th at led to his celebrated cl assific a tio n of the

scien ces .

W
REFERENCES
Baco n s Philos ophi cal or ks v ol Iv P ar as ceve RL
’
, .
, , edi ted by . .

Elli s J Sped di ng and D D Heat h

, .
, . . .

J . A Tho m son. Intr od ucti on to S ci ence

. .
 CHAPTER VI
S C I ENT IFI C M ET HO D GI LB ERT, G ALI LE O ,
HARV EY, D ES CARTES

THE previous chapter has given some indicatio n of

the ran ge of the material which w as deman ding s ci en
t i fic i n vestigatio n at the end o f the sixteenth an d the
be ginning of the seve n teen th century The same .

period witnessed a co n scious developme n t of the

method or methods o f investigation As we have
, , .

seen Bacon wrote in 1 620 a considerable work The

, ,

New L og i c ( Novnm Or g anum ) so called to dis ,

t i ngui sh it from the tradition al deductive logic It .

aimed to furnish the organ o r instrument to i ndi ,

cate the correct mental procedure to be employed i n ,

the discovery of n atural law Some seventee n years

.

later the illustrious Frenchman Re n é D escartes

,

( 1 5 96 — 1 6 5 0) p ublished his D i s cour s e on the M e tho d

of r i g h tly cond ucti ng th e Reas o n an d s eeki ng Tr uth

i n the S ci ence s Both o f these philosophers illustrated

.

b y their o wn investigations the efficie n cy o f the

methods which they advocated .

Before 1 6 20 however the experimental method

, ,

h ad already yielded brilliant results i n the hands of

other scientists We pass over L eonardo da Vinci
.

and many others in Italy an d elsewhere whose n ames ,

should be mentioned if we were tr acing this method

to its origin By 1 6 00 William G ilbert ( 1 5 4 0
.

physician to Queen Elizabeth before whom as a , ,

picture i n hi s birthpl ace ill ustrates he w as called to

,
 SCIENTIF I C M ETHOD 73

demon strate his discoveri es h ad published his work

,

o n the M agn et the outcome o f about eighteen years

,

o f critical rese arch He may be considered the founder

.

o f electrical scie n ce Gali leo who discovered the

.
,

f undam ental pri nciples of dyn amics an d thus laid the

basis o f mode rn physical science al though he did not ,

publish his most importan t work till 1 6 3 8 had even ,

before the close of the sixteenth century prepared

the way for the an n ouncement o f his principles by
years of stri ct experiment By the year 1 6 1 6 W ill iam
.
,

Harvey ( 1 5 7 8— 1 6 5 7 ) physician at the court of Jam es

,

I and later of Ch arles I had as the first modern

, , , , ,

experimen tal physiologist gain ed importa n t resul ts

,

th rough his study o f the circulation of the blood .

It is not without significance that both Gil bert an d

Harvey h ad spen t years in Ital where as we have
h
,

im plied the experim ent al met od of scientific r e

,

search was early developed Harvey was at Padu a

—
.

1 5 9 1 0 o f Galileo s pop ular

’

( 8 6 2 ) within the time

professoriate an d may well have been inspired by
,

the physici st to explain o n dyn amical pri n ciples the

flow of blo od through arteries and veins This con .

j actur e is the more probable sin ce Galileo like Har , ,

vey an d Gilbert had been tr ai n ed i n the study of

,

medicin e Baco n in t ur n h ad in his youth learned

.

somethi n g of the experime n tal method on the Con ti

n ent of Europe and late r was well a w are o f the
, , ,

st udies of Gilbert an d Galileo as well as of Harvey , ,

who was in deed his personal physician .

Although these facts seem to indicate that method

m ay be tran smitted i n a n atio n o r a profession o r ,

through perso n al association there still remains some ,

doubt as to whether an ythin g so inti m ate as the

74 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
m ental procedure i n volved i n invention an d i n the
discovery o f truth can be successf ully imparted by
instruction The individuality of the man of genius
.

engaged in i n vestigation must remain a factor d i ffi

c ult to analyze Bacon whose purpose was to hasten
.
,
’
man s empire over n ature through increasing the
n umber o f in ventions an d discoveries recogn ized ,

that the method he illustrated is n ot the sole method

o f scientific investigatio n I n fact he defin i tely states
.
,

that the method set forth in the Navum Or g anum

is n ot original o r perfect o r in dispensable He w as
, ,
.

aware that his method tended to the ignoring of

genius and to the putting o f intelli gences on one le vel .

He kn ew that although it is desirable for the i nves

,

t i gat o r to free his mind from preposses sio n s and to ,

a void premature generalizations i nterpretatio n is the ,

tr ue and natural work of the mind when free from

impediments and that the conjecture o f the man of
,

genius must at times anticipate the slow process of

painful inductio n As we shall see in the nineteen th
.

chapter the psychology o f to day does not kno w

,
-

enough about the workings of the mind to prescribe

a fixed me n t al attitude for the investigato r Never .

t hele s s Baco n w as n ot wrong i n pointi n g o ut the

,

virtues o f a method which he and many others turned

to good account L et us first glance however at the
.
, ,

activi ties o f those scientists who preceded Bacon i n

the employment of the experimental method .

Gilbert re li ed in his investigations on oft repeated

, ,
-

and verifiable experiments as can be seen from his ,

wor k D e M agnets He directs the experimenter for.

,

example to tak e a piece of loadsto n e of convenient

,

size and turn it on a lathe to the form of a b all It .

 SCIENTIF I C M ETHO D 75

then may be c all ed a ter r ella or earthkin Plac e on it

, .

a piece of iron wi re The ends of the wire move ro und

.

its middle point and suddenly come to a standstill .

M ark with chalk the line along which the wire lies
still and sticks Then move the wire to other spots
.

o n the ter r e ll a and repeat your procedure The lines .

thus marked if produced will form meridian s all

, , ,

co m in g together at the poles Again place the mag

.
,

n et i n a wooden vessel and then set the vessel afloat

,

in a tub o r cistern o f still water The north pole of the

.

stone will seek approxim ately the direction of the

so uth pole of the earth etc It w as o n the basis of
, .

scores of experiments o f this sort carried on from ,

about 1 5 82 till 1 600 that Gilbert felt justified in

,

concluding that the terrestrial globe is a m a gn et .

Th is theory has since that time been abundantly

confirm ed by navigators The full title of his book
.

is Concer n i ng the M ag net and M ag net i c B o d i es ,

and co ncer ni ng the Gr ea t M ag net the E ar th : A

New Natur al Hi s tor y ( P hys i o log i a) d em o n s tr ated

by m any Ar gum en ts and Exp er i m en ts It does n o t .

detract from the credit of Gilbert s result to state ’

that his initial p urpos e was not to discover the nature

o f magn etism o r electri city but to determine the true
,

substan ce o f the earth th e innermost con stitution o f

,

the globe He was fully conscious o f his o w n method

.

and speaks with scorn o f certain writers who having ,

m ade no magn etical experi ments constructed ratio ,

cin at i o n s o n the basis of mere opinions and o ld

womanishly dreamed the things that were not .

G al ileo ( 1 5 64— 1 6 4 2) even as a child displayed

something of the inventor s ingenuity and when he
’

was ninete en shortly after the begin n ing of Gilbert s

,
’
76 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
e xperimen ts his keen perception for the phenomena of
,

motion led to his making a discovery o f great s ci en

t ific moment He observed a lamp swinging by a long
.

chain in the cathedral of his native city of Pisa and ,

n oticed that n o matter how much the range of the

,

oscillations might vary their ti mes were constant

, .

He verified his first impressions by counting his

pul se the only available timepie ce L ater he i n ven ted
, .

simple pendul um devices for timing the pulse of pa

ti e nt s and eve n made some advan ces in applyi n g his
,

discovery in the construction of pendul um clocks .

In 1 5 89 he was appoin ted professor of m at hem at

ics in the University o f Pisa and within a year
,

o r two established thro ugh experiment the fo un d a

tions o f the science of dynamics As early as 1 5 9 0

.

he put on record in a Latin treatise Concer ni ng

,

M o ti o n (D e M o tu) hi s dissent from the theories of

,

Aristotle i n reference to moving bodies confuting ,

the Phi losopher both by reason an d ocular demo n

s t r at i o n
. Aristotle had held th at two moving bodies
o f the s am e sort an d in the same medium have
ve locities in proportion to their
weights If a moving body whose
.
,

weight is represented by b be car

—
,

ried through the line c e which

is divided in the point d if also , , ,

the moving body is divided accord

in g to the same proportion as line
c—e is in the point d it is manifest
,

that in the ti m e taken to carry the

whole body through c—e the part
will be moved through o—d Gali
,

leo said that it is as clear as day

 SCIENTIFIC M ETHOD 77

light tha t t his view is ridicul ous for who would be ,

li eve that when two lead spheres are dropped from a

great height the one being a hun dred times heavier
,

than the other if the larger took an hour to reach

,

the eart h the sm all er would take a hundred hours

,

O ,r that if from a high to w er two stones o ne twice ,

the weight of the other sho uld be pushed o ut at the

,

e moment the l arger wo uld strike the grou n d

,

the smaller was still midway ? His biography

Galileo in the presence o f professors and
dropped bodies of d i fier ent weights from
c Leaning Tower o f Pisa to demon

o f his views If allowance be made

.

o f the air all bodies fall from the

,

equal times : the final velocities are

the times ; the spaces passed through
nal to the sq uares o f the times The .

basis of the last two statements was

"
'

means of an inclined plan e down a ,

smooth gr oove in whi ch a bronze ball was allowed to

pass the time being ascertained by m eans of an

,

improvised water clo ck -

.

’
Galileo s mature views o n dynamics received ex
pressio n in a work published in 1 6 3 8 M athem at i cal ,

D i s cour s es and D em ons tr at i o ns co ncer ni ng Tw o

New S ci ences r elati ng to M echani cs and L ocal
M ovem en ts It treats of co hesion and resistance to
.

frac ture (strength o f materials ) and uniform ac , ,

celer at ed and projectile motion dynamics The dis

, ( ) .

cus s i on is in conversation form The openi n g sentence .

shows Galileo s tendency to base theory o n the em

’

p ir i cal .I t might be freely translated thus : Large

‘
s cope for i n tellectu al spec ulatio n I should thi n k , ,
78 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
would be aff orded gen tlemen by frequent visits to
, ,

yo ur famous Venetian D ockyar d (ar s en ale) espe ,

ci all
y that part where mecha n ics are in demand ;
seeing that there every sort of instrument and m a
chine is put to use by n umbers o f work men among ,

whom taught both by tradition and their o wn o h

,

se r vation there must be some very s k i llf ul an d also

,
”
able to talk The vie w of the shipb uilders that a
.
,

large galley before being set afloat is in greater dan

ger of breaking under its o wn weight than a small
galley is the starting point of this most importan t
,
-

o f Galileo s contr ib utions to science

’
.

Vesal i us ( 1 5 1 4—1 5 6 4) h ad in his work o n the

struct ure o f the human body ( D e Hum ani Corp or i s
F a br i ca 1 5 4 3) shaken the authority of Galen s
’
,

anatomy ; it remained for Harvey on the basis of

the new anatomy to improve upon the Greek physi
ci an s experimental physiology Harvey professed to
’
.

learn and teach anatomy not from books but from , ,

dissections not from the dogmas o f the philosophers

, ,

but from the fabric of nature .

There have come down to us n otes of hi s lectures

o n anatomy delivered first in 1 6 1 6 A b r ief extract .

will show that eve n at that date he had already for

W
m ul ate d a theory of the circulation o f the blood
1 By the struct ure of the heart it appears

that the blood is contin ually transfused thro ugh the

l ungs to the aorta as by the two clack s o f a water
ram for r al s m g w ater .

I t is shown by ligat ure that there is continuous

motio n of the blood from arteries to veins .

1 Th i s i s Har v e y s m o n og r am , w h i ch h e use d in h is
’
not es to
m ar k any or i gi nal ob s e r vat i o n .
80 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
side o f the heart the puhn onar y ar tery inosculates
,

with the pulmonary veins which convey it to the left ,

side of the heart This muscular pump drives it into

.

the aort a It still remains to be shown that in the

.

limbs the blood passes from the arteries to the veins .

Ban dage the arm so tightly that no pulse is felt at

the wrist The han d appears at first natural an d
.
,

the n grows cold Loose the bandage s ufficiently to

.

restore the pulse The han d and forearm become

.

s uffused and swollen I n the first place the supply

.

o f blood from the deep lyi n g arteries is cut o fi

- In .

the second case the blood returning by the s uperficial

veins is dammed back In the limbs as in the lungs
.

the blood passes from artery to vein by anastomoses

a nd porosities All these arteries have their sour ce
.

i n the aorta all these veins pour their strea m ulti

m ately into the vena cava The veins have valves .
,

which prevent the blood flowing except toward the

heart Again the veins and arteries form a connected
.
,

system ; for through either a vein or an artery all

the blood m ay be drained off The arg uments by .

which Harvey supported his view were various The .

opening clause o f his first chapter When I first ,

gave my mind to V i w secti on as a mean s of discover

”
ing the m otions an d uses of the heart throws a ,

strong light on his special method of experime n tal

i n vestigation .

Ba con stimulated by what he called p hi l anthr op i a

, ,

al ways aimed as we have seen to establish man s

’
, ,

control over n ature But all power of a high order

.

depends o n an understanding of the essential char

acter or law of heat light so un d gravity and the
, , , , , ,

l i ke Nothing short of a k n owledge o f the underly

.
 SCIENTIF IC M ETHOD 81

ing nature of phenomen a c an give scien ce advan tage

over chan ce i n hitting upon usef ul di scoveries an d
in ventio ns It is therefore n atural to find hi m ap
plyin g his method o f induction —his special method
.
, ,

o f true i n ductio n to the investigation o f heat .

In the fir st pla ce let there be mustered without , ,

prem ature speculation all the instances in which

heat is man ifested —flam e lightning sun s rays
,
’
, , ,

quicklime sprin kled with water damp hay an imal , ,

h eat hot liquids bodies subjected to friction Add

, , .

to these instan ces in which heat seems to be absen t

, ,

as moon s rays sun s rays on mountains oblique rays

’
,
’
,

i n the polar circle Try the experiment o f conee n .

t r ati ng o n a thermoscope by means o f a burning ,

glass the moon s rays Try with the burning glass

,
’
.
-

to concen trate he at from hot iron from commo n ,

flame from boiling water Try a concave glass with

, .

the sun s rays to see whether a dimin ution o f heat

’

r esults Then make record of other instances i n

.
,

which heat is fou n d in varyin g degrees For exam .

ple an an vi l grows hot un der the hammer A thi n

, .

pla te of metal under con ti n uo us blows might gro w

red li ke ign ited iro n L et this be tried as an exper i .

men t .

Afte r the presen tation of these in stan ce s in duction

itself must be set to work to find out what factor is
ever prese n t in the positive instan ces what factor ,

is ever wanting i n the n egative i n stances what fac ,

t o r al ways varies in the in stances which show varia

tion According to Bacon it is in the process o f
.

exclusion that the fo un dations o f true inductio n are

laid We can be certain for e x ample that the
.
, ,

esse ntial n ature of heat doe s n ot consist i n light an d

82 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
brightness since it is present i n boili n g w ater an d
,

absent in the moon s rays ’

.

The in duction however is not complete till some

, ,

thing positive is es tablished At thi s po int in the .

investigation it is permissible to venture an hypoth

esis in reference to the essenti al char acter of heat .

From a survey o f the instances all an d each it ap , ,

pears that the nat ure of which heat is a particular

c ase is motion This is suggested by flame sim
.
,

mering liquids the excitement of heat by motion

, ,

the extinctio n o f fire by compression etc M otion is , .

the genus of which heat is the species Heat itself .

,

its essence is motion and n othing else

, .

It remains to establish its specific d ifler ences .

This accomplished we arrive at the definition Heat

,

is a m otion expansive restrained and actin g in its

, , ,

strife upo n the sm al ler particles of bodies B acon .

,

glancing toward the applicatio n of this di s covery ,

adds : If i n any n atur al bod y y ou can exci te a

d i lati ng or exp and i ng m o ti o n and can s o r ep r es s ,

t hi s m o t i o n and tur n i t back up o n i ts elf that the ,

d i lati on s hall n ot p u ally , but h ave i ts w ay

r o cee
q d e

in o ne ar t and be co unt er acted i n ano ther , y o u w i ll

p
”
und oubted ly g ener ate heat The reader will recal l
.

that B acon looked for the invention of instruments

that would generate heat solely by motion .

D escartes w as a philosopher and m athematician ,

.

In his D i s cour s e on M thod an d his Rules f or the

D i r ecti on of the Al i nd ( 1 6 2 8 ) he laid emphasis on
ded uction rather than on ind uction In the s ubor .

d i n at i on of particulars to general principles he ex

e r i enced a satisfactio n akin to the sense of beauty
p
or the joy of artistic productio n He spe aks enthusi .
84 THE HISTORY OF S CIENCE

e nt o n the other powers of the mind D escartes ,

resorted i n his mathematical demons trations to the

us e of lines because he could find no method as he
, ,

says more simple or more capable o f appeali ng to

,

the i m agination an d senses He considered how

.
,

ever that in order to bear the relationships in mem

,

o r to embrace several at once it w as essenti al t o

or
y ,

explain them by certain formul ae the shorter the

,

better An d for this purpose it was requisite to

.

borrow all that was best i n geometric al analysis an d

algebra and t o correct the errors o f one by the other
, .

D escartes was above all a mathematicia n and a s ,

such he may be regarded as a forerunner of Newton

a nd other scientists ; at the s a me time he developed an
exact scientific method which he believed applicable
,

to all departments of human thought Those long

.

chains of reasoni n g he says quite simple and

, ,

easy which geometers are wont to employ i n the

,

accomplishment of their most di fficult demonstra

tions led me to think that everything which might
,

fall under the cogn izan ce of the hum an m in d might

be connected together in the same man ner and that , ,

provided only o ne sho uld take ca re n ot to receive

anything as true which was no t so an d if o n e were
,

al w ays careful to preserve the order n ecessary for

d educin g one truth from an other there would be
,

n one so remote at which he might n ot at last a rrive ,

”
o r so co n ce aled which he might not discover .
 SCIENTIFIC M ETHO D 85

W
REFERENCES
h and s Bacon Philos ophi cal (Ellis

W
, or ks and Sped di ng
Novum Or ganum
t io n), vo l Iv ,
. .

J J Fahie Gal i leo; Hi s Life and or k

. .
, .

Galileo Two New S ci ences tr anslat ed by Henr y Crew

W
, and
Alpho nse De Salvi o .

P F Matte
W
i lliam Gilbert . On the Loads tone tr ans lat e d b y . .

lay .

i lliam Har vey , An Anatom i cal Di s q ui si ti o n on the Moti on of

the Hear t and Blood i n Ani m als .

T H Huxley M ethod and Res ults

. .
. .
 CHAPTER VII
S C I ENCE AS ME AS U REM ENT — TY C HO B RAHE,

K EP LER, B O Y LE

C ONSID ERING the value for clearn ess of thought of

counting measuri ng and weighing it is not surpris
, ,

ing to find that in the seventeenth century and eve n ,

at the e n d o f the sixtee nth the advance of the sciences

,

was accompan ied by increased exactness o f measure

ment and by the inve n tion o f instruments o f pre
ci s i o n
. The improveme nt of the simple microscope ,

the inven tion of the compound microscope o f the ,

telescope the micrometer t hb b arometer the therm o

, , ,

scope the thermometer t h ependulum clock the

, , ,

improvement o f the mural quadrant sextant spheres , , ,

astrolabes belong to thi s period

, .

M easuring is a sort Of counting and w eighing a ,

form of measuring We may co unt disparate things

W
.

hether like or unlike When we measure or weigh

.

we apply a standard and count the times that the unit

c ubit poun d hour is found to repeat itself We
, , .

apply o ur meas ure to uniform extension meting out ,

the waters by fathoms or space by the s un s diameter ’

,

an d even subject time to arbitrary divisions The hu .

man mind h as been developed through contact with

the multiplicity of physical objects and we find it ,

impossible to think clearly and scientifically about

o ur environment without dividing weighin g m eas ur , ,

ing co unting
, .

In me asuri n g time we c ann ot rely o n our inw ard

88 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
g re a t mur al quadr an t at the observatory o f Ur an i
borg He called it with ch aracteristic vanity the
.

Ti chom c qu adran t It consisted of a graduated arc

.

o f solid polished brass five inches broad two inches ,

thick an d with a radius of about six an d three quar

,

ters feet E ach degree was divided i n to mi n utes an d

.
,

e ach minute into six parts E ach of these parts was .

the n subdivided i n to ten seconds which were i n di ,

cat ed by dots arranged i n tr an sverse O blique lines o n

the width of brass .

The arc was attached in the O bserv atio n room to

a wall run n ing exactly n orth an d so secured with ,

s crews ( r m i s s i m i s co chlei s ) th at no force could

fi
move it With its concavity toward the southern sky
.

it was closely comparable though reverse to the , ,

celestial meridian throughout its length from horizo n

t o zenith The south wall above the point where the

W
.
,

radii o f the quad rant met was pierced by a cylinder ,

o f gilded brass placed in a rectangular ope n in g hich ,

coul d be ope n ed o r closed from the outside The Ob .

s er vation was made through o ne O f two sights that

were attached to the graduated arc and cou l d be

moved from poi n t to point o n it In the sights were .

p arallel slits right left upper lower If the alti

, , , , .

tude an d the tran sit thr ough the meridian were to

be taken at the same time the four directions were to
be followed It was the practi ce for the student m ak
.
;

i n g the Observation to read off the number O f degrees ,

min utes etc of the an gle at which the altitude or

, .
,

tran sit was observed so that it might be recorded by ,

a second student A third took the time from two

.

clock dials when the observer gave the sign al an d the ,

exact momen t of observatio n w as al so recorded by

D RA NS M V RA L
S IVE T I C HO NI C V S .

THE TIC HONIC QU AD RANT

90 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
tio n being m ade by me an s o f o ne of the sights the ,

parallel horizontal slits in which were aligned with

the corresponding parts of the circumfere n ce of the
cylinder The altitude was recorded accordi ng to
.

the position o f the sight attached to the graduated

arc .

Tycho Brah e had a great reverence fo r Copernicus ,

but he did not a ccept his planetary sys tem ; an d he

felt that advance in astronomy depended o n pains
taking observation For over twenty years u n der the
.

kings o f D enmark he had good opportunities for

pursuing his in vestigatio n The islan d of Hven he
.

came his property A thoroughly equipped ob s er va

. p

tory was provided including p r inting press and

,
-

workshops for the constructio n of apparatus As .

already implied capable assistants were at the as

,

t r o no m er s command In 1 5 98 after having left

’
.
,

D enmark Tycho in a splendid illustrated book ( As

,

tr o nom i ce Ins taur atoe M echan i ca ) gave an a ccount o f

this astronomical paradis e on the In sula Venusi a as
he at times cal led it The book prepared for the
.
,

han ds o f princes contains about twenty full page

,
-

colored illus t ration s of astronomical instrumen ts ( i n

cl udin g o f course the mural qu adran t ) of the ex
, , ,

te r i o r o f the O bservatory o f U r ani bo r g etc The , .

author had a consciousness of his o w n worth an d ,

deserves the name Tycho the M agn ifice n t The r e .

s ult s that he obtained were n ot unworthy o f the

apparatus employed in his O bservations and before ,

he died at Prague i n 1 6 01 Tycho Brahe h ad con ,

si gn ed to the worthiest han ds the p ainstakin g record

o f his labors

Johan n Kepler ( 1 5 7 1 —
.

'

1 6 30) h ad bee n c alled as ,

 SCIENCE AS M EASURE M ENT 91

th e astron omer s assistant to the Bohemian capit al

’
,

in 1 6 00 and in a few months fell heir to Tycho s ’

data in reference to 7 7 7 stars which he made the ,

basis o f the Rudolphine tables of 1 6 2 7 Kepler s .

’

genius was complementary to that o f his predecessor .

He was gifted with an imagination to turn observa

tions to account His astronomy did not rest in mere
.

description b ut sought the physical explanation He

, .

had the artis t s feel ing fo r the beauty an d har mony

’
,

which he di vined before he demonstrated in the ,

n umber relations o f the planetary movements After .

speci al studies of M ars based on Tycho s data he set ’

,

forth in 1 6 09 ( As tr o no m i a No va) ( 1 ) that every

planet moves in an ellipse of which the sun occupies
o n e foc us and 2 that the rea swept by the
,( ) a ra

dins vecto r fro m the planet to the sun is proportional

t o the time L uckily for the success o f his investi
.

gati e n the planet on which he had concentrated his

attention is the one o f all the planets the n know n ,

the orbit of which most widely di ff ers fr om a circle .

In a later w or k (Har m oni ca M un d i 1 6 1 9) the title,

o f which the Har m oni cs of the Un i ver s e proclaimed

, ,

h i s inclination to Pythagorea n views he demon ,

s tr at e d 3
( ) that the square o f the
periodic time o f
an y plan et is proportional to the cube of its mean
distance from the s un .

Kepler s st udies were facilitated by the invention

’

in 1 6 1 4 by John Napier o f logarithms which have

, ,

been said by abr idging tedious calculations to dou

, ,

ble the life of an astronomer About the same time

.

Kepler in purchas ing some wine was struck by the

rough and ready method used by the merchant to de
- -

termine the capacity o f the win e vessels He applied -

.
99. THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
hi m s elf for a few days to the problems of men sura
tion involved and in 1 6 1 5 published his treatise
,

S er eo m e tr i a D o li or um ) on the c ubical contents o f

( t
c asks (or wine j ars) a source of inspiration to all
-
,

later writers on the accurate determination of the

volume o f solids He helped other scientists and w as
.

himself richly helped As early as 1 6 1 0 there h ad .

bee n prese n ted to him a means o f precisio n of the

first import ance to the progress of astronomy ,

n amely a Galilean telescope

,
.

The early history of telescope s shows that the

effect o f combining t wo lenses was understood by
scientists long before any particular use was made of
this kno w ledge ; a n d that those who are accredited
with introducing perspective glasses to the public
hit by accident upon the in vention Priority was .

claimed by two firms o f spectacle makers i n M iddel -

burg Holland namely Zacharias miscalled Jan sen

, , , , ,

and Lippershey Galileo heard o f the contrivance

.

i n July 1 6 09 and soo n furnished so powerful an

, ,

i n strument O f discovery that things s ee n through

it appeared more than thirty times n e arer and al
most a thousand times larger than when seen by the
n aked eye He w a s able to make out the moun tains
.

i n the moon the satellites of Jupiter in rotation

, ,

the spots o n the revolving su n ; but his telescope

afforded only an imperfec t view of S aturn O f .

course these facts publi shed i n 1 61 0 (S i d er eus Nun

,

c i us ) stren gthened hi s advocacy o f the Copernican

,

syste m G alileo laughingly wrote Kepler that the

.

professors o f philosophy were afraid to look through

his telescope lest they should fall into heresy The .

Germ an astron omer who h ad ye ars b efore writte n

,
94 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
achievements verified by Observation what Harvey i n
,

1 6 2 8 had argued must take place .

In this same epo ch appar atus o f precision developed

i n other fields Weight clocks had been in use as
.

tim e m easurers sin ce the thirteenth cent ury but they

-
,

were as we have seen di fficult to control and other

, ,

wise unreliable Even i n the seventee n th ce ntury

.

scientists in their experiments preferred some form

o f water clock
- I n 1 6 36 Galileo in a letter men
.
, ,

t i o n ed the feasibility o f constructing a pendul um

clock an d in 1 6 41 he dictated a description of the
,

projected apparatus to his son Vincenzo and to his

disciple Viviani He himself was then blind and he
.
,

died the following year His instructions were never .

carried i n to eflect However in 1 6 5 7 Christian Huy

.
,

gens applied the pendul um to weight clocks of the

o l d stamp In 1 6 7 4 he gave directions for the manu
.

facture o f a watch the movement of which w as ,

dr iven by a spring .

Galileo to whom the advance in exact science i s

,

so largely indebted m ust also be credited with the

,

first apparatus for the measuremen t O f temperat ures .

Thi s was invent ed before 1 6 03 and consiste d o f a

glas s bulb with a long stem of the thickness o f a
straw The bulb was first heated and the stem placed
.

in water The point at which the water which rose

.
,

in the tube might stan d w a s an indication of the

,

temperature In 1 6 31 Jean Rey j ust inverted this

.

contrivan ce filling the bulb with water Of course

,
.

th ese thermoscopes would register the effect of vary

ing press ures as well as tem perat ures and they soo n ,

made way for the thermometer an d the barometer .

Before 1 6 41 a true thermometer was constr uct ed by

 SCIENCE AS M EASURE M ENT 95

se ali n g the top of the tube after driving out the air
by heat Spirits of wine were used in pl ace of water
. .

Mercury was n ot employed till 1 6 7 0 .

De scartes and Galileo had bro ught under criticism

the an cient idea that nature abhors a vacu um They .

kn ew that the hor r or vacui was not sufficient to raise

w ater in a pump more than about thirty three feet - .

They had al so known that air h as weight a fact ,

which soon served to explain the so called force o f -

suction Galil eo s associate Torricelli reas oned that if

.
’

t h e pressure o f the air was sufficient to support a

colum n o f water thirty three feet in height it would
-
,

support a column of merc ury of equal weight Ac .

cordin gly i n 1 6 43 he made the e x periment of filling

with merc ury a glass t ube four feet long closed at
the upper end and then opening the lower end in a
,

b asin of merc ury The mercury in the t ube sank until

.

i ts level was abo ut thi rty inches above that of the

mercury in the basin leaving a vacuum in the upper
,

part o f the tube As the specific gravity of mercury

.

is 1 3 Torricelli knew that his s upposition had been

,

correct an d that the column o f mercury in the tube

an d the col umn O f wate r in the pump were owing to
the pressure or weight of the air .

Pascal thought that this pressure would be less

at a high al titude His s upposition was tested on a
.

church steeple at Paris an d lat er o n the P uy de , , ,

D Om e a mo untain in Auvergne In the latter case a

,
.

difference of three inches in the column o f mercury

was shown at the su m mit and base o f the ascent .

L ater Pascal experimented with the siphon and suc

ce e d e d in explaining it o n the principle o f atmos

h er i c pressure
p .
96 THE HISTOR Y OF SCIENCE
Torricelli in the space at the top of his barometer
( pressure gauge
-
) had produced what is called a Tor
r i celli an vacu um Otto von Guericke a b urgomas te r
.
,

O f M agdeburg who had tr aveled in Fran ce and Italy

, ,

s ucceeded in constructing an air pump by mean s O f -

which air migh t be exhausted from a vessel Some of .

his res ults became widely known in 1 6 5 7 though his ,

works were not p ublished till 1 6 7 3

Robert Boyle ( 1 6 26—
.

16 born at Castle Lismore

i n Ireland was the seventh son and fourteenth child
,

o f the distinguished first Earl of Cork He was early .

acquainted with these vario us experiments in refer

e n ce to the air as well as with D escartes theory that
,
’

air is n othing but a congeries o r heap of sm all an d , ,

for the most part fle x ible particles In 1 6 5 9 he wrote

,
.

hi s New Exp er i m ents P hy s i co M echani cal to uchi ng -

the Sp r i ng of the A i r Instead o f sp r i ng he at times

.
,

used the word elater In thi s treatise he

describes experiments with the imp r oved air pump -

con structed at his suggestio n by his assistan t Robert ,

Hooke .

O ne of Boyle s critics a pro fessor at Louvai n

’
, ,

while admitting that air had weight an d elasticity ,

denied that these were s ufficient to account for the

results ascribed to them Boyle thereupon published

W
.

a D efence of the D o ctr i n e touchi ng the Sp r i ng and

ei ht of t he A i r He felt able to prove that the
g .

elasticity of the air could under circumstan ces do far

more than sustain twenty nine or thirty inches of -

mercury In support o f his vie w he cited a recent

.

experiment .

He h ad taken a piece of strong glass tubing f ull y

twelve feet in le ngth (The experiment was made.
98 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
pressure to o ne half its original volume doubles its ,

resistance ; and t hat if it is further reduced to one

half , for example from si x to three inches
,
it ,

has four times the resistance of common air In fact .

,

Boyle had s ustained the hypothesis that supposes

the pressures and expansions to be in reciprocal pr o
portion s .

REFERENCES

Ro b ert Bo y le , W
S ir Rob ert S Ball Great As trono m er s
. ,

S ir Dav i d Br ew s te r M ar tyr s of S ci ence

’

,
.

or ks (ed i t ed b y Th o m as Bir ch)

.
.

J L E D r ey er Tycho Br ahe
. . .
, .

S ir Oli v er Lo d ge P i oneer s of S ci ence

, .

Flor a M as so n Robert Boy le a Bi ogr aphy

, .
 CHAPTE R VIII
C OO P ERATI O N IN S CI ENC E —THE RO YAL
S O CI ETY

THE period from 1 63 7 to 1 6 8 7 affords a good

illustration of the value for the progress o f science
of the coO e r ati o n in the pursuit of truth o f men o f
p
d ifie r e nt creeds nation alities vocations and social
, , ,

ranks At o r even before the begi n ning of that

.
, ,

period the need of cooperatio n was indicated by the

'

activities of two men of pronouncedl y social tempera

men t an d in terests n amely the Fre nch M inim father
, , ,

Mersenne and the Protestant Prussian merchan t

, ,

S amuel Har t li b .

Mersenne was a stimulati n g and indefatigable

correspondent His letters to Galileo Jean Rey
.
, ,

Hobbe s D escartes Gassendi not to mention other

, , ,

scientists an d philosophers con stitute an encyclo ,

pedia of the learning of the time A mathematician .

an d experimenter himself he had a genius for elicit

,

ing discussion and research by means of adroit ques

tions Through him D esca rtes was drawn into debate
.

with Hobbes and with Ga ssendi a champion O f the

, ,

experimental method Thro ugh him the discoveries

.

o f Harvey Galileo and Torricelli as well as of many

, , ,

others became widely kn own His letters i n the

,
.
,

dearth of scientific associations and the absence o f

scientific periodicals served as a general ne w s agency
,

among the learned o f his time I t is not s urpri s ing .

that a coterie gathered about him at Paris Hobbes .

1 00 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
spent months i n dai ly intercourse with this group of
scientists i n the w inter O f 1 6 36— 37 .

"
Har tli b tho ugh he scarcely takes rank with M er
,

senne as a scientist was no less influen tial Of ; gen

, .

e r o us and philanthropic disposition he repeate dly i m

,

r i sh e d himself in the ca use of human betterment

p o v e .

Hi s chief reliance was o n educatio n and i mproved

methods o f h usbandry but he resembled Horace
,

Greeley in his hospital ity to any proj ect fo r the public

welfare .

O ne o f Har t li b s chief hopes for the regen eration

’

o f England if n ot O f the whole world rested on the

, ,

teachings of the educational reformer Comenius a ,

bishop Of the M oravian Brethren In 1 6 3 7 Comenius.

,

having shown himself rather reluctant to put his most

cherished plans before the public his ze al o us disciple
,

precipitated matters and on his o w n responsibility

, ,

an d unknown to Comeni us issued from his library at

,

Oxford P r elud es to the End eavo r s of Com en i us Be .

sides Har tli b s preface it contained a treatise by the

’

gre at educator on a S em i nar y of Chr i s ti an P ans op hy ,

a method of imparting an encyclopedic knowledge

o f the sciences and arts .

The two friends were followers of the Baconian

philosophy They were influenced as many others
.
,

o f the time by the New A tl ant i s w hich went through

, ,

ten editions between 1 6 27 and 1 6 7 0 and w hich o ut ,

lined a plan for an endowed college with thirty

six Fellows divided into groups what woul d be
called tod ay a university of research endowed by
the State I t is not s urpr ising to find Comeni us
.

( who in hi s student days had been under the i nflu

ence O f Alsted author of an en cyclopedia on Baco

,
 "
THE HISTORY
t "
ree ,
OF SCIENCE
1 610 .It was propos ed to place Gresha m College ,

the Savoy o r Winchester College at the disposition

, ,

o f the pansophists Comeni us thought that nothing

.

was more certain than that the design O f the great

Verulam concerning the opening somewhere of a
universal college devoted to the advancement of the
,

sciences co uld be car r ied out The impending strug

, .

gle howeve r between Charles I and the Parliament

, ,

prevented the attempt to re alize the pansophi c

dream and the Austrian Slav who knew something
, ,

o f the horrors o f civil war withdrew di scouraged , , ,

t o the Continent .

Nevertheless Har tli b did n ot abandon the cause

, ,

but in 1 6 44 broached M ilton o n the subject of edu

cat i o nal refo r m and d r e w from him the brief but
,

infl uential tract o n E d ucati o n In this its author .

all udes rather slightingly to Comenius who had some ,

thing Of Bacon s infelicity in choice of titles and epi

’

t he t s an d who must have seemed o utlan dish t o the

a uthor o f L yci d as and Com us But M ilton joined
i n the criticism o f the universities — the st udy of
.

words rather tha n things and advocated an ency

cl o pe d i c ed ucation based o n the Greek and Lati n

writers o f a practic al and scientific tendency ( Aris

to t le Theophrast us Cato Varro Vitruvi us Seneca
, , , , , ,

“
and others ) He outlined a plan for the establish
.

ment o f an institution to be kn own by the classical

( and Shakespearian ) name Academy a pla n

destined to have a great e ffect o n education in the

direction indicated by the friends o f pan SOphi a .

In this same year Robert Boyle then an eager ,

st udent o f eighteen j ust ret urned to E ngland fro m

residence abro ad came under the influence of the ,
 COOPERATION IN SCIENCE 1 03

geni al Har t lib In 1 6 46 he writes his tutor inquir

.

ing about boo k s on methods of husb andry and refer

ri n g to the new philosophical college which valued ,

no kno w ledge but as it had a tendency to us e A few .

months later he w as in correspondence with Hart lib in

reference to the Invisible College and had written a ,

thi rd friend that the corn er stones o f the i nvisible -

,

o r as they termed themselves the philosophical co l

, ,

lege di d now and then honor hi m with their co m

,

pany These philosophers whom Boyle entert ai n ed

.
,

an d whose scientific ac umen breadth o f mind h u , ,

m i li ty and univers al good will he found so co ngen

,
-

i al were the nucleus O f the Royal Society o f London

, ,

O f which on its definite organization in 1 6 6 2 he

, ,

was the foremost member They had begun to meet .

together i n London about 1 6 45 worthy persons i n ,

u i s i t i ve in to natural philosophy — Wilkins inter

q ,

e s t ed in the navigation of the air and of waters belo w

the surface Wallis mathematician an d grammarian ; ,

the man y sided Petty political economist and i n

-
, ,

v ento r o f a do uble bottomed boat who had as a youth

-
,

o f twe n ty studied with Hobbes i n Paris i n 1 6 43 an d ,

i n 1 6 48 was to write his first treatise o n industri al

educati on at the suggestion of Har t l ib and fin ally ,

make a survey of Ireland an d acquire large estates ;

Foster professor of astronomy at Gresham Colle ge ;
,

Theodore Haak from the Pfalz ; a n umber o f medi

cal men Dr Mer r et Dr Ent a friend of Harvey
, .
, .
, ,

D r God dard who could always be relied upo n t o

.
,

undertake an experiment Dr Glisson the phys i olo , .

,

gist a uthor i n 1 6 54 of a treatise o n the liver (D e

,

. Hep ate) and others They met once a week at

, .

Goddard s in Wood Street at the Bull s He ad Tav

’

,
’

ern in Cheapside an d at Gresham College , .

1 04 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
Dr Wilkins the brother i n law of Cromwell who
.
,
- -
,

is regarded by some as the founder of the Royal

Society removed to O x ford as Warden of Wadham
, , ,

in 1 6 4 9 Here he held mee tings and conducted ex

.

r i m e n t s in co n j unction with Wallis Goddard

p e , ,

Petty Boyle and others includi ng Ward (afterwards

, , ,

Bishop o f Salisb ur y ) interested in Bulli au s Astron ’

om
y and the ce lebrated physician and anatomist ,

Thomas Willis author o f a work o n the b r ain ( Cc

,

r ebr i An a tom e) an d another o n fevers D e F e br i

( ,

bus ) in which he described epidemic typhoid as it

,

occurred during the Civil War in 1 6 43 .

In the mean time the weekly meeti ngs i n Lo ndon

continued and were attended when convenie n t by
,

members o f the O xford group At Gresham College .

by 1 55 8 it w as the custom to remain for discussio n

Wednesdays and Thursdays after M r Wren s lecture .
’

and Mr Rooke s D uring the unsettled state of the

.
’
.

country after C r omwell s death there was some inter ’

ruptio n o f the meetings but with the accession o f ,

Charles II in 1 6 6 0 there came a greater sense of

security New names appe ar o n the records Lord
.
,

Br o un cker Sir Robert M oray John Evelyn Brere

, , ,

t on Ball Robert Hooke and Abraham Cowley

, , ,
.

Plans were discussed for a more perm anen t form

o f organ izatio n especially o n November 2 8 1 6 60
, , ,

when something was said o f a design to found a

college for the promotion of physico m athematical -

experimental learni ng A few months later w as pub .

li s hed Cowley s proposition for an endowed college

’

with twenty professors four of who m should be ,

constantly traveling in the interests o f science The .

sixteen residen t professors should be bou n d to study

 COOPERATION IN SCIENCE 1 05

and teach all sorts of natural experimental philo so ,

phy to consist of the mathematics mechanics medi

, , ,

cine anatomy chemistry the history o f an imals

, , , ,

plan ts minerals elements etc ; agriculture archi

, , , .
,

tecture art mi litar y navigation gardening ; the

, , ,

mysteries of all trades an d improvement of them ;

the facture o f all merchandise all natural m ag ic or ,

di vination ; and briefly all things contained in the

Catal ogue O f Natural Histories ann exed to my Lord
”
Bacon s Or g anon The early offici al history of the
’
.

Royal Society ( Sprat 1 6 6 7 ) says that this propos al

,

haste n ed ver y much the adoption of a plan of organi

zat i o n . Cowley wished to ed ucate youth and incur
r e a t expen se b u t most o f the othe r
g
pa rti culars of his draught the Royal Society is now
”
puttin g in practice .

A charter of incorporation was granted i n July ,

1 66 2 ; and later Charles I I proclaimed himself

, ,

founder an d patro n of the Royal Society for the ad

van cement of natural science Charles continued to .

take an interest in th i s organization devoted to the ,

di scovery of truth by the corporate action of men ;

he proposed subjects for investigation and asked ,

their coOper at i o n i n a more accurate meas ur ement

'

o f a degr ee O f latitude He showed himself tactful.

to take accoun t o f the democratic spirit o f scientific

investigation and recommended to the Royal Society
,

John Graun t the author of a work on mortality sta

,

ti st i cs first pub lished in 1 6 6 1 Graunt was a shop .

keeper o f London and Charles said that if they found

,

an y more such tradesmen they should be sure to ,

admit them all without more ado .

It w as a recogn ized pri n ciple of the Society freely

1 06 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
to admit men of d iff erent religions countries pro , ,

fessions Sp r at said that they ope nly professed not

.
,

to lay the foundation of an English Scotch Irish , , ,

Popish or Protestant philosophy b ut a philosophy of ,

m a nkind They so ught ( hating war as most of them

.

did) to establish a universal cult ure o r as they , ,

phrased it a constant intelligence throughout all civil

,

n ations. Even fo r the spec i al purposes o f the Society ,

hospital ity toward all nations was necessary ; fo r the

ideal scientist the perfect philosopher should have
, ,

the dilige n ce and inquisitiveness o f the n orthern

n ations and the cold an d circ umspect and wary
,

d isposition of the Italian s and Spaniard s Haak .

from the German Palatinate was o n e o f the earliest

F ellows of the Society and is even credited by Wallis
,

with being the first to suggest the meetin gs of 1 6 45 .

O ldenb urg fro m Bremen acted as secretary (along

with W il k ins) and carried o n an extensive foreign
cor r espondence H uygens of Holland was one o f the
.

original Fell ows in 1 6 6 3 while the names of A uzout

, ,

S o r b i er e the D uke o f Brunswick Bul li au Cassini

, , , ,

M al pighi Leibnitz Leeuwenhoek ( as well as Wi n

, ,

t hr o p and Roger Willi ams ) appear in the records o f

the Society within the first decade It seemed fitting .

that this cosmopolitan organ izatio n shoul d be located

in the world s metropolis rather than i n a mere uni
’

versity town Sprat thought London the natural se at

.

o f a univers al philo s ophy .

As already implied the Royal Society was n ot ex

,

elusive i n its attit ude toward the d ifi er ent vocations .

A spirit o f true fellowship prevailed in Gresham

College as the Society was sometimes called The
,
.

med i cal professio n the un iversities the ch urches the

, , ,
1 08 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
fined Their presence was thought to serve a double
.

p urpose It chec k ed the tendency to sacrifice the

.

search of truth to immediate profit and to lay such ,

emphasis on application as in the words o f a s ub s e , ,

quent presiden t o f the Society would make truth , ,

an d wisdom and knowle d ge of no i m po rtance for

,

their own sakes In the seco n d place their presence

.

was held to check dogmatism on the part o f the

leaders and subservience o n the part of their fol
,

lowers They understood how difficult it is to trans

.

mit kn owledge without putting initiative in jeopardy

an d th at quiet intellect is easily dismayed in the
presence o f bold speech The Society accepted the .

authority of no o ne and adopted as its motto Nul,

li us i n Ver ba .

In this attitude they were aided by their subject

and method Search for scientific truth by labora
.

tory procedure does not favor dogmatism The early .

meetings were taken up w ith experiments and d i s

eussions The Fellows recogniz ed that the ment al
.

powers are raised to a higher degree in company

than in solitude They welcomed di ver sity of view
.

an d the common sense j udgment o f the onlooker As

-
.

in the Civil War the private citizen had held his

o wn with the professional soldier so here the co n ,

t r i b uti o n o f the amateur to the discussion was n ot

to be despised They had been taught to shun all
.

forms of narrowness and intolerance They wi shed .

to avoid the pedantry o f the me r e scholar and the ,

allied states o f mind to which all individuals are lia

ble ; they valued the concurring testimony o f the
well informed assembly In the investigation o f truth
-
.

by the experimen t al method they eve n arrived at the

 C OOPERATION IN SC I ENCE 1 09

view tha t true experimenting has this o ne thing

in separable fr om it never to be a fixed an d settled ,
”
art an d never to be lim ited by constant rul es I n
,
.

its in cipience at least it is evident that the Royal

S ociety was filled with the spirit of tolerance and
co O er ati o n and was singularly free fro m the spirit
p ,

of envy an d faction .

Not least im portant of the joint labors o f the S o

ci ety were its publications which established co n ,

tacts and stimulated research throughout the s ci en

t ific world Besides the P h i los ogohi cal Tr ans acti on s
.
,

which since their first appearance in 1 6 6 5 are the

, ,

most important source of inform ation concerning the

development of modern science the Royal Society ,

pri n ted man y important works among which the ,

following will in dicate its early achievements

Hoo ke Rob e rt, , Mi cr ogr aphi a or s om e P hysi o logi cal
Des cri pti ons of M i nute Bod i es m ad e by M agn i fyi ng

Glas s es 1 6 65 . .

G r aunt J ohn Natur al and P oli ti cal Obs ervati o ns

, ,

m ad e upo n the Bi lls of M o rtali ty wi th r efer ence to the ,

Gover nm ent Reli gi on Tr ad e Gr owth Ai r Di s eas es and

, , , , , ,

the s ever al changes of the Ci ty 3 d e d i t i o n 1 6 6 5 .

, .

Spr at Tho m as The Hi s tor y of the Roy al S oci ety of Lon

, ,

d on for the Im provi ng of Natur al Know led ge 1 66 7

, . .

M alpi ghi M ar cell o Di s s er tati o epi s toli ca d e Bom by ce;

, ,

S oci etat i Regi ce Lond i ni d i cata 1669 (On t he s il k . .

w or m )

"
.

Ev ely n John S y lva

, , , or a Di s cour se o f
For est Tr ees 1 6 7 0 . .

Hor r oc ks Jer e m i ah Oper a As tr ono m i ca] po s tum a 1 6 7 3

W
, , . .

M alpi ghi M ar ce ll o , , Anatom e P lantar am 1 67 5 . .

i ll ughb y , Fr a ncis , Or ni tho logy (r e v is e d b y J o hn Ray ) .

167 6 .

Ev e lyn , John A P hi loso phi cal Di s co ur s e of Earth

, , l
r e a ti ng

to the Cultur e and Im pro vem ent of i tfo r V egetati on 16 7 6 . .

N h mi h
Gr e w , e e a , The Anato m y of P lants 1 6 8 2 . .
 THE

W
1 10 HISTORY OF SCIENCE
illughb y , F Hi s tor i a P i s ci um 1 68 6
—
. .

Ray J ohn Hi s tori a P lantar am

, , . 2 v ols 1 6 8 6 88 .

Flam s t ee d J o hn Ti d e Table for

, ,
- 1 68 7 .

New t o n Isaac P hi los ophi es Natur ali s P ri nci pi a M athe

, ,

m ati ca Aut o r e Is Ne w t o n
. Im pr im at ur : S Pepy s , . . .

Reg S oc Pr aeses J uli i 5 16 8 6 4t o Londi ni , 1 6 8 7

. . . , . . .

After the Society had ordered that Newt on s ’

Mathem ati cal P r i ncip les of Natur al P hi lo s op hy

should be printed it was fo und that the funds had
been exhausted by the publication o f illughb y s
book on fishes It was accordingly agreed that Hal
.
,

W ’

ley sho uld undertake the business o f looking after

it and printing it at his o w n charge which he h ad
, ,

engaged to do Short ly after the President o f the

.
,

Royal Society M r S amuel Pepys was desired to

, .
,

license M r Newto n s book .

’
.

It was no t merely by defrayi n g the expen se of

publicatio n that Hal ley contributed to the succes s
o f the P r i n ci i a He Wren Hooke and other F el
p .
, , ,

lows o f the Royal Society concluded in 1 6 8 4 that if ,

’
Kepler s third law were true then the attractio n ,

exerted on the d ifier ent planets would vary inversely

as the square of the distan ce What then would be .
, ,

the orbit of a planet under a central attraction vary

ing as the i nverse square of the di stance ? Halley
found that Newton had already determined that the
form of the orbit would be an ellipse Newton h ad .

been occupied with the problem of gravitation for

about eighteen years but until Halley induced him ,

“
to do so had hesitated o n account of certain u n set
, ,

tl ed points to p ublish his res ults

,
.

He writes : I began ( 1 6 66 ) to think of gravity

extending to the orb of the moo n an d thereby ,
1 12 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
attracting particle He deduced from this l aw that
.

the earth m ust be flattened at the poles ; he deter

mined the orbit Of the moon and of comets ; he ex
plained the precession of the equinoxes the semi ,

di urn al tides the ratio of the mas s o f the moo n

,

and the earth of the sun an d the earth etc No

, , .

wonder that Laplace considered that Newton s P r i n ’

Ci i a was assured a preeminence above all the other

p
productions of the h uman i n tellect It is no detrae .

tion from Ne w ton s merit to say that Halley Hooke

’
, ,

Wren Huygens Balli au Picard and many other

, , , ,

contemporaries (not to mention Kepler and hi s pred

e ce s so r s
) as we
,
l l as the organizations in which
they were units share the glory o f the resul t which
,

they cooperated to achieve On the contrary he .

,

seems much more conspicuous i n the social fir m a

ment because in spite o f the austerity an d seeming
,

independence of his genius he formed p art of a sys ,

tem and was under its law

, .

Shortly after the fo unding of the Royal Society ,

correspondence for which a committee was appointe d

, ,

ha d been adopted as a means of gaining the coOper a

tion of men and societies elsewhere Sir John M oray .
,

as President wrote to M onsieur de M o n m or t aro und

, ,

whom after the death o f M ersenne the scientific

, ,

coterie in Paris had gathered This gro up O f men .

,

whi ch toward the close o f the seventeenth cent ury

regarded itself not unnat urally as the parent soci
, ,

ety was in 1 666 definitely organi z ed as the Acad

,

émie Royal e des Sciences Finally Leibnitz who .

, ,

had been a Fello w of the Royal Society as early as

1 6 7 3 and had spent years in the servi ce o f the
,

D ukes of Brun swick w a s i n strumental in the estab

,
 C HAPTE R IX
S CI ENC E AND T HE S TRU GG LE FO R LI B ERTY

B ENJ A M I N FRAN K LI N

OF the Fellows of the Royal S ociety Benjami n ,

Frankli n ( 1 7 06—1 7 9 0) is the most representative o f

that age of enlightenment whi ch had i ts origi n i n
Newto n s P r i nc ip i a Franklin represents the eight
’
.

ee nt h century in his steadfast p urs uit o f intellectual ,

social and politic al emancipation And in his long

, .

fight calm ly waged against the forces of want super

, , ,

s t i t i o n and intolerance s uch as still hamper the de

, ,

v elo pm e n t o f aspiring yo uth in Americ a Englan d , ,

and elsewhere he found science no mean ally

, .

There is some reason for believing that the F rank

lin s f r ancus free ) w ere of a free li n e free from ,

that vassalage to an overlord which in the different ,

co un tries o f Europe did not cease to exist with the

Middle Ages F or hundreds of years they had lived
.

obsc urely n ear Northampton They had early join ed .

the r evolt again st the papal authority For gener .

at i o ns they were blacksmith s and husbandmen Frank .

li n s great grandfather had been imprisoned for writ

’
-

ing satirical verses abo ut some provincial magn ate .

O f the grandfather s four sons the eldest became a

’

smith but having some ingenuity and scholarly abil

,

ity turned conveyancer an d was recognized as able ,

and public spirited The other three were dyers

- . .

F ranklin s father Josiah and his Uncle Benjamin

’

were n o n conformists an d co n ceived the plan of emi,

 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY 1 15

gr ati ng to Am eric a i n order to en joy th eir w ay O f

religion with freedom .

Benjamin born at Boston twen ty o ne years after

, ,
-

hi s father s emigration was the youngest of ten sons

’
, ,

all of whom were eventually apprenticed to trades .

The father w as a man o f so und ju d gment who e nco ur

aged sensible conversation i n his home Uncle Benja . e

min who did not emigrate till much later showed

, ,

in terest in hi s precocious namesake Both he and the .

maternal grandfather expressed i n verse dislike of

war an d intoleran ce the one with considerable liter
,

ary skill the other with a good deal of decent plai n

,

n ess and manly freedom as his grandson said , .

Benjami n was intended as a tithe to the Church ,

b ut the plan was abandoned because of lack of mean s

to send him to college After o ne year at the Latin .

Grammar School and one year at an arithmetic an d

,

wri ting school for better or worse his ed ucation of

, ,

that sort ceased ; and at the age of ten he began to

assist in his father s occupation now that of tallo w
’
,

chan dler and soap boiler He wished to go to sea an d

- .
,

gave i n dications of leadership and enterprise His .

father took him to visit the shops of joiners brick ,

layers turn ers braziers cutlers an d other artisans

, , , , ,

thus stimul ating in him a delight in handicraft Pi .

n ally becau s e of a bookish turn he had bee n exhibit

,

in g the boy was bo und appren tice to his brother

,

James who about 1 7 20 began to publish the New

,

Eng land Co ur an t the fourth newspaper to be estab

,

li s h ed in America .

Among the books early read by Benj amin Frank

lin were The P i lgr i m s P r og r es s certain historical
’
,

collection s a book on navigation works of Protestan t

, ,
1 16 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
controversy Pl utarch s L i ves filled with the spirit
,
’
,

o f Greek freedom D r M ather s B o nif aci us and

’
.
, ,

D efoe s E s s ay o n P r oj ects The last two seemed to

’
.

give him a way of t hinking to adopt Franklin s ,

’

phraseology that had an influence o n some of the

,

principal events of his life D efoe an ardent n on .

,

conformist ed ucated in one of the Academies (estab

,

li s he d o n M ilton s model) and especi al ly trained in

’

English and current hi s tory advocated among other ,

projects a military academy an academy for improv ,

ing the vernac ular an d an academy for women He

, .

thought it barbarous that a civilized and Christian

country shoul d deny the advantages of learning to
women They sho uld be brought to read boo ks and
.

especially his tory D efoe could not think that God

.

Almighty had made women so glorio us w ith souls ,

capable of the same accomplishments with men and ,

all to be only stewards o f o ur ho uses cooks and , ,

slaves .

Benjamin still had a hankering for the sea b ut he ,

recogn ized i n the printing o ffice and access to books -

other means o f escape f r om the narrowness of the

Boston of 1 7 2 0 Between him an d an other bookish
.

boy John Collins arose an argument in reference to

, ,

the education of wo m en The argument too k the for m

.

o f correspondence Josiah F ranklin s j udicious cr i ti

.
’

ci s m led Benjamin to undertake the well kn own plan -

o f developing his literary style .

Passing over his reading of the Sp ectator however , ,

it is remarkable how soon his mi nd sought o ut and

assimilated its appropr iate nourish m ent Locke s Es ,
’

s ay o n the Hum an Un d er s ta nd i ng which began the ,

modern epoch in psychology ; the P or t Roy al L ogi c ,

1 18 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
brothers however and Benjamin kn owi ng that the
, , ,

editor dared not plead before court the second co n

tract took upon himself to assert his freed om a step
, ,

which he later regretted a s not dictated by the high

est principle .

Unable to find other employmen t i n Boston co n ,

’
d em n ed by his father s judgment in the matter O f the
contract somewhat un d er public criticism also for his
,

s atirical vein and heterodoxy F r anklin determi n ed to ,

try his fortunes elsewhere Thus at the age of sev .

,

en te e n he m ade his e scape from Boston .

Un able to fin d work in New York he arrived ,

after some d i fficulties i n Phi ladelphia in O ctober ,

1 7 2 3 He had brought no recommendations fro m

.

Bosto n ; his supply of mo n ey was red uced to o ne

D utch dollar and a shilling in copper But he that .

hath a Trade hath an Estate ( as Poor Richard

says ) His capital was his industry his skill as a
.
,

prin ter his good will his s hrewd powers of Ob s er vw

,
-
,

tion his knowledge o f books and ability to write

, , .

F ranklin recognized as a promising yo ung man by

,

the Governor Sir William Keith as previously by

, ,

Governor Burnet of New York had a growing se n se ,

o f personal freedom and self reliance -

.

But in creased freedom for those who deserve it

means increased respon sibility ; for it implies the
possibi lity o f error Fran klin in te n t above all .
,

o n the wise conduct o f life was deeply perturbe d ,

in his n ineteenth and twentieth years by a premature

engagement in which his ever passionate n ature had
,
-

involved him by his failure to pay over money col

,

lect ed for a friend and by the unsettled state o f his

,

religious an d ethical beliefs Encouraged by Keith .

 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY 1 19

to purchase the equipment for an independent prin t

i ng o ffice Franklin though unable to gain his fa
-
, ,

t h er s s upport for the project went t o London ( for

’
,

the ostensible purpose of selecting the s tock ) at the

close o f the year 1 7 24 .

He remain ed in London a year an d a h alf working ,

in two o f the leading p r inting establishments of the

metr opolis where his skill and reliability were soo n
,

pri zed He fo un d the English artisan s of that time

.

gre at guzzlers of beer and infl uenced some of his ,

co workers to adopt his own more abstinent and bygi

-

cuic habits o f eating and drinking About this time

W
.

a book Reli g i on of Natur e D eli neated by Willia m

, ,

Wollaston ( great grand f ather o f the scientist ol

-

laston ) so roused Franklin s opposition that he wrote ’

a reply which he printed in pamphle t form before

,

leaving London in 1 7 26 and the composition o f ,

which he afterw ards regretted .

He returned to Philadelphi a l n the employ of a

Q uaker m erc h ant o n whose death he resu m ed work
,

as pr i n ter und er his former employer He was give n

. .

control of the office underto ok to m ake his o w n type

, ,

contrived a copper plate press the first in America

-
, ,

an d printed paper mo n ey for New Jersey The sub .

stan ce o f some lectures i n defense o f Christi an ity in ,

courses endowed by the will of Robert Bo yle made ,

F ranklin a D eist At the same time his views on

.

moral questions were clarified and he came to recog ,

n ize that truth si n cerity an d integrity were o f the

, ,

utmost importance to the felicity o f life What he .

had attained by his o w n independent thought ren

dered him ultimately more careful rather than more
reckless He n ow set val ue on his ow n ch aracter an d
.
,

r esolved to preserve it .
1 20 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
I n 1 7 2 7 still only twenty o ne he drew together a
,
-
,

n umber of young men in a sort o f club called the ,

”
J unto for m utual benefit in b usiness and for the
,

discussion of morals politics and natural philosophy

, , .

They professed tolerance benevolence love o f truth , , .

They discussed the e ffect on business o f the issue of

paper money various natural phenomena and kept
, ,

a sharp look out fo r any encroachment o n the rights

-

o f the people It is not unnatural to find that in a

.

year or two after Frank lin and a friend had

established a printing business of their o w n an d ao
quired the P enns y lvan i a Gazette the young poli ,

t i ci an championed the cause o f the M assachusetts

Assembly against the claims first put forward by
Governor Burnet and that he used spirited language
,

referring to America as a n ation and clime foreign

to Englan d .

In 1 7 3 0 Franklin bo ught out his partner an d i n ,

the same year p ubli shed dialogues in the Socratic

man ner in refe r ence to virtue and pleasure which ,

show a rapid development i n his gen eral views .

About the same time he m arried restored the money ,

that had long been owing and formulated his ethical ,

code and religious creed He began in 1 7 3 2 the P o or

.

Ri char d Alm an achs said to offer in their homely

,

wisdom the best course i n existe n ce i n practic al

morals .

As early as 1 7 29 Frankli n had published a pam

phlet o n P ap er Cur r ency It was a well reasoned .
-

discussion on the relat ion of the issue o f paper cur

r en cy to rate o f interest land values manufactures, , ,

population and wages The want of money discour

,
.

aged labori n g an d handicrafts m e n O n e must con .

1 22 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
Correspondence had already been established w ith
the Ro yal Society of London It is n ot d iffi .

c ult to see i n F rankli n the same spirit that had ani

m ated Har tli b Boyle Petty ,
1
Wilkins an d their
, , ,

friends one h undred years before In fact F rankli n .

,

was the embodiment of that un ion of scientific ideas

a nd practical skill in the ind ustries tha t with them
was merely a pious wish .

In t his same year o f 1 7 43 an eclipse of the moo n ,

whi ch co ul d not be see n at Ph i ladelphia o n account

o f a n ortheast storm was yet visible at Boston
, ,
‘
where the storm came as Franklin learned from his ,

“
brother about an hour afte r the time o f observatio n
, .

Fran klin who kn e w something of fireplaces ex

, ,

plain ed the matter thus : When I have a fire i n

my chimney there is a current of air con stantly
,

flowing from the door to the chimn ey but the b e ,

ginning o i the motion was at the chimney S O i n .

a mill race water stopped by a gate is li ke air i n a

-
,

calm When the gate is raised the water moves for

.
,

ward but the motion so to speak runs backward

, , , .

Th us the pri n ciple was established in meteorology

that northe ast storms arise to the southwest .

No doubt Fran kl i n was not oblivious of the pr ac

tical val ue o f this discovery for as Sir Humphry , ,

D avy remarked he in n o instance exhibited that

,

false dignity by which philosophy is kept aloof from

,

common applications In fact Franklin was rather .

,

W
apologetic in reference to the magic squares and
1
S e e The Ad vi ce qf . Mr S am uel Har tlib f or the Ad
P . to .

vance m e nt qf s o m e P a r t i cular P ar ts of Lea r ni ng i n w h i ch i s ad vo ,

o s t e d a Gy m nasi um Mechani cum o r a Colleg e of Tr a d es m en w i th

f ello w s hi ps f or e x pe r ts P e t t y w ante d tr ad e e ncyclope di as pr e

.

par e d , and hoped for i nvent i ons i n ab und ance .

 THE STRUGGLE FOR LI BERTY 1 23

circles with which he sometimes amused hi s leisure

, ,

as a sort of ingenious triflin g At the very time .

that the q uestion o f the propagation of sto rms arose

i n his mind he had contrived the Pennsylvania fir e
place which was to achieve cheap ad eq uate an d
, , ,

uniform heating for American homes His aspira .

ti on was for a free people well sheltered well fed

, , ,

well cl ad well ins tructed

, .

I n 1 7 4 7 Frankli n made what is ge n erally co nsi d

ered his chief contribution to science One of his .

corresponden ts Collinson (a Fellow of the Royal

,

S ociety an d a botan ist in terested in useful plants ,

thro ugh whom the vine was i ntroduced I nto Vir

ginia) had sen t to the Library Company at Phil a
,

delphia one of the recen tly i n ve n ted Leyden jars

with instructions for its use Frankli n who had .
,

alre ady seen similar apparatus at Boston and his ,

friends set to work experimenting For months he

, .

h ad leisure for nothing else In this sort of activity

.

he h ad a spo ntan eous and irrepressible delight By .

M arch 1 7 4 7 they felt that they had made d i s cov

, ,

cr i e s
,
an d I n July and subsequently Franklin r e
, ,

ported res ults to Collinson He had observed that a

.

pointed rod brought near the jar was m uch more

effi cacious than a blunt rod in drawing off t he
charge ; also that if a pointed rod were at tached to
the jar the charge wo uld be thrown o ff an d accu
, ,

m ul at i o n o f charge prevented Frankl i n moreover

.
, ,

foun d that the nature of the charges o n the inside

and on the outside of the glass was d i fler ent He .

spoke of one as plus an d the other as minus Again .

,

We say B (an d bodies like circumstanced ) i s -

el ectr i ci zed positively ; A n eg atively

”
D ufay h ad .
1 24 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
recognized two sorts of electricity obtai n ed by rub ,

bi ng a glass rod and a stick of resin an d had ,

spo k en o f them as vitreo us and resinous For Frank .

lin electricity was a single subtle fl uid and electrical ,

manifestations were owing to the d egree o f its pres

ence to interruption or restoration of equilibrium
, .

“
His mind however was bent on the use the ap
, , ,

plications the inventions to follow He contrived

, , .

an electric j ack driven by two Leyden jars and

capable of carrying a large fowl w ith a motion fit
”
for roasting before a fire He also succeeded i n.

driving an automatic w heel by electricity but he ,

reg retted not being able to turn his discoveries to

greater acco unt
He thought later — i n 1 7 4 8
.

that there were

many points o f similarity between lightn in g and the
spark from a Leyden jar and suggested an e xper i
,

ment to test the identity of their natures The sug .

gestion was acted upon at Marly in France An iro n .

rod about forty feet long and sharp at the en d was

placed upright in the hO pe of drawing electricity
from the storm clouds A man was instructed to
-
.

watch fo r storm clouds and to to uch a brass wi r e

-
, ,

“
attached to a glass bottle to the rod The conditions
, .

seemed favorable M ay 1 0 1 7 5 2 ; sparks betwee n

,
”
the wire and rod and a sulphuro us O dor were
perceived (the man ifestation s of wrath l) Franklin s .
’

well known kite ex periment followed I n 1 7 5 3 he

- .

received fro m the Royal Society a medal for the

identification and control of the forces o f lightning ;
subsequently he was elected Fellow b ecame a m e m ,

ber of the Académie des Sciences and o f other ,

le arned bodies By 1 7 8 2 there were as many as four

.
1 26 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
ci s m .I n medicin e he inve n ted bifocal lenses an d
fou n ded the first American public hospital ; in navi
at i on he st udied the Gulf Stream an d waterspouts
g ,

and suggested the use of o il in storms and the con

structio n of ships with water tight compartments ;
-

i n agriculture he experimented with plaster o f Paris

as a fertilizer and introduced in Am erica the use O f
rhubarb ; in chemistry he aided Priestley s ex per i ’

ments by information in reference to marsh gas He .

foresaw the employment o f air craft in war Think .

ing the English slow to take up the interest in bal

loons he wrote that we should n ot suffer pride to
,

preve n t o ur progress in science Pride that dines on

.

vanity sups on contempt as Poor Richard says

,
.

W hen it was mentioned in his presence that birds

fly in inclined planes he launched a half sheet o f
,

paper to indicate that his previous observations had

prepared his mind to respond readily to the d i scov
ery His quickness and versatility made him sought
.

after by the best intellects o f E urope .

I pass over his analysis o f mesmerism his con ,

cept i o n o f light as depe n dent like lightning on a

( )
s ubtle fl uid his experiments with colored cloths his
, ,

view o f the nature O f epidemic colds interest i n in

,

ocul ati o n for small pox in ventilation vegetarianism

, , ,

a stove to consume its o w n smoke the steamboat

, ,

and his o w n inventions (clock harmonica

,
for
,

which he refused to take out patents .

However from the many examples o f his s ci en

,

ti fic acumen I select o ne more As early as 1 7 4 7 he

.

had been interested in geology and had seen speci

mens of the fossil remains of m arine shells from the
s trata of the highest parts of the Alleghany M oun
 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBE RTY 1 27

tai n s Later he stated that either the se a had on ce

.

stood at a higher level o r that these strata had been

,

raised by the force of earthquakes Such convul .

sions of n ature are not wholl y inj urious since by , ,

bringing a great n umber of strata o f di fferent kinds

t o day they have rendered the earth more fit for
,

use more capable o f being to man kind a co n venient

,

and comfortable habitation He thought it unlikely .

tha t a great boulever s em en t sho uld happen if the

earth were solid to the center Rather the s urface of .

the globe was a shell resting on a fluid o f very great

specific gravity and was thus capable of being broken
,

an d disordered by violent movement As late as .

1 7 8 8 Franklin wrote his queries and conjectures

relati ng to magn etism and the theory of the earth .

D i d the earth become magnetic by the development

o f iron ore ? Is not magn etism rather interplanetary

an d i n terstellar ? M ay not the near passing o f a

comet o f greater magnetic force than the earth have
been a m eans of changing its poles and thereby
wreckin g and deran ging its surface and raising an d ,

depressing the sea le v el ?

We are n ot here directly concern ed with his polit
i cal career in his checking o f govern ors and propri
,

e t ar i es in hi s activities as the greatest o f American

,

d iplomats as the si gn er o f the D eclaration o f In

,

depen d ence of the Treaty of Versailles and of the

W
, ,

Am erican Constitution nor as the president o f the ,

Supreme Exec utive Council o f Pennsylvania in his

eightieth eighty fir s t an d eighty second years
,
-
, hen - .

he was eighty four as president of the Society for

-
,

Promoting the Abolition o f Slavery he sign ed a ,

petiti on to Con gress against that at rocious deb ase

1 28 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
ment of human n ature and six weeks later withi n , ,

a few weeks of his death defended the petition with ,

h i s accustomed vigor h umor wisdom and ardent , , ,

love o f liberty Turgot wittily s ummed up Frank

.

lin s career by saying that he had snatched the light

’

n ing from the heavens and the scepter from the

hands o f tyrants ( er ip ui t coelo fulm en s cep tr um gue t

ty r an n i s ) ; for both his political and scientific ao

t i vi t i es sprang from the same impelling emotion
hatred of the exercise of arbitrary power and desire
for human welfare It is no wonder that the French
.

Nation al Assembly promulgators of the Rights o f

,

M an paused in their labors to pay homage to the

,

simple citizen who representing America in Paris

, ,

from his seventy fir s t till his eightieth year had by

-
,

his wisdom an d urban ity illustrated the best fruits

o f a n instructed democracy .

REFERENCES

Am er ican Philo s o phical Societ y Recor d of the Celebr ati on of the

,

Two Hund r ed th Anni ver s ar y of the Bi r th of Benj am i n Fr ankli n .

W
S G Fi sher The Tr ue Benj am i n Fr ankli n
. .
,
.

Paul L For d , M any-si d ed Fr ankli n

. .

Be njam i n Fr ankl i n Com plete or ks ed ited b y A

, , . H . Sm y th,
ten volum es , vol . x
co ntai ni ng b i ogr aphy .
180 THE HIST ORY OF SC I ENCE
1 7 69 Wern er was invited to attend the newly
fo unded Bergakademie ( School Of M ines) at Frei
be r g Three years later he went to the University
.

o f Leipzig but true to his first enth usiasm wrote

, , ,

in 1 7 7 4 concernin g the o utward characteristics o f

minerals ( Vo n d en aus s er li chen Kennzei chen d er
'

F os s i li en) The next year he was recalled to Frei

.

berg as teacher o f mineral ogy and curator of collec

tions He was i n tent o n classification and might be
.
,

compared in that respect with the naturalist Bufio n ,

o r the botanist Li n n a eus He knew that chemistry .

aff orded a surer but slower proced ure ; his was a

, ,

practical intuitive field m ethod He O bserved the

, , .

color the ha rdn ess weight fracture of minerals an d

, , , ,

experienced the joy the youthful mind feels in rapid

identification He translated Cr ons te d t s book o n
.
’

mineralogy descriptive o f the practical blow pipe -

tests Afte r the identification of minerals Werner

.
,

was intereste d in their discovery the location o f ,

deposits their geographical dist r ib ution and the rel

, ,

ative positions of d i fier ent kinds of rocks especiall y ,

the constant j uxtaposition o r superposition of one

stratum in relation to another .

Werner was an eloquent systematic teacher with ,

great charm o f manner He kept in mind the prae .

tical p urposes o f mining and soon people flocked to ,

Frei berg to hear hi m from all the quarters o f E urope .

He had before long disciples in every land He saw .

all phenomena from the standpoint of the geologist .

He knew the medicin al as well as the economic , ,

v al ue of minerals He knew the relation of the soil

.

to the rocks and the e fie ct s of both o n racial char

,

acte r i s ti cs Buildi ng ston e dete rmin es style of archi

.
-
 INTERACTION OF T HE SCIENCES 13 1

tecture M oun tains and river courses have bearing

.
-

on military tactics He turn ed his lingui stic k nowl

.

ed ge to acco unt and f urnished geology with a d efi

ni te nomenclat ure Al e x v H umbo ldt Robert Jam e
. . .
,

son D Aub ui sso n Weiss ( the teacher o f Froebel )

,
’

, ,

were among his st udents Crystallography and min .

e r alo gy became the fashion Goethe was among the .

e n thusiasts and philosophers like Schelling under

, ,

the spell of th e n ew science almost deified the phy s

W
,

ical universe .

erner considered all rocks as having originat ed

by crystal lization either chemical or mechan ical
, ,

from an aq ueo us sol ution a universal primitive

ocean He was a Neptunist as O pposed to the Vul
.
,

can i s t s or Pl utonists who believed in the e x istence

,

of a central fie r y mass Werner tho ught that the .

earth showed universal strata like the layers of an

onion the mountains being formed by erosion sub
, ,

s i d e n ce cavings i n
, In his j udgme n t granite was a
-
.

primitive rock formed previo us to animal an d vege

table life (hence without organic remains ) by chem
ical precipitation S ili cious slate was formed later
.

by mechanical crystallization At this period organ .

i zed foss ils first appear Sedimentary rocks like o l d .

,

red sandstone and according to Werner basalt

, , , ,

are in a third class D rift sand rubble boulder s .

, , , ,

come next ; an d fin ally volcan ic products li k e lava , ,

ashes pumice He was quite positive th at all basalt

, .

was of aqueous origin and of quite recent formation .

This part of his teaching was soon challenged He .

was tr uer to his own essential purposes in w riting a

valuable treatise on metalliferous veins ( D i e Neue
Theo r ie d er E rzg ang e) but even there his ge n eral ,
1 32 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
views are apparent for he holds that veins are clefts
,

filled in from above by crystallization from aqueous

sol ution .

Before Werner had begun hi s te aching career at

Freiberg D es m ar es t the French geologist had made
, , ,

a special study of the basalts of Auvergn e As a .

mathematician he was able to make a trigonometrical

survey of that district and constructed a map show
,

ing the craters of volcanoes of differe n t ages the ,

streams of lava follo w ing the river courses and the ,

relation o f bas alt to lava scoria ashes an d other

, , ,

recogn i z ed p r od ucts of volcanic action In 1 7 88 he .

was made inspector general of French m an ufactures

-
,

later s uperintendent o f the porcelain work s at S evr es .

He lived to the age of ninety and whenever Nept u

,

n i s t s would try t o draw him into argume n t the o ld ,

”
man would simply say G O and see , .

James H utton ( 1 7 26 the i llus tr IOus Scotch

geologist had something of the same aversion to
,

speculation that did not rest on evide n ce ; though he

was eminently a philosopher in the strictest sense o f
the word as his three quarto vol umes o n the P r i n
,

cip l es of Kn o w led g e be a r witn ess Hutton was w ell

.

trained at Edi nburgh in the High School and Uni

versity In a lecture o n logi c an illustrative refer
.

ence to aqua r egi a turned his mind to the study o f

chemistry He engaged in e x periments and ulti
.
,

mately made a for tune by a process for the m an ufac

ture of sal ammoniac from coal soo t , I n the mean-

time he st udied medicine at Edinb urgh Paris and , ,

L eyden an d contin ued the p urs uit o f chem istry

,
.

Then having inherited land in Be r wickshire he

, ,

studied husbandry i n Norfolk and took interest in the

1 34 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
sufficient knowledge o f the partic ular bran ches of
science to employ their acqui r ed talents in promoting
,

general science o r knowledge o f the great system

, ,

where en ds and means are wisely adjus ted in the co n

s t i tut i o n o f the material universe Philosophy he .
,

says is surely the ultimate end of human kn owledge

, ,

o r the object a t which all sciences properly must aim .

Sciences no doubt should promote the arts of li fe ;

but he proceeds what are all the arts of life or all
, , ,

the enjoyments of mere animal nature compared with ,

the art of human happiness gained by ed ucation an d ,

bro ught to perfection by philosophy M an must

learn to kn ow himself ; he must se e his statio n
among created things ; he must become a moral
agent But it is only by st udying things in general
.

that he may arrive at this perfection o f his nature .

To philosophize therefore without proper science

, , ,

is in vain ; although it is not vain to pursue scien ce ,

”
without proceeding to philosophy .

In the early part o f 1 7 8 5 D r Hutto n presen ted .

his Theor y qf the E ar th in ninety six pages of per -

fectly l ucid English The globe is studied as a ma .

chine adapted to a ce rtain end namely to provide a , ,

habitable world for plants for animals and above , , ,

all for intellectual beings capable of the contempla

,

tion an d the appreciatio n o f order and harmony .

Hutton s theory might be made plain by drawing a n

’

an al ogy between geological and meteorological ac

t i vi t i e s The rain descends o n the earth streams and
.

rivers bear it to the sea the aqueous vapo r s draw n ,

from the sea supply the clouds and the circuit is com
, ,

p l e t e S.imilarly the soil is formed

,
from the over
hanging mou nt ain s ; i t is w as hed as sedimen t in to the
 INTERACTION OF THE SCIENCES 1 35

se a ; it is elevated after consolidation into the over

, ,

han ging mountains The earth is more than a mech

.

ani s m it is an organism that repairs and restores

,

itself in perpetuity Thus Hutton explained the com

.

position dissolutio n and restoration of land upon the

, ,

globe on a gen eral principle even as Newto n had ,

brought a mass of details un der the sin gle law of

gravitation .

’
Again as Newto n had widen ed man s conceptio n
,

o f sp ace so Hutton
, ( a n d Bufl on
) e n l a rged his co n

cept i o n of time For the geologist d i d not under

.

take to explai n the ori g i n o f t hings ; he fou n d no

vestige of a beginn in g no prospect of an en d ;
,
-

an d at the s ame ti me he conj ured up n o hypo thet

ical causes n o catastrophes or sudde n conv ulsio n s
, ,

o f n ature ; neither did he ( like Werner believe that

)
phenomena no w present were once absent ; but he ,

u n derto ok to explain all geologic al change by proc

esses in action now as hereto fore Countless ages .

were requisite to form the soil of our smiling val

leys but Time which measures everythin g in our
, ,

i d ea and is often deficient to o ur schemes is to n a

, ,
”
ture endless and as n othing The c alcareous remains .

o f marine an imals i n the solid body o f the eart h bear

witness of a period to which n o other species of

chronology is able to remount .

Hutton s imagin ation o n the basis of wh at can be

’

—
obse rved to day pictured the chemical an d mechan
,
,

ical disintegration of the rocks ; and s aw ice streams -

bearin g huge granite boulders from the declivities of

primi tive an d more gigantic Alps He believed ( as .

D es m ar es t ) that rivulets an d rivers have constructed ,

an d are constructing their o w n valley systems an d

, ,
1 36 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
that the de n udation ever in progress would be even t
ually fatal t o the sustenan ce of plant and an imal an d
m an if the earth were not a renewable organ ism i n
, ,

which rep ai r is correlative with wa ste .

All strata are sedimenta ry con solidated at the ,

bottom o f the se a by the pressure of the water an d

by subterran ean he at How are strata raised from .

the ocean bed By the s ame subterran ean force that

helped consolidate them The power o f heat fo r the .

expan sion o f bodies is s ays Hutton ( possibly hav

, ,

in g in min d the steam engine ) so far as we know , ,

un limited We see liquid stone pouring from the

.

crater o f a lofty volcan o an d c asting huge rocks in to

m id a ir an d yet fin d it difficult to believe that Vesu
-
,

vins and Etna themselves have been formed by vol

cani o action The interior of the plan et may be a
.

fluid m ass mel ted but u n chan ged by the action of

, ,

heat The volcan oes a re spi r acles or safety valves

.
-
,

and are widely di stributed on the surf a ce of the

e arth .

Hutto n believed that bas alt an d the whin sto n es ,

gen erally are O f ign eous origi n M oreover he put

, .
,

gran ite in the same category an d believed it had ,

been injected as al so metalliferous veins i n liquid

, ,

state into the stratified rocks If his suppositio n .

were correct then gran ite would be fou n d sendi n g

,

o ut vein s from its large masses to pierce the strati

fied rocks and to crop out where stratum meets stra

tum His conjecture w as corroborated at Glen Tilt
.

( and i n the isla n d of Arr a n ) Hutto n w a s so elated .

at the verification o f his view that the Scotch guides

thought he h ad struck gold o r silver at the very ,

least In the bed of the river Tilt he could see at

.
1 38 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
w as encouraged i n this view by Black who as al , ,

read y implied had made a special study of limestone

,

an d had demonstrated that lime acquires its caus

t i ci ty thro ugh the expulsion of carbonic acid .

Hall conject ured in additio n that the rate at which

the fused mass cooled might have so me bearing o n
the structure o f igneous rocks An accident in the .

Leith glass works strength ened the probability of

his conjecture and enco uraged him to experiment .

A pot of green bottle glass had been allo w ed to cool

-

slowly with the result that it had a s to ny r athe r a

'

vitreous structure Hall experimenting with glas s

.

could secure either str ucture at will by cooling rap

idly O r slowly and that with the same spe cimen
,
.

He later enclosed some fragments of whi n sto ne in

a black lead crucible and subjected it to inten se heat
-

i n the reverberating f urnace o f an iron foundry .

( He was in consultation with M r Wedgwood o n the .

scale of heat and with D r Hope and D r Kennedy

, . .
,

chemists ) After bo iling and then cooling rapidly

.
, ,

the contents of the cr ucible proved a black glass .

Hall repeated the experiment and cooled more slowly , .

The result was an intermediate substance neither ,

glass nor w hins tone a sort of slag Again he heated .

the crucible in the f urn ace and removed quickly to ,

an O pe n fire which was maintained some hours an d

,

then permitted to die o ut The result in this case .

was a perfect whinstone Similar results were o b .

t ai ned with regular basalts and diff erent specimens

o f ign eous rock .

Hall next experimented with lava from Vesuvius ,

Etna I celand and elsewhere and found that it be

, , ,

h aved like whinstone D r Ke nn edy by ca reful chem

. .
 INTE RACTION OF THE SC I ENCES 13 9

ical analys i s confirmed Hall s j udgment of the simi ’

lar i ty of these t w o igneo us p r od ucts .

Still later Hall introd uced chalk and powdered

limestone into po r celain t ubes g un barrels and tubes , ,

bo r ed in solid i r on which b e sealed and brought to

,

very high te m perat ures He obtained by f usion a

.
, ,

crystalline carbonate resembling marble Under the .

high pressure in the t ube the carbonic acid was r e

tained By these and other experiments this do ubt
.

i ng disciple confirme d Hutton s theory and became

’

o ne of th e great fo unders of e x perimental geology .

It remained for William Smith ( 1 7 6 9

surveyor and engineer to develop that species o f
,

chronology that Hutton had ascribed to organic r e

mains in the so lid strata to arran ge these strata i n
,

the order of time an d th us to become the fo under o f

,

hi storic geology For this task his early ed ucation

.

might at first glance seem inadequate His only .

schooling was received in an elementary instit utio n

in O xfor dshire He managed however to acqui r e
.
, ,

some knowledge of geometry and at eighteen entered

, ,
’
as assistant a surveyor s office He never attained
, .

any literary facility and was al w ays more success

,

ful in conveying his O bservations by maps drawings , ,

and conversation than by books .

However he early began his collection of minerals

,

and observed the relation of the soil an d the vegeta

tion to the underlying rocks Engaged at the age o f .

twenty fo ur in ta k i n g levelings for a can al he n o

-
,

ticed that the strata w ere not e x actly horizontal but ,

”
d ipped to the e ast li k e slices o f bread and butter ,

a phenomenon he con s i d er e d of scientific sign ificance

'

In connection with his calling he had an opport unity

1 40 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
of traveling to the north o f England and so extended
the range o f his Observation al w ays e x ceptionally
,

alert For six years he w as engaged as engineer i n

.
, ,

the construction of the Somerset Coal Canal where ,

b e enlarged and turned to p r actical account his

knowledge o f str ata .

Collecto r s o f fos s ils ( as Lamarck afterwards call ed

organic remains ) were s urprised to fin d Smith able
to tell in what formation their di ffe r ent specimens
had been fo und and still more when he en unciated
,

the view that w hatever strata were to be found

in any part o f England the same remains would be
found in it and no other M or eover the same order
”
.
,

o f s upe r position was constant among the strata as ,

Werner of whom Smith k new nothing had indeed

, ,

ta ught Smith was able to dictate a Tabular Vi ew

.

of B r i ti s h S tr at a fro m coal to chalk with the char

act e r i s t i c fossils establishing an order that was fo und

,

to obtain on the Continent o f Europe as well as in

Britain .

He constructed geological m aps o f Somerset and

fourteen other English co unties to which the atte n
,

tion of the Board of Agric ulture was called They .

showed the surface o utcrops o f strata and were i n ,

tended to be of assistance in mining r oad m aki ng , ,

can al co n struction draining and water supply I t

, , .

w as at the time O f William S mith s scientific dis ’

co v er i es th at the public interest in canal tran sporta

tio n w as at its height in England and his study of ,

the strata was a direct outcome of his professional

activity He called himself a mineral surveyor and
.
,

he traveled many thousand miles yearly in connec

tio n with his c alling an d his interest in the study of
 CHAPTER XI

W
S C I ENCE AND RELIG IO N K ANT, LAM BERT,
L AP LACE, S IR I LLI AM HERS C HEL

HUTT ON had advanced the st udy of geology by

concentrating attention on the observable phenomen a
o f the earth s crust and turn ing away from specula
’

tions about the origin of the world and the relation

o f this sphere t o other units o f the cosmos In the .

same century however other scientists an d phi

, ,

lo s opher s were attracted by these very problems

which seemed not to promise immediate or demon :

s t r at i ve solution an d through their studies they ar

,

rived at conclusions whi ch profoundly afiected the

science the ethics an d the religio n o f the civilized
, ,

world .

Whether religion be defined as a complex feeling

o f elation a n d humility a sacred fear —akin to
the aesthetic sense of the sublim e o r as an in tel ,

lectual reco gnition o f some high powers which gov

er n us below of some author of all things of some ,

force social or cosmic which tends to righteousness ;

or,
as the o utcrop o f the moral life touched with
light and radiant with enthusiasm ; o r as partaking ,

o f the nature o f all th ese : it c a nnot be deni ed that

the eighteenth century contributed to its clar i fica

tion a nd formulation especi al ly through the e fforts
,

o f the German philosopher Imman uel Kant , ( 1 7 2 4

Yet it is not difficult to S how that the
philosophy of Kant and o f those associated with
 SCIENCE AND RELIGION 1 43

him was greatly influenced by the science of the

ti me and that in fact in his ea rly life he was a
, , ,

scientist rather than a philosopher in the str icter

sense His Gener al Natur al Hi s tor y and Theor y
.

of t he Hea vens writte n ,at the age o f thirty o n e -

,

enables us to follow his transition from science to

philosophy and more especially to tr ace the i nflu
, , ,

ence of his theory of the origin of the heavenl y

bodies on his r eligious co n ceptions .

For part of this theory Kant was in debted to

Thomas Wright of D urham ( 1 7 1 1 Wright
was the son o f a carpenter became apprenticed to a
,

watchmaker went to sea later became an engraver

, , ,

a mak er of mathematical instruments rose to afflu ,

ence wrote a book on navigation and was offered a

, ,

professorship of n avigation in the Imperial Academy

o f St Petersburg It was i n 1 7 5 0 that he pub
. .

li s hed in the form of nine letters the work that

, ,

stimulated the mind of Kant An Or i gi nal Theor y

,

or New Hyp o thes i s of the Uni ver s e The author .

thought t hat the revelatio n o f the structure of the

hea ve n s naturally tended to propagate the principles
o f virtue an d vindicate the laws o f Providence He .

regarded the universe as an infinity of worlds acted

upon by an eternal Agent and full o f beings tend
, ,

ing through their var ious states to a fin al perfection .

Who conscious of this system can avoid being fill ed

, ,

with a kind o f enthusiastic ambition to contribute

hi s atom toward the due admiration of its great and
D ivi n e Author
Wright discussed the n ature of mathematical cer
tainty and the vario us de grees of moral probability
proper for conjecture (thus pointing to a distin ctio n
1 44 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
that ultimately became basal in the philosophy of
Kant ) When he clai m ed that the sun is a vast
.

body of blazing matter and that the most distan t

,

star is also a s un surrounded by a system o f planets ,

he kn e w th at he was reasoning by an al ogy and n ot

enunciating what is immediately demonstrable Yet .

this m ultitude o f worlds opens o ut to us an immense

field o f probatio n and an endless scen e of hope to
ground our expectatio n of an e ver future happiness
upon suitable to the native digni ty o f the awful
,

M ind which made and comprehended it .

The most striking part of Wright s Or igi n al Theor y

’

relate s to the construction o f the M ilky Way which ,

he thought analogous in form to the ri ngs o f Saturn .

F rom the center the arrangement of the systems and

the harmony of the movements could be discerned ,

but our solar system occupies a sectio n of the belt ,

and wh at we see o f the creation gi ves but a confused

picture unless by an efio r t of imagination we attai n
,

the right point o f view The various clo udy stars or

.

light appe arances are n othing but a de n se accum u

lation o f stars What less than i nfinity c an circum
.

scribe them l e ss than e ternity comprehend them or

, ,

less than O mnipotence produce o r support them ?

He passes o n to a discussion of time and space with
regard to the known objects of immen sity an d d ura
tion and in the n inth letter says that granting the
, ,

creation to be circular o r orbicular we can suppose ,

in the center o f the whole an intelligent principle ,

the to all extending eye of Providence o r if the

- -
, ,

creation is real and not merely ide al a S phere of

, ,

some sort Around this the s uns keep their orbits

.

harmon iously all apparent irregularities arisi ng from

,
1 46 THE H I STORY OF SC IENCE
M ight not this ring explai n the supercelestial w aters
that gave s uch ca use fo r ingen uity to the medieval
w r iters ? Not only so b ut had s uch a vaporous ring
, ,

broken and been precipitated to the earth it would ,

have caused a prolonged D eluge and the subsequent ,

rainbow in the heavens might very well have bee n

interpreted as an al lusion to the vanished ring an d ,

as a promise This however is not Kant s charac ’

.
, ,

te r i s ti c mann er i n supporting moral an d religious

truth .

To acco unt for the origin of the solar system the ,

German philosopher assumes that at the b eginnin g

o f all things the material of which the sun planets , ,

satellites and comets consist was uncompounded i n

, , ,

its primary elements and filled the whole sp ace i n

,

which the bodies formed out of it now revolve This .

state of nat ure seemed to be the very simplest that

could follow upon nothing In a space filled i nthis
.

w ay a state of rest could not last for m ore than a

moment The elements of a denser kind woul d ac
.
,

cording to the law of gravitation attract matter of ,

less specific gravity Rep ulsion as well as attraction

.
, ,

plays a part among the particles of matter d i ss em i

n at e d in space Through it the direct fall of particles
.

m ay be diverted in to a circular movement about the

center toward which they are gravitating .

Of course in o ur system the center o f attractio n

,

is the nucleus o f the s un The mass o f this body i n

.

creases rapidly as also its power o f attraction O f

, .

the particles gravitati ng to it the heavier become

heaped up in the cente r In falling from di fferent
.

heights toward this common foc us the particles can

n ot have such perfec t equality of resistan ce th at n o
 SCIENCE AND RELIGION 1 47

lateral movements shoul d be set up A general ci r cu

.

lato r y motion is in fact e s tablished ultimately in o n e

direction about the central mass which receiving new
,

part icles from the encircling curre n t rotates in b ar

mony with it .

M utu al interference in the particles outside the

mass o f the sun prevents all acc um ulation except i n
one plane an d that takes the form of a thin disk con
ti n uo us with the sun s equator I n this circul ating
’
.

vaporous disk about the sun differences of density

give rise to zones not unlike the rings of Saturn .

These zones ulti mately contract to form planets and ,

a s the planets are thrown o ff from the central solar

mass till an equilibrium is est ablished between the
centripe tal an d centrif ugal forces so the satellites i n
,

turn are f ormed from the planets The comets are to

.

be r egarded as parts of the system akin to the planets

, ,

but more remote from the control of the centr ipetal

force of the sun I t is thus that Kant conceived the
.

n eb ular hypothesis accounting (through the form a

,

tion of the he avenly bo dies from a clo udy vapor simi

lar to that still observable through the telescope ) for
the revolution of the planets in o ne direction about
the sun ; the rotatio n of su n and planets ; the revo
luti on an d rotation of satelli t es ; the comparative
densities of the heave nly bodies ; the material s in t he
ta ils of comets ; the rings o f Saturn and other celes
,

tial phenomena Newton finding no matte r between

.
,

the planets to maintain the community of their move

ments asserted that the immediate hand o f God had
,

instituted the arrangement w ithout the intervention

o f the forces o f Nat ure His disciple Kant now under
.

took to explain an additional number of phenomena

1 48 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
on mechan ical principles Granted the existe n ce o f
.

matter he felt capable of tracing the cosmic evol a

,

tion b ut at the same time he maint ai n ed and strength

,

ened h is religious position and did not assume ( like

,

D emocritus an d Epicurus) eternal motio n without a

Creator o r the coming together of atoms by accide n t
o r haphazard .

It might be objected he says that Nature is sufh

, ,

cient unto itself ; but universal laws o f the actio n of

m atter serve the plan of the S upreme Wisdom There .

is convincing p r oof of the e x istence o f God in the

very fact that Nature even in ch aos can n ot proceed
, ,

otherwise than regularly and ac cording to law E ven .

in the esse n tial properties of the elements that consti

t ute d the chaos there could be traced the mark o f
,

that perfection which they have d erived from their

origin their essential character bei n g a consequence
,

o f the eternal idea of the D ivine Intelli gence M at .

ter which appears to be merely passive and wanting

,

in form and arrangement has in its simplest state a

,

te n dency to fashion itself by a natural developme n t

in to a more perfect constitution M atter must be con .

s i d er ed as created by God in accordance with law an d

as ever obedient to law not as an in dependent o r hos

,

tile force needing occasional correction To suppose .

the material world n ot under law would be to believe

i n a blind fate rather than in Providence It is Nature s .
’

harmony and order reve al ed to o ur understandin g that

give us a clue to its creation by an understan ding of
the highest order .

In a wo r k written eight years later Kant sought to

f urnish people o f ordinary intelligence wi th a proof
o f the existe n ce of God It might se em irr elevant i n
.
150 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
does n ot allow them to wander at random to d i st ul b
and destroy each other Lambert imagines that all
.

these bodies have exactly the volume weight posi , ,

tion direction and speed necessary for the avoidance

, ,

o f collisions . I f we confess a S upreme Ruler who

bro ught order from chaos and gave form to the uni
,

verse ; i t follows that this un iverse is a perfec t wo r k ,

the impress picture reflex of its Creator s per fec

, ,
’

tion Nothing is left to blind chance M eans are

. .

fitted to ends There is order throughout and i n

.
,

this order the d ust beneath our feet the stars above
,

o ur heads atoms and worlds are alike compre

, ,

hended .

Laplace in his statement o f the nebular hypo the

sis made no mention o f Kant He sets forth in the
.
,

Exp o s i t i o n of th e S o lar S y s tem the astronomical

,

data that the theory is design ed to explain : the

movements of the planets in the same direction and
almost in the same plane ; the mo vements of the s at
elli t es in the same direction as those o f the plan ets ;

the rotation of these di fferent bodies and o f the s un

in the same di r ection as their projection and in ,

planes little diff erent ; the small eccentricity of the

orbits o f planets an d satellites the great eccentricity
o f the orbits of comets . How o n the ground of these
data are we to arrive at the cause of the earliest
movements of the planetary system ?
A fl uid of immense e x tent must be assumed em ,

bracing all these bodies It must have circul ated

.

abo ut the s un li k e an atmosphere and in virtue o f ,

the excessive heat which was engendered it may be ,

ass umed that this atmosphere o r iginally extended

beyond the orbits of all the planets and was con ,
 SC IENCE AND RELIGION 15 1

tracted by stages to its present form In its primi .

tive state the sun resembled the n eb ul ae which are ,

to be observed thro ugh the telescope with fiery cen ,

ters and cloudy periphe r y O ne can imagine a more

.

an d more d ifi use state of the neb ulo us matter .

Planets were formed in the plane of the equator

,

and at the s uccessive limits o f the neb ulous atmos

p h er e , by the condensation o f the d i fle r e n t zones
w hich it abandoned as it cooled and con t racted The .

force o f gravity and the centrifugal force sufficed to

m ai n ta in in its orbit each successive planet From the .

cooling and contracting masses that were to consti

tute the planets smaller zones an d rings were formed .

In the case of Saturn there was such regulari ty in

the rings that the annular form was maintained ; as
a r ule from the zones abandoned by the planet mass -

satellites resulted D ifler ences of temperature and

.

density o f the parts of the original mass account for

the eccentricity o f orbits and devi ations from the
,

plane o f the eq uator .

In his Celes ti al M echani cs ( 1 8 25 ) Laplace states

that according to Herschel s observations Saturn s
,
’

,
’

rotation is slightly quicker than that o f its rings .

This seemed a confirmation o f the hypothesis o f the

Exp o s i t i o n d a S y s tem e d a M o nd e .

“
When Laplace presented the first edition of this
ea r lier work to Napoleon the Firs t Consul said
,

Newton has spoken o f God in his book I have .

“
already gone thro ugh yo urs and I have no t found
,
”
that name in it a single time To this Laplace is .

said to have replied : First Citizen Cons ul I have ,

”
n ot had n eed of that hypothesis The astron omer .

did no t however profess atheism ; like Kan t he felt

, ,
152 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
competent to explai n o n mechanical prin ciples the
development o f the solar system from the point at
which he undertook it In his later years he desired.

that the misle ading anecdote should be suppressed .

S o far was he from self s uffici en cy and dogmatism -

that his last utterance proclaimed the limitation s of

even the greatest intellects : What we know is little
”
enough what we don t know is immen se ( Ce gue
,
’

n o us co nn ai s s ons es t p eu d e cho s e cc que no us i g ,

norons es t i m m ens e) .

Sir William Herschel s observatio n s exte n ded ’

over many year s confirmed both the neb ular hypoth

,

esis and the theory of the systematic arrangement o f

the stars He made use o f telescopes 20 an d 4 0 feet
.

in focal length and of and 4 8 inches aperture

, ,

and was thereby enabled as Humboldt said to sink , ,

a plummet amid the fixed stars or i n his o wn , ,

phrase to gauge the heavens The Co ns tr ucti o n of

,
.

t he fl ea vens was always the ultimate object o f his

f

observations In a contribution on this subject sub

.

m i t t ed to the Royal Society in 1 7 8 7 he announ ced

the discovery of 4 66 new n ebul ae and clus ters of
stars The sidereal heavens are not to be regarded
.

as the co n cave surface of a sphere from the cen ter ,

o f which the observer might be supposed to look ,

but rather as resembling a rich extent of ground

o r chains o f mountains in which the geologist dis

covers many strata consisting o f various materials .

The M ilky Way is one s tratum and i n it our sun

is placed though perhaps not i n the very center of
,

its thickness .

By 1 8 1 1 he had greatly in cre a sed his observations

o f the n ebul ae an d could a rran ge them i n series d i fler
1 54 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
cobalt copper silicon phosphorus carbon magn e
, , , , ,

sium zinc and man ganese

, , .

REFERENCES

G F Becke r K ant as a Nat ur al Phi lo so pher , Am eri can J our

WW —
. .
,

nal of S ci ence v o l V pp 9 7 1 1 2 , . . .

. Br y ant A Hi stor y of As tr onom y

.
, .

Agne s M Cler ke Hi s tor y of Astr onom y d uri ng the Ni neteenth

.
,

Centur y

W
.

Agne s M Cler ke The Her schels and M od er n Astr onom y

.
, .

S ir illiam Her schel Pape rs o n t he Co ns tr uct i o n of the

Heav e ns (P hi losophw al Tr ans acti ons 1 7 84 1 8 1 1 ,

W
, ,

A R Hi nks As tr ono m y (Ho m e Uni ver s it y Lib r ar y )

. .
, .

E Maund er s The S ci ence of the S tars (The People s Books )

’
. . .
,
 CHAPTER XII
THE RE I G N O F L A W
— D ALTO N, J O U LE

IN the middle o f the eighteenth century whe n ,

Lambert and Kant were recogn izing system and

design in the heavens little progress had bee n ,

made to w ard di scovering the constitution of matter

o r reve ali ng the laws of the hi dde n motions of
things Boyle had indeed made a beginning not
.
, , ,

only by his study of the elasticity of the air but by ,

hi s d istinction o f the elements and compounds and his

definition o f chemistry as the science o f the composi
tion of substan ces How little had been accomplished
.
,

however is e vident from the fact that in 1 7 5 0 the

,

s o called elemen ts
- earth air fire water which
, , ,

Baco n had marked for examination in 1 6 20 were ,

still un an alyzed an d that no advance had been made

,

beyond his conceptio n o f the nature o f heat the ma ,

o r i t y indeed of the learned world holding that heat

j , ,

i s a substance (vario usly identified with sulphur ,

carbon or hydrogen ) rather than a mode o f motio n

, .

How scientific thought succeeded in bri n gi ng order

o ut of con f usion and chaos in the subseque n t o ne

hundred years an d especially at the beginning of the

,

n ineteenth century can well be i llustrated by these

,

very matters the study o f combustion o f heat as a

, ,

form o f energy of the constituents o f the atmosphere

, ,

an d of the chemistry o f water and o f the earth .

Re f eren ce has alread y been made to Blac k s dis ’

co ver y o f carbonic ac id and o f the phenomena which

,
156 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE ,

he ascribed to latent h eat The first discovery ( 1 7 54)

.

was the result o f the preparation of quicklime in the

practice of medicine ; the second ( 1 7 6 1 ) involving
experiments on the temperatures of melting i ce boil ,

ing water and steam stimulated Watt in his improve

, ,

ment o f the steam engine In 1 7 66 Joseph Priestley .

began his study o f airs or gases In the following year

, .

observation o f work in a brewery roused his curiosity

i n reference to carbonic acid I n 1 7 7 2 he experi .

m e nt e d with nitric oxide In the previo us cent ury .

M ayow had obtained nitric oxide by tr eating iro n

with n itric acid He had the n introduced this gas
.

into ordinary air confined over water and found that ,

the mixture s nfi er e d a reduction of volume Priestley .

applied this process to the analysis o f common air ,

which he discovered to be complex and n ot simple .

In 1 7 7 4 by heating red oxide o f mercury by mean s

,

o f a burning glass he obtai n ed a gas which sup

-
,
.

ported combustio n better than commo n air He i n .

haled it and experienced a sense o f exhilaration

, .

Who can tell he writes but in ti me this pure air

”
, ,

may become a fashionable article in lux ury ? B ith

erto only two mice and myself have had the privilege
”
o f breathing it .

The Swedish investigator Scheele had however , ,

di scovered this same constituent of the air before

1 7 7 3 He thought that the atmosphere must consist
.

o f at least two gases and he proved that carbonic

,

acid results from combustion an d respiration In .

1 7 7 2 the great French scientist Lavoisier found that

s ulphur whe n burned gains weight instead of losing
, ,

weight and five years later he concl uded th at air

,

consists o f two gases o ne capable of absorptio n by

-
,
158 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
John D alton ( 1 7 6 6— 1 8 44) was born in Cum ber
land went to Kendal to teach school at the age of
,

fifteen an d remained in the Lake D istrict of England

,

till 1 7 93 In this region where the annual rainfall

.
,

excee d s forty inches and i n some l ocalities is almost

,

tropic al the young student s atte n tion was early

,
’

drawn to meteorology His apparatus consisted of .

r ude home made rain gauges thermometers and b a

- -
, ,

r o m e t er s His interest in the heat moisture and

.
, ,

consti t uents of the atmosphere contin ued throughout

life and D alton made in all some
, meteoro
logical observations We gain a clue to his motive .

in these studies f r om a letter written in his twenty

second year in which he speak s of the advantages
,

that might accrue to the husban dman the mariner , ,

and to man kind in general if we were able to predict

the state of the we ather with tolerable precision .

In 1 7 9 3 D al ton took up his perman ent residence

i n M an chester and in that year appeared his first
,

book M eteor olog i cal Obs er vati on s an d Es s ay s

, .

Here he deals among other things with rainfall the

, , ,

formation o f clo uds evaporatio n and the distribution

, ,

an d character o f atmospheric moisture It seemed .

t o h i m that aqueous vapor always exists as a distinct

fluid maintaining its identity among the other fluids
o f the atmosphere He thought of atmospheric mois
.

ture as consisting of minute drops of water o r glob ,

ules among the globules o f oxygen and nitrogen He .

“
was a disciple o f Newton s (to whom indeed D alto n ’

, ,

had some perso n al likeness ) who looked upon matter ,

as consisting o f solid massy hard impenetr able , , , ,

movable particles o f such si z es and figures and with

, ,

such other properties an d i n such proportion as , ,

 THE RE I GN OF LAW 15 9

most conduced to the end for which God form ed

D al ton was so much under the influence o f
”
them .

the idea th at the phys ic al universe is made up o f

these indi visible particles or atoms that his b i ogr a
, ,

pher describes him as thinking corp us cular ly It is .

probable that his imagination wa s of the visuali zing

type and that he could picture to himself the arran ge
ment of atoms in elementary and compound substan ces .

Now D alto n s ma ster had taught th at the atoms of

’

matter in a gas ( elastic fl uid ) repel one another by

a force i n cre a sing in proportion as their di stan ce
di mi nis hes How did this teaching apply to the at
.

m o s ph er e which Priestley and others had proved to

,

consist of three or more gases ? Why does thi s mix

t ure appear simple and homogeneous Why does n ot
the air form strata with the oxygen below and the
nitrogen above ? Cavendish had shown an d D alto n ,

hi mself later proved that common air wherever ex

, ,

am i n ed contains oxygen an d nitroge n i n fairly co n

,

stant proportions .

French chemists had sought to apply the principle

o f ch em i ca l afi ni ty i n e xplai n i n g the apparent homo
~

e n e i ty o f th e atmosphere They supposed that oxyge n

g .

and nitroge n entered into chemical union the one ,

element dis s olvin g the other The res ultant com .

pound i n turn dissolved water ; hence the phenomen a

o f evaporati on D alton tried in vain t o reconcile this
.

supposition w ith hi s belief in the atomic nat ure of

matter He drew diagrams combining an atom of oxy
.

gen w ith an atom of nitrogen an d an atom of aqueous

vapor The whole atmosphere co uld not consist of
.

s uch gro ups o f three because the w atery particle

were but a sm all portion of the total atmosphere .
1 60 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
He made a diagram in which one atom of oxyge n w as
combined with one atom of n itroge n but in this case ,

the oxyge n was insu fficient to sat isfy all the n i t roge n
o f the a tmosphere If the air w as m ade up partly of
.

pure nitrogen p artly of a compoun d of n itrogen an d

,

oxygen and partly of a compoun d of nitrogen oxy

, ,

gen and aqueous vapor then the triple compound a s

, , ,

heaviest would collect toward the surface of the earth

, ,

and the double compoun d an d the simple substan ce

woul d form two strata above If to the compounds .

heat were added in the hope o f producing an un

s t r at ifled mixture the atmosphere would acquire the
,
”
specific gravity of nitrogen gas In short says .
,

D al ton , I was obliged to abandon the hypothesis

o f the chemical constitution of the atmosphere alto
”
gether as irrecon cilable to the phe n omena .

He h ad to return to the conception o f the indi

vidu al particles of oxyge n n itrogen and water each , , ,

a center of repulsion Sti ll he could no t explain why

.

the oxyge n di d not gravitate to the lowest place the ,

n i trogen form a stratum above and the aqueous vapor ,

swim upo n the top I n 1 8 01 however D alto n hit

.
, ,

upon the idea that gases act as vacua for one another ,

that it is only like particles which repel e ach oth er ,

atoms of oxygen repelling atoms of oxygen an d atoms

o f nitrogen repelling atoms o f nitrogen whe n these

gases are intermingled in the atmosphere just as

they wo uld if exi s ting in an unmixed state Accord .

ing to this we were to suppose that atoms of one kind

,

did n o t repel the atoms of another kind b ut only ,

”
those of their own kin d A mixed atmosphere is as
.

free from s tr ati ficati ons as though it were really

,

homogeneous .
1 62 THE H I STOR Y OF SC I ENCE
yield to a method introduced by the great S wedish
chemist Berz elius In 1 83 7 D al ton wrote : Be r
.

z eli us s s mbols are horrifying : a yo ung student i n

’

y
chemistry might as soon learn Hebrew as mak e him
se lf acquainted with them They appear like a chaos .

o f atoms and to equally perplex the adepts of

science to disco urage the learn er as well as to cloud
, ,
”
the beauty an d simplicity o f the Atomic Theory .

M eantime D alto n s mi n d had been turn ing to the

’

consideration of the relative siz es and weights of the

various elements entering into combin ation with one
another He argued that if there be n ot exactly the
.

same num ber o f atoms of oxygen in a give n volume

o f air as o f ni t roge n i n the same volume then the ,

s i z es of the particles o f oxygen m ust be diff erent

from those o f nitrogen His interest i n the ab sor p

.

tion of gases by water in th e reciproc al d fi us i on of

,

gases as well as in the phenomena o f chemical com

,

bination stim ulated D alton to determine the r elati ve

,

size and weight of the ato m s of the various elements .

D alton said nothing o f the abs o lute weight of the

atom But o n the assumption that whe n only one
.

compoun d of two elemen ts is known to exist the ,

molecul e of the compou n d consists of one atom o f

each o f these eleme n ts he proceeded to investigate
,

the relative weights o f equal n umbers of the two

sorts of atoms In 1 8 03 he pursued thi s investiga
.

tio n with remarkable success and taking hydrogen ,

( the ligh t est gas k n ow n to him ) as u n ity he arrived ,

at a statement of the relative atomic weights o f

oxygen n itrogen carbon etc D alton thus intro
, , , .

d uce d into the study of che m ical combin ation a very

defin ite idea of qu an titative relatio n ship By hi m .
1 64 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
always combined in the same proportions an d that ,

when there w as more than o ne combination the

q ua ntity of the elements al w ays had a constant rela
tion —s uch as 1 to 2 or 1 to 3 or 1 to 4 —he
, , , ,

explained this fact on the Newtonian doctrine of i n

divisible atoms ; and contended that the relative ,

weight o f one atom to that of any other atom being

known its proportions o r weight in all its com b i na
,
a

tions might be ascertained th us making the statics

,

o f chemistry depend upo n simple questions in sub .

traction or multiplication an d enabling the student

to deduce an immense n umber of facts from a few
well authenticated expe r imental results Mr D al
-
. .

ton s permanent reputation w ill r est upon his having

’

discovered a simple principle u n iversally applicable

to the facts o f chemistry in fixing the propor
,

tions in which bodies combine and thus laying the ,

foundatio n for future la bors respecting the s ubli m e

and transcen d ental parts o f the science of cor pus cu
lar motion Hi s merits in this resp ect resemble those
.

”
o f Kepler in ast r ono m y .

In 1 8 08 D alton s atomic theory received striking

’

confirmation thro ugh the investigations of the French

scientist Gay Lussac who showed that gases under
-
, ,

similar circ umstances of temperature and pressure ,

always com bine in simple proport ions by vo lum e

when they act on one another and that when the ,

resul t of the union is a gas its volume also is in a

,

simple ratio to the vol umes of its components One .

o f D alton s friends summed up the result of Gay

’

Lus s ac s research in this simple f a s hion His paper

’

is on the combination o f gases He finds that all unite

.

i n equal bulks or two bulks of o ne to on e of another

, ,
 THE RE IGN OF LAW 1 65

or three bul ks of o ne to one of another Whe n .

D alto n had investigated the relative weights with

which elements combine he had found no simple ,

ar i t hm mi cal relationship between atomic weight and

atomic weight When t wo or more compounds o f the

.

s ame elements a re formed D alton found however , , ,

as we have seen that the proportion o f the element

,

added to fo r m the second o r third compound is a

m ultiple by weight o f the first quantity Gay Luss .
-

n ow showed that gases i n whatever proportions ,

they may combin e always give rise to compounds

,

whose elements by volume are multiples o f each

”
other .

In 1 8 1 1 Avogadro in an essay o n the relative ,

masses o f atoms succ eeded in f urther confirming

,

D alton s theory an d in e x plaining the atomic basis o f

’

Gay Lus s ac s discovery of simple volume relations in

-
’

th e formation o f chemical compounds According to .

the I talian scientist the num ber o f molecules in all

gase s is al ways the s ame for equal volumes or al ,

ways proportional to the volumes it being taken for ,

granted that the temperature an d pressure are the

same for each gas D alton had supposed that water
.

is form ed by the union of hydrogen and oxygen ,

atom for atom Gay Lussac fo un d that t w o volumes

.
-

o f hydrogen combined with one volume of oxygen to

prod uce two vol umes of water vapor According to .

Avogadro the water vapor contains twice as many

atoms o f hydrogen as o f oxygen One vol ume o f .

hydrogen has the same number of molec ules as one

vol ume of oxygen When the two vol umes combine
.

with one the combination does not take place as

, ,

D alton had supposed atom for atom but each half , ,

1 66 THE HISTOR Y OF SCIENCE
molecul e of oxygen combines with o ne molec ule o f
hydrogen The symbol for w a ter is therefore n ot
.
, ,

HO b ut H 0 2
.

Enough has been said to establish D alton s claim ’

to be styled a great lawgiver o f chemical science .

His influence in further advan cing definitely for m u

lated kn owledge o f physical phenomena c an here be
indicated only in part I n 1 8 00 he wrote a paper
.

On the Heat a nd Co ld p r od uced by the Mechani cal .

Co nd ens ati o n and Rar efacti on of A i r This con .

tains according to D alto n s biographer the first

,
’
,

q uantitative statement o f the heat evolved by com

pression an d the heat evolved by dilatation His co n .

t r ib ut i on to the theory of heat has been stated thus

The volume o f a gas under constant pressure ex
pands whe n raised to the boiling temperat ure by the
same fraction o f itself whatever be the n at ure of
,

the gas In 1 7 9 8 Count Rumford had reported to

.

"
the Royal Society his Enqui r y co ncer ni ng the S our ce
f e at exci ted by F r i cti o n the data for which had
o
f ,

been gathered at Munich Interested as he was i n .

the practical problem o f providing heat for the homes

o f the city poor Rumford had been struck by the
,

amount o f heat developed in the boring out of can -

n on at the arsenal He concl uded that anyt hing

.

which coul d be created indefinitely by a process o f

friction could not be a substance such as s ul phur or ,

hydrogen but must be a mode of motion In the same

,
.

‘
year the youthf ul D avy was followin g independently
this line o f investigation by rubbing two pieces of ice
together by clock work in a vacuum The frictio n
,
-
, .

caus ed the ice to melt al though the e x periment was

,

un dertake n in a temperature of 2 9 Fahrenheit °

.
 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
expressed the hope of ascertaini n g the mechan ical
equivalent of heat with the accuracy that its import
ance for physical science demanded He returned to .

this question again and again According to his fin al

.

result the quantity o f heat required to raise o ne po und

o f water in temperat ure by one degree Fahrenheit is

equivalent to the mechanical energy required to raise

pounds thro ugh a distance o f o ne foot Heat .

was thus demonstrated to be a form of energy the ,

relation being constan t between it an d mechan ical

energy M echanical energy may be converted i n to
.

heat ; if heat disappears some other form of energy

, ,

equivalent in amoun t to the heat lost must replace it , .

The doctri n e that a certain quantity o f heat is al ways

equival ent to a certain amo unt of mechanical energy
is only a special case of the Law of the Conserva
tion o f Energy first clearly enunciated by Joule an d
,

Helmholtz in 1 84 7 and generally regarded as the

,

most important scien tific d iscovery of the ni n etee n th

century .

Roscoe referring to the two life sized marble stat

,
-

ue s which face each other in the M an chester Town

Hall says with pardonable pride
,
Thus honor is
done to M anchester s two greatest so n s
’
to D al
ton the founder of modern Chemistry an d of the
,

Atomic Theory an d the discoverer o f the laws o f

,

chemical combining proportions to Joul e the foun der ,

o f modern Physics and the discoverer of the L aw of

”
the Con servatio n of E n ergy .
 THE REIGN OF LAW 16 9

REFERENCES
Alem b ic Club Re pr i nt s Found ati o ns of the Atom i c Theory
, .

Joseph Pr i es tley Experi m ents and Obser vati ons

'

D ifler ent

W
, on

Ki nd s of Ai r .

S ir illi am Ram say The Gas es of the Atm os pher e and the Hi s tor y
,

of thei r Di scover y .

S ir He nr y E Ro scoe J ohn Dalto n

.
, .

S ir E Th o r pe , Ess ays i n Hi s tor i cal Chem i s try

. .
 CHAPTE R XIII
T HE S C I ENTI S T — S IR HU M P HRY D AV Y

HUMP HRY DAV Y ( 1 7 7 8— 1 829) was bor n in Co m

wall a part of England kn own for its very mild cli
,

mate and the combined beauty an d majesty of its

scenery O n either side of the pen i n sula the Atlan tic
.

i n varying mood lies extended i n summer sun shi n e ,

o r from its shroud o f mist thu n ders o n the bl ack

clifls and their time sculptured sandstones

- From the .

coast inland stretch between flowered lan es an d

, ,

hedges rolling pasture lands of rich gree n m ade all

,
-

the more vivid by the deep reddish tint of the

plo ughed fields In Pen z an ce then a town of about
.
,

three thousan d inh abitants an d in its picturesque ,

vici n ity the early years o f Davy s life were passed

,
’
.

Across the bay rose the gre at vision of the guarded

m ount ( St Michael s ) of which M ilton s verse
’ ’
.

S peaks . Farther to the east lay Lizard Head the ,

so uthernmost promontory of England an d a few ,

“
miles to the n orth St Ives with its sweep o f sandy
.

beach ; while n ot far to the west o f Pe n zance Lan d s ’

”
End stood sentry Twixt two unbo unded seas
’
.

The youthful D avy was keenly alive to the charms

o f his early environme n t and his genius was sus ,

ce t i b l e to the belief in supernatural agencies n ative

p
to the imaginative Celtic people among whom he
was reared As a precocious child o f five he i m pr o
.

vised rhymes an d as a yo uth set forth i n excellent

,

verse the glories of M ount s Bay f

172 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
that the following is transcribed from a n oteb ook
o f H umphry s bearing the date o f the same year as
’

his apprenticeship ( 1 7 95 )
1 The o lo gy o r Reli gi o n
. Taught b y Nat ur e .

Ethi cs o r M o r al Vi r t ues b y Rev elation .

2 G e o gr aphy
. .

3 M y Pr o fes s i on
.

1 B o t any 2 Phar m acy 3

. . . . . Nos ology . 4 . Anatomy .

5 S ur ge r y 6 C hemis t r y
. . . .

4 . Lo gic .

5 . Language , e tc .

A series o f essays which D avy wrote i n pursuin g

his scheme of self c ulture proves ho w rapidl y his mind
-

drew a way from the superstition s which character

i z ed the masses o f the people among whom he lived .

He had as a boy been haunted by the fear of mo n

s t e r s an d witches in which the credulous of all classes

then believed His notebook shows that he was now

.

subjecting to examination the religio us and poli tical

Opinions o f his time He composed essays on the .

immortality and immateriality o f the soul on gov ,

er nm e nt s on the credulity o f mort al s on the de

, ,

en d e n ce o f the thinking powers on the organ iza

p
tion of the body on the ultimate end o f being on
, ,

happiness and on moral obli gation He studied the

,
.

writings of Locke Hartley Berkeley Hume Hel , , , ,

v e t i us Condorcet and Reid and kn ew something of

, , ,

German philosophy It was n ot t i ll he was ninetee n .

that D avy entered o n the experimental study of

chemistry .

G ui ded by the E l em ents of Lavoisier encouraged ,

by the friendship of Gregory Watt ( a so n o f James

Watt) an d by an other gentleman of u n iversity ed u
 THE SC I ENTIST 17 3

cation stim ula ted by contact with the Corn ish mi n

,

in g in dustry Davy purs ued this new study with zeal

, ,

an d withi n a few months had wri tten two essays full

o f daring generalizations on the ph ysical sci ces .

These were published early in ” 9 l on the

b asis of the ingenio us ex periment mentioned in the
preced ing chapter he came to the concl usion that
,

Heat or that power which prevents the actual

,

contact of the corpuscles of bodies and which is the ,

c ause of o ur pec uliar sensations of heat and cold ,

may be defined as a pec uliar motion probably a v i ,

bration o f the corpuscles of bodies tending to sepa

, ,

rate them O ther passages might be quoted from

.

these essays to show how the gifted youth of ninetee n

an ticipated the scien ce of subsequent decades b ut i n ,

the m ain these early e flor t s were characte r ized by

the faults of overwrought speculation and incomplete
verification He soon regretted the premat ure pub
.

li cati on o f his studies

”
W
hen I consider he w rote
.

the variety of theories that may be formed o n the

, ,

slender fo undation of o ne or two facts I am con ,

vi nce d that it is the busin ess of the true philosopher

t o avoid them altogether It is more laborio us to .

accumulate facts than to reaso n co n cerning them ;

but one good experimen t is of more value than the
”
ingenuity of a brain like Newton s
.
’
.

I n the mean time D avy had been chosen s uper i n

tendent of the Pneumatic Institution at B r istol by
D r Beddoe s its founder I t was s uppo r ted by the
.
, .

contr ibutions o f Thomas Wedgwood and other d i s

“
t i ngui s hed per s o n s and ai m ed at discovering by
,

means o f experiment the physiological cfie ct o f i n

”
haling differe nt gases or factitious airs as they
, ,
174 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
were called The foun ding of such an es t ab li sM ent
.

has bee n termed a scientific aberration but the use ,

n ow made in medical practice of oxygen n itro us ,

oxide chloroform and other inh al ations bears wit

, ,

ness to the san ity of the sort of research there set

o n foot Even before going to Bristol Davy had i n
.
,

hal ed small quantities of nitrous oxide mixed wi th

air i n spite of the fact that thi s gas had been held
,

by a medical man to be the principle of contagion .

He now carried o n a series of tests and fin ally nu,

d e r t oo k an exte n ded experiment with the assistance

o f a doctor In an air tight o r bo x chamber he in
.
- -

haled great quan tities o f the supposedly dan gerous

gas After he had bee n in the bo x a n hour an d a
.

quarter he respired twen ty quarts of pure nitrous

,

oxide He des crib ed the experien ce i n the following

.

words
A thrill ing extending from the chest to the ex
,

t r em i t i es was almost immediately produced

, I felt .

a sense o f tan gible extensio n highly pleasurable i n

every limb ; my visible impression s were dazzling ,

an d apparently magn ified ; I heard every sound i n

the room and was perfectly aware o f my situation
, .

By degrees as the pleasurable sensations i n creased

, ,

I lost all connection with external things ; t rains of

vivid visible images rapidly passed through my mi n d ,

and were connected with word s in such a mann er as ,

to produce perceptions perfectly novel I existed i n .

a world o f n ewly connected and newly modified ideas :

I theorized I imagin ed that I m ade discoveries
,
.

When I w as awakened from this semi delirious -

trance by D r Kinglake who took the bag from my

.
,

mouth indignation an d pride were the first feelin gs

,
176 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
how D avy compared with the cleverest men he had

"
met on a visit to London replied expressively :
,

Why D avy can eat them all There is an energy

, ,

an elasticity in his mind which enables him to seize

,

o n and analyze all questions pushing them to their

,

legitimate consequences E very subject i n Davy s

.
’

mind has the principle of vitality Livi n g thoughts .

spring up like t urf under his feet He thought that

.

if D avy had not bee n the first chemist he woul d

have been the first poet of the age Their corre .

s po n d ence attests the intimate interchange o f ideas

and sentiments between these two men of genius so ,

d ifie r en t yet with so much in common

,
.

In 1 8 01 D avy was appointed assistan t lecturer

in chemis try at the Royal I nstitution (Al bemarle
Street L ondon ) which had been founded from phil
, ,

anthropic motives by Count R umford in 1 7 9 9 Its .

aim was to promote the application of science to the

common purposes of li fe Its founder desired while
.

benefiting the poor to enlist the sym pathies of the

fashionable world D avy with a zeal for the cause
.
,

o f humanity and a clear recognition o f the val ue of

a knowledge o f chemistry in techn ical industries and

other daily occupations le n t himself readily to the
,

founder s plans His success as a public expo sitor

’
.

o f science soon won him promotion to the professor

ship of chemistry in the new institution an d through ,

his influence an interest in scientific investigation

became the vogue of London society His popularity .

as a lecturer was so great that his best fr iends feared

“
that the head o f the brilliant provincial youth o f
twenty t wo might be turned by the adulation of
-

”
which he s oo n bec am e the object I have read .
,
w
h i m then ,
,
“
THE SC I ENT I ST
ri tes his brother copies of verses addressed to
anonymous eflus i o ns some of them
,
17 7

displaying much poetical taste as well as fervor of

writi n g and all showing the infl uence which his ap
,

p ea r an ce and ma n ner had o n the more susceptible

”
o f his audience .

His s tudy of the tan ni n g industry ( 1 80 —

1 1 8 02 )
an d his lectures o n agricultural chemistry ( 1 8 03
1 8 1 3) are indicative of the early purpose of the
Royal In stitution and o f D avy s lifelong inclination
’
.

The focus o f his scie ntific interest however rested

, ,

o n the furtheran ce o f the application of the electrical

studies of Galvani and Volta in chemical analysis .

In a letter to the chairman of managers o f the Royal

I ns titutio n Volta had i n 1 8 00 described his voltaic
pile made up of a succ ession o f zinc and copper plates
i n p airs separated by a moist conductor and before ,

the end of the same year Nicholson and Carlisle had

employed an electric current prod uced by this n ewly
,

devised apparat us in the decomposition of water into

,

its elements .

In the spring of the following year the P hil0 3 0p hi

cal M ag az i ne st ates : We have also to notice a
course of lect ures j ust commenced at the institution
, ,

o n a new branch o f philosophy — w e mean Galvanic

Phen omena On this interesting branch Mr Davy

. .

( late of Bristol ) gave the first lecture o n the 2 5 t h of

Apri l He began with the history of Galvanism de

.
,

tailed the successive discoveries and described the dif

,

fe r en t methods o f accumulating influence He

.

showed the e ffects o f galvan ism o n the legs of frogs ,

and exhibited some interesting experiments o n the

”
galvan ic effects on the solutions o f metals in acids .
178 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
In a paper communicated the Royal Society i n to
1 8 06 On S om e Chem i cal Ag enci es of El ectri ci ty
, ,

D avy put on record the res ul t of years of experiment .

For example as sta ted by his biographer he had con

, ,

necte d a cup of gypsum with one of agate by mean s

o f asbestos and fi lling each with purified water had

, ,

i n serted the negative wire of the battery i n the

agate cup an d the positive wire in that o f the sul
,

phate of lime In about four hours he had foun d a

.

strong solution of lime in the agate cup and sul ,

p h ur i c acid in the cup o f g

yp sum O n his reversing .

the arrangement and carrying on the process for a

,

similar length of time the sulphuric acid appeared in

,

the agate cup and the solution of lime on the opposite

,

“
side It was thus that he st udied the transfer of cer
.

tain o f the constituent parts of bodies by the action

”
o f electricity It is very n atural to suppose says
.
,

D avy , that the repellen t and attractive energies are

communicated from o ne particle to an other particle
o f the same kind so as to establish a co n d ucting
,

chai n in the fl uid There may be a succession of

.

decompositions and recomposition s before the elec

”
t rolys i s is complete .

The publicatio n o f this paper i n 1 8 06 attracted

much attention abroad and gain ed for him in spite
,

o f the fact that England and Fran ce were then at

war a medal awarded under an arrangement insti ,

“
t ute d by Napoleon a few years previously for the best ,

experimental work on t he subject o f electricity .

”
Some people said D avy say I ought not to ac
, ,

cept this pri z e ; and there have been foolish par s e

graphs in the papers to that effect ; but if the two

coun tries or governmen ts are at w ar the me n of ,
1 80 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
n ium No doubt what gave special zest to his study
.

o fthe al kalis was the hope of overth r owing the doc

trine o f French chemist s that oxygen was the essen
tial element o f every acid Lavoisier had given it .
,

indeed the name oxygen ( acid prod ucer ) on th at s up

,
-

position D avy showed however tha t this element is

.
, ,

a constituent of many alkalis .

In 1 8 1 0 he advanced his controversy by explaining

the nat ure o f chlorine D iscovered long before by .

the indefatigable Scheele it bore at the beginning of ,

the nineteenth century the name oxymuriatic acid .

D avy proved that it contained neither oxygen nor

m uriatic ( hydrochloric) acid (though as we kno w , ,

it forms with hydrogen muriatic acid) He gave

, , .

the name chlor i ne because of the color of the gas

D
'

(x pM o os pale green
, ) avy studied later
. the com
pound s o f fluorine and though unable to isolate the
,

element conjectured its likeness to chl orine

, .

He lectured before the D ubli n Society in 1 81 0 ,

and again in the following ye ar ; on the occasion of

h i s second visit receiving the degree of LL D fro m . .

Trinity College He was knighted in the spring of

.

1 8 12 and was married to a handsome intellect ual

, , ,

and wealthy lady He was appointed Honorary Pr o

.

fe s s o r of Chemistry at the Royal Institution His ne w .

independence gave him full liberty to p urs ue his

scientific interests Toward the close of 1 8 1 2 he
.

writes to Lady D avy :

Yester day I began some new experiments to
which a very interesting disco ver y and a slight acci
dent put an end I m ade use of a compound more
.

powerful than g unpowder destined perhaps at some

time to change the nature of war and influen ce the
 THE SCIENT I ST 18 1

state of society An explosion took place which has

.

done me no other har m than that of preventing me

from working this day and the e ffects of which wi ll
be gone to morrow and which I should not mentio n
-

at all except that yo u may hear some foolish exag

,

gera ted ac count of it for it reall y is not worth men

,

t i oni ng . The compound on the investigation

o f which he was then engaged is n ow kn own as t he

trichloride of nitrogen .

In the autumn of 1 8 1 3 Sir H umphry an d L ady

D avy accompan ied by Michael Faraday who o n
, ,

D a vy s recommendatio n h ad in the spring of the

’

same year received a post at the Royal Institution ,

set o ut in spite of the continuance of the war on a

, ,

Contin ental tour At Paris Sir Humphry was wel

.

comed by the French scientists with every mark of

disti n ction A substa n ce which had been foun d i n
.

the ashes of seaweed two years previo usly by a soap ,

boiler an d man ufacturer of saltpeter was submitted

,

t o D avy for chemical examination Until D avy s

.
’

a rrival in Pari s little had been done to determin e

its real character O n D ecember 6 Gay Lussac pre
.
-

sented a brief report o n the new substance which ,

he named i o d e and considered analogous to chlorine .

D avy working with almost incredible rapidity in

,

the presen ce of his rivals was able a week later to

,

sketch the chief characters of this new element now ,

known by the name he chose for i t — i o d i n e .

We have passed over his investigation of boracic

acid ammoni um nitrate and other compou nds ; we
, ,

can mer ely mention i n passing his later studies of

the diamond and other forms of carbon of the ,

chemical constituen ts of the pigme n ts used by the

182 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
ancients his investigation of the torpedo fish an d his
, ,

an ticipation of the ar e light .

It seems fitting that Sir Humphry D avy should

be popul arly remembered for his invention of the
miner s safety lamp At the beginning of the n ine
’
- .

t ee n th century the development o f the iron ind ustry ,

the increasing use o f the s te am engi n e an d of m a p

chi n ery in gen eral led to great activity an d en ter

prise i n the workin g o f the coal mines Colliery ex .

plosions o f fir e damp (marsh gas ) became alarmin gly

-

frequent especial ly in the north o f England The

, .

m i ne own ers in some cases sought t o suppress the

-

n ews o f fatalities A society however was formed

.
, ,

t o protect the miners from injury through gas explo

sions and Davy was asked for advice O n his return
,
.

f r om the Continent i n 1 81 5 he applied himself e n

e r geti cally to the matter He visited the mines and
.

an al yzed the gas He found that fir e damp explodes

.
-

only at hi gh temperature and that the flame of this ,

explosive mixture will n ot pass through sm all aper

tures A miner s lamp was therefore constructed
.
’

wi th wire gauze about the flame to admit air for

combustion The fir e damp entering the gauze
.
-

burned quietly i n side but could n ot carry a high

,

e n ough temperature through the gauze to explode

the large quantity outside To o ne of the members .

o f the philan thropic society which had appealed to

him D avy wrote : I have n ever received s o much

ple asure from the res ult o f any o f my chemical la p

bo urs ; fo r I trust the cause of human ity will gain

”
something by it .

D avy was elected President o f the Royal Society

in 1 8 2 0 an d ret ai n ed th at dignity till he felt com
,
 CHAPTER XIV
S CI ENT IFI C P RED I CTIO N T HE D I S C O V ERY OF
NEP T U NE

U ND ER this heading we h ave t o con sider a sin gle

—
ill ustration the prediction an d the discovery , i n
,

1 8 46 , of the planet Neptune This event roused

.

great enthusiasm among scientists as well as in the

popular mind aflor d ed p r oof of the reliability of the
,

Newtonian hypothesis and demonstrated the preci

,

sion to which the calculation o f celestial motions had

attained Scientific law appeared not merely as a
.

“
formulation and explan ation o f observed phenom
ena but as a mean s fo r the discovery of new truths .

”
Wo uld it not be admirable wrote Val z to Arago
,

in 1 8 35 to arrive thus at a knowledge of the ex

,

i s t e n ce of a body which cannot be perceived

The prediction and discovery of Neptune to which ,

many minds contributed and which has been de

,

scribed with a show o f justice as a movement of the

times arose from the previo us discovery of the pl an et
,

Uranus by Sir William Herschel in 1 7 8 1 After .

that event Bode s uggested that it was possible other

astronomers had ob s erved Uranus before without ,

recogn izi n g it as a planet By a study of the star

.

catalogues this conjecture was soon verified It was .

found that Flamsteed had mad e in 1 6 9 0 t he first

, ,

observation of the heavenly body now called Uranus .

Ultimately it was shown that there were at least

seven tee n similar observations prior to 1 7 8 1 .
 SC I ENTIFIC PRE D ICTION 1 85

It mi ght n aturally be supposed that these ao

call ed an cie n t observations would lead to a ready
determ i nation of the planet s orbit mass mean dis ’
, ,

tan ce longit ude with reference to the sun etc The

, , .

contrary however seemed to be the c ase Whe n

, ,
.

Alexis Bouvard the associate o f Laplace prepared

, ,

i n 1 8 2 1 tables of Uranus Jupiter an d Saturn on , ,

the prin ciples of the M écan i que Celes te he was un ,

able to fix an orbit for Uranus which would har m o

ni ze with the data o f ancient an d modern observa

tions that is thos e antecedent and subsequent to

, ,

Herschel s discovery in 1 7 8 1 If he computed an

’
.

orbit from the two sets of data combined the r e ,

u i e m nt s of the earlier observatio n s were fairly well

q r e

met but the later observations were n ot represen ted

,

with sufficient precision If o n the other han d o nly .

the modern data were take n into account tables ,

coul d be constructed meeting all the observation s

subsequent to 1 7 81 but faili ng to satisfy those prior
,

“
t o tha t date A consistent res ult coul d be obtained
.

o nly by sacrificin g the modern or the ancient ob

"
”
se r vati on s I h ave thought it preferable says Bo u
.
,

vard to abide by the second al ternative ] as being

, ,

that which combines the greater number o f proba

b i li ti es in favor o f the truth and I leave it to th e ,

future to make kn own whether the di fficulty of rec

o n cil i n g the two systems res ult from the inaccuracy

o f an cient observations o r whether it depend upo n

,

some extraneous an d unknown infl uence which has ,

”
acted on the planet It was not till three years after
.

the death o f Alexis Bouvard that the extraneous i n

fluence o f which he th us gave i n 1 8 21 some in dica
,

tion be c ame f ully kn own

, .
1 86 THE HI STORY OF SC I ENCE
Almost immediately however after the public a
, ,

t io n of the tables fresh discrepancies aro s e between

,

computation and observation At the first meeting .

o f the British Association i n 1 8 3 2 Professor Airy

i n a paper on the P r ogr es s of A s tr o nom y showed

that obser vational data i n refere n ce to the plan et
Uran us diverged widely from the tables of 1 8 2 1 .

In 1 8 33 through his influen ce the reduction of all

the planetary observations made at Green wich from
1 7 50 was u n dertaken Airy b ec ame Astronomer
.

Roy al in 1 8 35 and con tinued to take speci al i n ter

,

e st i n Uran us layin g particular emphasis o n the fact

,

t hat the radius vector assign ed i n the tables to this

plan et was much too small .

“
In 1 8 34 the Reveren d T J Hussey an am ateur
. .
,

astro n omer had writte n to Airy i n reference t o t he

,

i rregularities i n the orbit o f Uran us : The appar

e n tly inexplic able discrep an cies betwee n the ancient

an d modern observatio n s suggested to me the possi

b ili ty o f some disturbing body beyond Uran us n ot ,

t ake n into ac count because un kn own S ub s e .

q uently , i n convers a tio n with Bouvard I inquired if ,

”
t he above might not be the case Bouvard answered
.

t hat the ide a had occurred to him ; indeed he had ,

had some correspo n de n ce in refere n ce to it in 1 8 2 9

with H an se n an authority on plan etary perturb a
,

tions .

I n the follo w in g yea r Nicolai (a s well as Valz)

was interested i n the problem of an ultra Uran ian -

planet i n co n nection with the orbit of Halley s comet ’

itself the subject o f a striking scie n tific pre di ctio n

(
fulfilled i n n ow reappe a ri n g and under the ,

disturbin g i nfluen ce of Jupiter I n fact the proba .

,
1 88 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
observations Two years later he undertook re
.

se arches in reference to the new planet of whose ex

i s t ence he felt certain His labors however were
.
, ,

interr upted by the death of his assistant Flemming ,

an d by his own illness which proved fatal in 1 846

, ,

a few months before the actual dis covery of Nep

tune It is evident that the quest o f the new planet
.

had become general The error of Uranus still

.

amounted to less than two minu tes This deviation .

from the comp uted place is not appreciable by the

n aked eye yet it was felt by the sc ientific world to
, , ,

challenge the validity o f the Newto nian theory o r ,

to foresh adow the addition o f still an other plan et to

o ur solar system .

In J uly 1 8 4 1 John Co uch Adams a yo ung un der

, , ,

grad uate o f St Joh n s College Cambridge whose

.
’
, ,

interest had been aroused by reading Airy s paper ’

o n the P r o r es s o
g f A s tr on o m y made note o f his
,

resolution to attempt after completing his college

,

course the solution of the problem then forming i n

,

so many minds After achie ving the B A as senior

. . .

wran gler at the beginning of 1 8 43 Adams under ,

took to find the most probable orbit and m ass of

”
the disturbing body which has acted o n Uranus .

The ordinary problem in planetary perturbations

calls for the determination o f the eff ect on a know n
orbit exerted by a body o f known mass and motion .

Thi s was an inverse problem ; the perturbation being

given it was required to find the position mass and
, , ,

orbit o f the disturbing planet The data were fur .

ther equivoc al in that the elements o f the given

planet Uran us were themselves in doubt ; the unr e
liability o f its planetary tables in fact being the , ,
 SCIENTIFIC PRE D ICTION 189

occ asion of the in vestigation n ow undert ake n That .

thirteen unknown quantities were involved in dicates

sufficiently the d iffi culty of the problem .

Adam s started with the assumptions not i m pr ob ,

able that the orbit o f the un k no w n planet was a

,

circle and that its distance f rom the sun was twice
,

that of Uran us This latter ass umption was in accord

.

”
wi th the so called Bode s Law which taught that
-
’
,

a simple n umeric al relationshi p exists bet w een the

p lan etary distance s (4 7 1 0 1 6 28 5 2 1 00
, , , , , , ,

an d that the planets as they lie more remote from

the su n tend to be more nearly double the distance
o f the next preceding Adams was encouraged by
.
,

his first attempt to undertake a more precise de

,

termination .

O n his behalf Professor C hal lis o f Cambridge ap

plied to Astronomer Royal Ai r y who furnished t he ,

Red ucti o ns of the P l anetar y Obs er vati o ns made at

Greenwich from 1 7 5 0 till 1 8 3 0 In his second en .

d eavo r Adam s assumed that the unkn own planet had

an elliptical orbit He approached the solution grad
.

ually ever taking into acco un t more terms o f the per

,

t ur b ati o n s In September 1 8 45 he gave the results

.
, ,

to Challis who wrote to Airy on the 22d of that

,

month that Adams so ught an O pport unity to s ubmit

the solution personall y to the A s tronomer Royal O n .

the 2 1 st of October 1 8 45 the yo ung mathematician

, , ,

twice disappointed in his attempt to meet Airy left ,

at the Royal Observ atory a paper containi n g the

elements o f the new planet The position assign ed
.

to it was within abo ut o ne degree of its act ual place .

O n Novembe r 5 Airy w r ote to Adams and among ,

other thi ngs i nquired whether the solutio n obtained

,
1 90 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
would account for the errors o f the radius vector as
well as for those of heliocentric longitude For Airy .

this was a cr ucial question ; but to Adams it seemed

unessential and he failed to reply
,
.

By this time a formidable rival had en tered the

field Leverrier at the request o f Arago h ad un
.

d er taken to investigate the irregularities i n the

tables o f Uran us In September o f the same yea r
‘
.

E uge n e Bouvard had prese nted new tables of that

planet Leverrier acted very promptly and s ys t e m at
.

i cally His fir st paper o n the problem undertake n

.

appeared i n the Co m p tes Ren d us of the Académie

des Science s November 1 0 1 8 45 He had submit , .

ted to rigorous exam ination the data in reference

to the dist urbing influence o f J upi ter and of Sat urn
o n the orbit o f Uran us In his second paper June
.
,

1 1 8 46 L everrier reviewed the records of the an

, ,

cient and modern observations of Uranus ( 2 7 9 i n

all ) subjected Bouvard s tables to severe criticism
,
’
,

an d decided that there exis ted in the orbit o f Uran us

an omalies that co uld not be ac co unted d ue to erro r s
o f observatio n There m ust exist some extraneous
.

i nfluence hitherto unknown to astronomers Some

,
.

scientists had thought that the law of gravitatio n

did n ot hold at the confines of the solar system
( others that the attr active force o f other systems

“
might prove a factor) but Leverrier rejected this
,

conception O ther theories being likewise discarded

.

he asked : Is it possible that the irregularities of

Uranus are due to the action of a disturbing planet ,

situated in the ecliptic at a mean distance do uble

that of Uranus And if so at what point is this ,

plan et situa ted ? What is its m ass Wh at are the

?
1 92 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
place of
the new planet he began observations July ,

2 9 O n August 4 in fi x ing certain re f erence points

.

he noted b ut mistook for a star the new planet On

, , .

A ug ust 1 2 having directed the telescope in acco rd

,

an ce with Adams s instructions he again noted the ’

same hea venly body as a star Before Chall is had , .

compared the res ults of the observation of August

1 2 with the results of an observation o f the same
regio n m ade on J uly 3 0 and arrived at the inference ,

that the body in question being absent in the latter ,

observation was n ot a star b ut a planet the prize of

, ,

d iscovery had f allen into the han ds of an other ob

server .

On August 3 1 had appeared Le ver r i er s third ’

paper in which were stated the new plan et s orbit

,
’

mass distance from the sun eccentr icity and longi

, , ,
‘
tude The true heliocentric longit ude was given as
.

3 2 6 3 2 for January 1 1 8 47 This determinatio n

° ’
, .

placed the planet about 5 to the east of star 8 of Cap °

r i co r n Leverrier said it might be recognized by its

.

disk which moreover would subtend a certain an gle

, , ,
.

The systematic and concl usive char acter of Lever

r i e r s research submitted to o n e of the greatest ac ad
’

emies of science carried conviction to the minds of

,

a stronomers The learned world felt itself on the eve

.

o f a great disco very Sir John Herschel i n an ad .

,

dress before the British Association on Septembe r

1 0 s aid that the year past had gi ven prospect o f a
,

n ew planet We see it as Columb us saw America

.

from the shores o f Spain I ts movements have been .

felt trembling alon g the far reaching line of our -

analysis with a certainty hardly inferior to ocul ar

”
demonstration .
 SC I ENT I F I C PRE D I CT I ON 193

O n September 1 8 Leverrier sent a letter to D r .

“
Galle of the Berlin Observatory which was provided
, ,

with a set of star maps prepared at the instance of

,

Bessel Galle replied one week later The planet

. .

o f the position o f which you gave the indication

"
,

really exists The same day that I received your let

.

ter September 2 3] I found a star o f the eighth

magnitude which was not inscribed in the excellent
,

map ( prepared by Dr Bremiker ) belonging to the

.

collection of star maps o f the Royal Acad emy of

Berlin The observation of the following day showed
.

”
decisively th at it was the planet sought It was only .

5 7 from the point predicted

’
.

Arago said that the discovery made by L everrier

was o ne o f the most brilliant manifestations of the
precision of modern astronomic science I t would e n .

courage the best geometers to seek with renewed ardor

the etern al truths which in Pliny s phrase are latent
,
’

in the majesty of theory .

Professor Challis received Lever r i er s third paper ’

o n September 29 an d in the evening turned his mag

,

n ificent refractor to the part of the heavens that Le

verrier h ad so definitely and so confidently indicated .

Among the three hundred stars observed Challi s w a s

struck by the appearance of one which presented a
disk and shone with the brightne s s of a star o f the
eighth magn itude This p r oved to be the plan et O n
. .

October 1 Challis heard that the German observer

had anticipated him .

Arago while recognizing the excellent work don e

,

by Adams in his calculations thought that the fact that

,

the young mathematician had failed to publish his r e

s ul ts should deprive him of any sh a re whatever in the
1 94 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
glory (if the discovery o f the n ew plan et an d that ,

history wo uld confirm this definite judgment Arago .

named the new planet after the French discoverer ,

b ut soon acquiesced in the n ame Neptune which has ,

since prevailed .

Y
’
Ai r y in whose possession Ad ams s results h ad r e
,

mained for months unpubli shed and unheeded wrote ,

Le verrier o u are to be recognized beyon d doubt

:

as the predictor o f the planet s place A vigoro us ’

.

o fficial himself Airy was deeply impressed by the

,

calm decisiveness and defin ite directions of the French

mathematician It is here if I mistake not that w e
.
, ,

see a character far s uperior to that of the able or ,

enterprising or ind ustrio us mathematician ; it is here

,
”
that w e see the philosopher This explains if any .
,

thing could his view that a distant mathematical r e

,

sult is the subject o f ethical rather than o f m athe

m at i cal evidence .

Adams s frien d s felt that he had n ot re ceived from

’

either of the astron omers to who m he confided his ,

re s ul ts the kind o f help or advice he should have r e

,

ce i ved Challi s was kindly b ut wanti ng in initiati ve

.
,
.

Altho ugh he had command o f the great Nor thum b e r

land te lescope he had n o thought o f commencing the
,

search in 1 8 45 for without mist rusting the evidence

, ,

which the th eory gave o f the ex i s tence of the planet ,

it might be reasonable to s uppose that its positio n

was determined b ut roughly and that a search for it ,

must necessarily be long and laborious I n the view .

o f Si m on Newcomb 1
Adams s results which were ’
, ,

delivered at the Green w ich O bservatory Octo ber 2 1

1 8 45 were so near to the m ark that a few hours
,

1
S ee ar ti cle Neptune ,
”
Encyc B r i t
. .
1 96 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
the discovery made by Galle m ust be regard ed a s a
happy accident This view however ha s n ot b ee n
.
, ,

sustain ed .

REFERENCES

S ir Robe r t Ball Nept une s Jub ilee Year . S ci entific Am eri can,
’

S upple m e nt Oct 1 0 1 89 6
, .
, .

S ir Ro be r t Ball The S tor y of the Heavens

, ,

B A Go uld Repor t on the Hi s tor y of the Di s covery of Neptune

. .
, ,

S m i ths oni an Contri buti o ns to Know led ge 1 8 5 0 , .

Ro be r t Gr ant Hi s tor y of P hysi cal As tr onom y

, .

S i m o n New co m b P opular As tr ono m y

, .

Benjam in Pe ir ce P r oceed i ngs of the Am eri can Acad em y of Arts

,
,

, .
—
and S ci ences vo l I pp 5 7 6 8 1 44 28 5 338 4 1 , etc
.
, , ,
— .
 CHAPTER XV
S C IENCE AND TRA V EL T HE V O Y AGE O F THE
B EA G LE

S IR CHARLES LYELL in his P r i ncip les of C c

,

o logy the first edition o f which appeared in 1 8 3 0

,

1 8 3 3 says :
,
If it be true that delivery be the first ,

second and third requisite in a popular orator it is

, ,

n o less certai n that travel is of first second an d , ,

thi r d importance to those who desire to originate

j ust and comprehensive vie w s concerning the strue
t ure o f our globe The value of travel to science
in general might very well be illustrated by Lyell s ’

o w n career his study o f the mountaino us regions of

,

F rance his calc ul ation of the recession of Niagara

,

Fall s and of the sedi m entary deposits o f the M issis

sippi his observations of the coal formations o f Nova
,

Scotia and of the composition of the Great Dismal

,

Swamp of Virginia s uggestive o f the organ ic origin

o f the carbonifero us rocks .

Al tho u h it is not with Lyell that we have here

g

principally to deal it is no t irrelevant to say that

,

the main purpose of his work was to show that all

p ast changes in the earth s c r ust are referable to ’

causes no w in operation D i ff e r ing f r om H utton as

.

“
to the part played in those changes by s ubterranean
heat Lyell agreed with his fore r unner in ascribi ng
,

geological tran s form ations to the slow agency of

”
existi n g causes He was in fact the leader of the
.
, ,

u niformitarians and opposed those geologists who

1 98 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
held th at the contemporary state of the earth s crust ’

was owing to a series of catastrophes stupendous ,

exhibitions of nat ural force to which recent history

o fle r ed no parall el Also enlightened as to the sig
’
.

n i fican ce of o r ganic rem ains in stratified rock Lyell ,

i n 1 8 3 0 felt the need o f f urther knowledge in refer

ence to the relation o f the plants an d animals rep
resented in the fossils to the fau n a and flora n ow
existi ng .

I t is to Lyell s disciple Charles D arwin however

’
, , ,

that we tur n for our m ain ill ustration of the value

o f tra vel for comprehensi v e scientific generaliz a t i on .

Born li ke another great liberator o n Febr uary 1 2

, , ,

1 8 09 D ar w in was only twenty two years o ld w hen

,
-

he received appointment as naturalist o n H M S . . .

Beagle about to sail from D evonport on a voyage

,

aro und the world The main purpo se o f the expedi

.

tion under com m an d of the yo uthf ul Captain Fitz

,

roy three or four years older than D arwin was to

, ,

make a survey o f certain coasts in South Ameri ca

an d the Pacific Islan ds and to carry a line of chron
,

“
o m et r i cal meas urements about the globe Looking .

back in 1 8 7 6 on this memorable e x p edition the ,

n at uralist wrote The voyage of the Beagle has

,

been by far the most important event in my life ,

”
and has determin ed my whole career In spite of .

the years he had spe n t at school and college he r e

garded this experience as the first real training or
e d ucation of his mind .

D arwi n had studied med icine at Edinburgh but ,

found surgery distasteful He moved to Cambri d ge .

,

with the idea of becoming a clergyman o f the Estab

li sh ed Church As a boy he had atte n ded with his
.
2 00 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
the same time it will scarcely be denied th at his
vision was as much mar ked by insight as by careful
observation that hi s reasoning was logical and sin
,

u l a rl tenacious and his ima i nation vi vid It was

g y g , .

before this supreme seer that the panorama o f ter

r e s t r i al creation was displayed during a five years
’

voyage .

No o ne can read D arwin s J our nal descriptive of

’

the voyage o f the Beagle and continue to entertai n

any doubts in reference to his aesthetic sen se an d
poetic appreciation of the vario us moods o f nature .

Thro ughout the voyage the scenery was for him the
most constant and highest source o f enjoyment His .

emotions responded to the glories o f tropical vegeta

“
tion in the Brazilian forests an d to the sublimity of ,

“
Patagonian wastes and the forest clad hills of Tierra -

”
del F uego . I t is easy writes the gifted ad ole s
,

cent to specify the individ ual objects of admir a

,

tion in these grand scenes ; b ut it is not possible to

give an adequate idea o f the higher feeli ngs of won
der astonishmen t and devotion w hich fill and ele
, , ,
”
vate the mind Similarly on the heights o f the
.
,

Andes listening to the stones borne seaw ard day

,

and night by the mo untain torrents D arwin r e ,

marked : The sound spoke eloquently to the geolo

gist ; the tho usands and thousands o f stones which ,

st r iking against each other made the o ne d ull uni,

form sound were all h urrying in o ne direction I t

,
.

was like thinking o n time where the minute that ,

now glides past is irrecoverable So was it with .

these stones the ocean is their eternity and each

, ,

note of that wild music told of one more step towards

”
their destiny .
 SC I ENCE AND TRAVEL 2 01

When the Beagle left D e vonport D ecember 27 , ,

1 8 3 1 the yo un g nat uralist was witho ut any theo r y

, ,

and when the ship entered Falmo uth ha r bor O cto ,

ber 2 1 836 tho ugh he felt the need of a theory i n

, ,

reference to the relations of the vario us species o f

pl an ts an d an imals he had not formulated one It
,
.

was not till 1 8 5 9 that his famous work o n the Or i g i n

of S eci es appeared He went merely as a collector
p .
,

an d frequently in the course o f the voyage felt a

young man s misgivings as to whether his collections
’

woul d be of value to his Cambridge professors an d

other mat ure scientists .

Professor Hens lo w the botanist through whom

, ,

D arwin h ad been offered the opportunity to aecom

pany the expedition had presented his p upil with
,

the first volume o f Lyell s P r i ncip les of Geology

’
.

( Perhaps after
, Lyell the most potent
,
influence on

D ar win s mind at this time w as that o f Hum boldt

’

an d other renowned travelers whose works he read ,

wit h avidity ) At the Cape Verde Islands he made

.

some interesting observations of a white calcareous

stratum which ran for miles along the coast at a
height o f about forty five feet above the water It
- .

reste d on volcanic rocks an d was itself covered with

basalt that is lava which had crystallized under the
, ,

sea It was evident that s ubsequently to the form a

.

tion o f the basalt that portion of the coast contain

ing the white stratum had been elevated The shells .

in the strat um were recent that is corresponded to , ,

those still to be f ound on the neighbo r ing coast I t .

occurred to D arwin that the voyage might afford

material f or a boo k on geology Later in the voy .

age having read portion s of his J o ur nal to Captain

,
2 02 THE HISTORY O F SCIENCE
F itzroy D arwin was enco uraged to believe that thi s
,

also might prove worthy o f p ublication .

D arwin s account of his adventures and m an ifold

’

observations is so informal so rich in detail as not , ,

to ad m it of summary His eye took i n the most di

.

verse phenomena the color of the sea or of rivers

, ,

clouds of butterflies and of locusts the c acique with his ,

little boy clinging to the side of a horse i n headlong

flight the great earthquake o n the coast of Chile the
, ,

en dl ess variety o f plan t and an i mal life t he s upe r sti ,

“
tion o f savage an d p ad r e the charms o f Tahiti the
, ,

unconscious humor o f his mo un tain guides for w hom

at an al titude o f eleve n thousand feet the cursed
p o t which
( ” was a n ew o n e ) d i d n ot choose t o boil
potatoes — all found response in D arwin s ope n ’

mind ; everything was grist to his mill Any selec .

tion fro m the richness of the origin al is almost sure

t o show a tendency not obvious i n the J our n al On .

the other han d it is j ust such multiplicity of phe

,

n o m e na as the J o ur n al mirrors that impels every

orde rly min d to seek for causes for explan ati on , .

The human intellect can not rest till law gives form
t o the wild chaos of fact .

No disciple of Lyell could fail to be con vi n ced

o f the immeasurable lapse o f ti m e required for the

formation of the ea rth s crust For this principle

’
.

D arwi n found abundant evidence during the yea rs

spent in S outh America O n the heights of the A n des
.

he found mari n e shell fossils at a height of fourte en

thous an d feet above sea level That such an eleva
-
.

tion of submarine strata should be achie ved by forces

still at Nature s command might well test the faith
’

of the most a rde n t disciple O f ho w gre at those

.
2 04 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
a ffected by his discovery in Uruguay and Patagoni a
of the fossil remains of extinct m ammal s all the ,

more so because they seemed to bear relationship to

particular living species and at the same time to
sho w li k eness to other species The Toxodo n (b ow
.

tooth ) for example was a gigan tic rodent whose

, ,

fossil remains were discovered i n the same regio n

where D arwin fou n d living the capybara a rodent ,

as large as a pig ; at the same time the extinct species

showed in its structure certain afli ni ti es to the Eden
tata ( sloths ant eaters armadillos) Other fossils
,
-
,
.

represented gigantic forms distinctly of the edentate

order and comparable to the Cape ant eater and the -

Great Armadillo ( D asypus g i g as ) Again remains .

,

were found of a thick skinned n on ruminant with

- -

certain structural likeness to the C amelid ae to which ,

the living species of South American ruminants the ,

uan aco s belong

g , .

Why have certain species ce ased to exist As the

individual sickens and dies so certain species become
,

rare and extinct D arwin found in Northern Pat

.

agonia evidence of the Egun s cur vi clens an extinct ,

species o f native American horse What had caused .

this species to die out ? Imported horses were intro

d uce d at B uenos Ayres in 1 5 3 7 an d so flourished ,

in the wild state that in 1 58 0 they were foun d as far

south a s the Strait o f Magellan D arwin was well .

fitted by the comprehensiveness o f his observations

to deal with the various f actors o f extinctio n and
survival He studied the species in their natural
.

setting the habitat and range and habits and food

, , , ,

o f the di ff erent varieties T r aveling for three years

.

an d a h alf north and south on the contin ent o f South

 SCIENCE AND TRAVEL 2 05

America he n oticed o ne species replacing an other

, ,

perhaps closely allied species Of the carrion feed ,

.
-

ing hawks the condor has an immen se range but ,

shows a predi lectio n for perpendicular cli ffs If a n .

a nimal di e on the plain the polyborus has pr er oga

tive of fee ding first and is followed by the turkey
,

buzzard and the gal lin azo European horses and cat
'

tle r unn ing wild in the Falkl and Islan ds are som e
what modi fied the horse a s a species dege n erating ,

th e c a ttle in creasi n g in size an d tending to f or m

varieties of di ff erent color The soil being so f t the .

hoofs of the hors e grow long and produce lameness .

Again on the mainlan d the niata a breed o f cattle

, , ,

suppo s ed to have originated among the I n di an s so uth

o f the Plata a re on account of the projection o f the

, ,

lower jaw unable to browse as e ffectually as other

,

bre eds This renders them liable to destructio n in

.

ti mes of drought A similar variation i n str ucture

.

had cha racteri zed a species of extin ct r umin an t i n

In dia.

How dis astrous a gre at drought might prove to

the catt le of the Pampas is shown by the records of
1 8 25 an d of 1 8 3 0 S o little rain fell that there was
.

a complete failure of vegetation The loss of cattle in .

o n e provin ce al o n e was estimated at o ne mill ion Of .

o n e particu l ar herd o f twe n ty thousan d no t a single

o n e survived D arwin h ad many other in stances of
.

n at ure s dev astatio n s Af ter the Beagle sailed from

’
.

the Plata D ecember 6 1 8 33 vast n umbers of but

, , ,

t e r fli e s were seen as f ar as the eye coul d ran ge in

ban ds of countless myriads Before sunset a strong .

breeze sprung up from the north and this m ust ha ve ,

ca used tens of thousan ds of the butterflies an d othe r

2 06 THE HISTORY OF SCI ENCE
insects to perish Tw o or three months before this
.

he had ocular proof of the eff ect of a hailstorm whi ch ,

in a very limited area killed twe n ty deer fifteen ,

ostriches numbers of d ucks hawks and p artridges

, , , .

In the war o f exterminatio n that was ever before

the great n atural ist s eye in South Am erica what is
’
,
’
it that favors a species survi val or determines its
extinction
Not only is the struggle betwee n the anim als an d
i n animate n ature the plan ts an d inan imate nature
, ,

plan t and an im al rival animals and rival plants ; it

, ,

goes o n between man an d his e n vi r onment and very , ,

fiercely between man an d m an Darwin was moved

, .

by intense in dign ation at the slavery o n the east coast

an d the cruel opp r ession of the laborer on the west
coast He was in close contact with the sangui nary
.

political struggles o f South Am erica an d with a war ,

o f attempted exterminatio n against the I ndian He

"
.

refers to the shockin g but unquestionable fact that ,

"
in the latter struggle ] all the women who appear
above twenty years old are massacred i n cold blood

, "
When I exclaimed that this appeared rather inbu

be don e ? they breed so "

man he t he informant] answered Why what can , ,

In all his tra vels nothing th at D arwin beheld

made a deeper impression on his sensitive mi n d than
primitive man Of individual objects perhaps noth
.
,

ing is more certain to c r eate a s tonishment than the

first sight in his native haunt of a barbarian of
man in his lo w est and most savage state One s mind .
’

hur ries back over past centuries and then asks could
, ,

o ur progenitors have been men like these ? I do

no t believe it is possible to describe or paint the dif
2 08 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
dogs A native boy when asked by a traveler why
.
,

they do this had answered D oggies catch otters

, , ,
”
o l d women no .I n such hard conditions what are the
characteristics that would determin e the sur vival of
indi vidual or tribe ? One might be tempted to lay
almost exclusive emphasis on physical strength b ut ,

D arwin was too wise ultimately to an swer thus the

question that for six o r seven years was forming i n
his accurate and discriminating mi n d .

O n its way west i n the Pacific the Beagle spent

a month at the Galapagos Archipelago which lies ,

un der the equator five or six hundred miles from the

mainland . M ost of the organic productions are ah
original creations fo und nowhere else ; there is eve n
,

a di fference between the inhabitants of the di ff erent

islands ; yet all show a marked relationship with

”
those o f America Why should the plants and an i
.

m al s of the islands resemble tho e o f the mainland s

,

o r the inhabitants o f one island di ffer from those o f

a n eighbori n g island ? D ar w in had always held that

species were created immutable and that it was i m ,

possible for on e species to give rise to another .

In the Gal apagos Archipelago he found only one

species of terrestrial mammal a new species of mouse
, ,

and that only on the most easterly island of the group .

O n the So uth American continent there were at least

forty species of mice those east o f the Andes being
,

distinct from those on the west coast O f land b i rds .

-

he obtained twenty si x kinds twenty five of which

-
,
-

were to be fo und no w here else A m ong these a hawk

.
,

seemed in structure intermediate between the buzzar d

and polybor us as tho ugh it had been modified and
,

in duced to take over the functions of the South Ameri

 SCIENCE AND TRAVEL 2 09

can carrion hawk There were three species o f mock

-
.

in g thrush two of them confined to one islan d each

-
, .

There were thirteen species of finches all peculiar to ,

the archipelago In the differen t species of geospiz a

.

there is a perfect gr adation in the s iz e of the beaks ,

only to be appreci ated by seeing the specimen s or

their illustratio ns .

Few of the birds were of brilliant coloratio n .

Th e s a me w as true of the plan ts and insects D arwin .

looked i n vai n for on e brill ian t flower This was i n .

marked co n trast to the fau n a an d flor a of the South

Ameri ca n tropics The coloratio n of the species s ug
.

ges ted comp ariso n with that of the plants an d anim als
o f Pat ago n i a Amid brill iant tropical plants brillian t
.

plum age m ay afford means of con cealmen t as well ,

as being a factor in the securing of mates .

D arwi n found the reptiles the most striking fea

ture of the zo ology of the islan ds They seem to take .

the place of the herbivorous mammali a The huge .

tortoise ( Tes tud o ni g r a) n ative in the archipelago

i s so heavy as to be lifted o n ly by six or eight me n .

The young n a tur alist freque n tly got the b a ck of

( o n

a torto i se but as it moved forward under his encour

,

agem ent he found it very diffic ul t t o k eep his b a l

,

an ce ) D i fferen t varieties if n ot species ch a rac terize

.
, ,

the di ffere n t isl an ds O f the other reptili a should

.

be n oted two species o f lizard of a genus ( Am bly

r h n ch us confin ed to the Galapagos Isla nds One
y ) .
,

aquat ic a yard long fiftee n poun ds i n weight with

, , ,

limbs an d strong claws admirably ad apted for crawl

ing over the rugged an d fis s ur ed masses o f lava ,

feeds on seaweed When frightened it instinctively

.

sh uns the water as though it feared especiall y its

,
2 10 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
aqu atic enemies The terrestrial sp ecies is co nfin ed to
.

the cent r al part of the group ; it is smaller than the

aquatic species and feeds o n cactus leaves o f trees
, , ,

and berries .

Fifteen new species o f sea fish were obtained dis -

,

tributed in twelve genera The archipelago though .

,

n ot rich in insects affo r ded several n e w genera each

, ,

island with its distinct kinds The flora of the Gala .

pagos Islands proved eq ual ly distinctive M ore tha n .

half of the flowering plants are n ative an d the species ,

o f the d i fle r en t islands show wonderful diff erences .

For example of seventy one species fou nd o n James

,
-

Island thi r ty eight are confin ed to the archipelago

-

and thirty to this o ne island .

In October the Beagle sailed west to Tahiti New ,

Z ealand Australia Keeling o r Cocos Islan ds M au

, , ,

r i t i us St Helena Asce n sion ; arrived at Bahia Brazil

, .
, , ,

A ugust 1 1 8 36 an d fin ally proceeded from Brazil

,

to Englan d Among his many observations D arwin

.
,

n oted the peculiar animals o f Australia the kan ga ,

roo rat and several o f the famous Or ni thor kyn

-
,
”
ckus p ar ad oc cus o r d uckbill O n the Keeling or
,
.

Cocos Islan ds the chief vegetable production is the

cocoan ut Here Darwin observed crabs of monstrous
.

size with a structure which enabled them to open

,

the cocoan uts They thus secured their food an d

.
,

acc um ulated surprising quantities of the picked

fibres of the cocoan ut h usk o n which they rest as a ,
”
bed.

I n preparing his J our nal for publication in the

autumn of 1 836 the youn g naturalist saw how many
facts pointed to the common descent of species He .

t hought that by collecting all facts tha t bore on the

2 12 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

REFERENCES
Char les D arw i n A Natur ali st s J ournal

W
’
.
,

Fr ancis D arw i n The Life and Letter s of Char les Darwi n

, .

A Locy Bi ology and i ts M aker s (thir d revi sed

. . ,

ch ap XIX

WW
. .

G J Ro m ane s Darwi n and After Darwi n, vol I

. .
, . .

A R
. allace Darw i ni s m
.
,
.

See also Jo hn Jud d The Com i ng of Evoluti on (The Cam bri d ge

.
,

Manuals of Science and Literat ur e) .

 CHAPTER XVI
S C IENCE AND W AR -
P AS TEUR, LI STER

IN the hi story o f scie n ce war is

no mere interruptio n ,

but a great stimulating in fluence promoting directly

,

o r indire ct ly the liberties o f the people calling into ,

play the e nergy of arti sa n an d man ufacturer and i n ,

cr e as in g the demand for useful an d practical studies .

I n th e activities of naval an d military equipme n t and

organization this i nfluence is obvious eno ugh ; it is
n o less re al in the reaction from war which impels
all to t urn with n e w zest to t he arts and in dust r ies
of peace and t o cherish whatever may tend to culture

and civil progress Not infr eq uently war gives rise

.
,

n ot only to new ed ucational ideals b ut to new ins ti

,

tut i o n s and to new types o f instit ution favorable

t o the advan cement of science As we have alread y
.

s een the Royal S ociety and M ilton s Academies owed

’
,

their origin to the Great Rebellion Simi larly the .

Ecole Polytechnique mother of man y scientific dis

,

co ver i e s rose in answer to the needs o f the Frenc h

,

Re volution N0 less noteworthy was the r econ str uctio n

.

o f education under the practical genius o f Napoleo n

I the division of France into acad em i e s t he found

, ,

ing o f the lycées the reestablishment o f the great

,

Ecole No r m ale and the organi zation o f the Imperial

,

Uni versity with new science co urses and ne w pro

vi nci al Faculties at Rennes Lille and elsewhere
, , .

With all these di ff erent forms in which the influence

o f wa r m akes itself felt i n the progress o f scie n ce
2 14 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
the life an d career of Louis Pasteur ( 1 8 22 the
founder of bacteriology stood intimately associated, .

He was born at D fil e b ut the family a few ye ars ,

later settled at Arbois For three generations the .

Paste urs had been tanners in the J ura an d they ,

n aturally adhered to that portion of the population

which hailed the Revol utio n as a deliverance The .

great grandfather was the first freeman o f Paste ur s

-
’

forbears having purchased with money his eman ei

,

p at i o n from serfdom The fath er in.1 81 1 at the age ,

o f twenty was o ne o f Napoleon s conscripts and in

’
, ,

1 8 1 4 recei ved from the Empe ror fo r valor and fid el ,

ity the Cross o f the Legion of Honor The direct

, .

ness and end urance of the influen ce of this trained

veteran o n his gift ed son a hundred fine incidents
att est In 1 8 48 — year of revolt in the monarchies
.

o f Europe —the young scientist enrolled himself in

the National Guard and seeing one day in the Place

, ,

d u Panthéon a structure inscribed with the words

autel d e l a a tr i e he placed upon it all the hum ble
p
means —o ne hu ndred and fifty francs
,

the n at his
disposal .

It was in that same year that Pasteur put on

record his discovery of the nature of racemic acid ,

his first great service to science from which all hi s ,

other services were to proceed As a boy he had at .

tended the colleg e at Arbois where his teacher had i n

spired him with an ambitio n to enter the great Ecole
No r m al e Before reaching that goal he took his bache
.

lor s degree in science as well as in arts at the Bes

’

an con college At Paris he came in contact with the

.

leaders of the scientific world Claude Bernard ,

Balar d D um as Biot
, , .
 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
r ector of the acad em i c an d three ye ars later became
,

Professor o f Chemistry In 1 8 5 4 he was appointed

.

D ean of the Fac ulty of Science s at Lille a to wn ,

then o fficiall y described as the riche s t center o f i n

d us tr i al activity in the north o f Fran ce In his open .

ing address he showed the value and attractiveness

o f practical studies He believed as an educator in
.

the close alliance of laboratory and factory Appli .

c ation should always b e the aim but resting o n the ,

severe and solid basis of scien tific principles ; for it

is theory alone which can bri n g forth a n d develop
the spirit of invention .

His o w n study of racemic acid begun in the labo ,

r ato r i es o f P ari s and followed up in the factories of

,

Leipz ig Prag an d Vienna had led to his th eory of

, , ,

mol ecular dissymmetry the starting point o f modern

,

stereo chemistry It now gave rise on Pasteur s p art

- .
’

t o n ew studies an d to new applications to the ind us

tries He tried an experiment which s eem s al most
.

whimsical placing ammonium racemate in the ordi

,

n ary conditions o f fermentatio n and observed that ,

only on e part the dextro rotatory ferm ents o r

-

p u t r efie s Why
. Because the ferments o f that fer

mentation feed more easily on the right han d th an

”
o n the left hand molec ules He succeeded i n keep
.

ing alive on e of the commonest moulds on the sur

f ace of ashes and racemic acid and sa w the laevo ,

tarta ric acid appear It was thus that he passed from

.

the st udy of crystal s to the study of fermen ts .

In the middl e of the nineteenth cen tury li ttle was

kn own of the nature of fermentation though some ,

sought to explain by this ill u n derstood process the -

origin of var ious diseases an d of pu trefaction Why .

 SC I ENCE AND WAR 2 17

does fruit j uice produce alcohol wine turn to vi n

-
,

egar milk become sour and butter rancid Pas

, ,

t e ur s in terest in these problems of fermentation w as

’

stimul ated by one of the industries of Lille He was .

accustomed to visit with his students the factor ies of

that place as well as those of neighboring French
an d Belgian cities The father of one of his students
.

was engaged in the manufacture of al cohol from beet

root sugar an d Pasteur came to be consulted when
,

difficulties arose in the manufacturing process He .

di scovered a relation ship between the development of

the yeast and the success or failure of the fermenta
ti on the yeast globules as see n under the microscope
,

s ho wi n an al teration o f form when the fermentatio n

g
was n ot proceeding sat isfactorily In 1 8 5 7 Paste ur .

o n the basis o f this st udy was able to demo n strate

th at alcoholic fermentation that is the conversion , ,

o f sugar into al cohol carbonic acid and other com

, ,

poun ds depends on the action of yeast the cells of

, ,

which are wi d ely di sseminated in the atmosphere .

In this year of his second great triumph Pasteur

was appointed director of science studies in the Ecole
Normale from which he had g r aduated in 1 8 47
, .

Two years later the loss of his daughter by a com

m uni cable disease —typhoid fever — had a great
eff ect o n his s ensi t ive and profound mind M any of .

his opponents it is true found Pasteur implacable

, ,

in co n troversy Undoubtedly he had the courage of

.

his convictions and his belief that fo r the sake of

, ,

h uman welfare right views hi s views won by tire

,
‘
le ss experiment m ust prevail gained him the name ,

of a fighter But in all the intimate relations of life

.

hi s essen tial te n dern ess w as m an ifest Like D arwi n .

218 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
he had a horror of inflicti n g p ain and always i n
,

sisted when operations on animals were necessary

,

in the laboratory o n the use of an aesthetics (our

,

command of whi ch had been greatly advanced by

Simpson in Emile Roux said that Pasteur s ’

agitation at wit nessing the slightest exhibitio n o f

pain would have been ludicrous if in so great a man
, ,

“
it had n ot be en touching .

A few months after his daughter s death Pas teur

’

wrote to one of his friends : I am purs uing as best

I can these studies on fermentation which are o f ,

great inter est connected as they are with the i m

,

penetrable mystery o f life and death I am hoping .

t o make a decisive advance very soon by solvi ng ,

without the least lack of clearness the famous ques

”
tion o f spontaneous generation Two years previ
.

o us ly a scientist had claimed that an imals and plan ts

could be generated in a medium of artificial air or

oxygen from which all atm owh er i c air an d all germs
,

o f organ i zed bodies had been preclud ed Pasteur .

n ow fil t ered atmospheric air thro ugh a plug o f co t

t o n o r asbestos ( a proced ure which h ad been fol
lowed by others i n and proved that in air
thus treated no ferme n tation takes place Nothing .

i n the atmosphere causes life except the micro organ -

isms i t contains He even demonstrated that a pn

.

t r es ci ble fluid like blood will rem ain unchan ged in

an open vessel so con structed a s to exclude atm os
h er i c d ust
p .

Pasteur s critics maintained that if putrefactio n

’

a nd fermentation be caused solely by m icroscopic

organisms then these m ust be fo und every where and
,

i n such quantities as to e n cumber the air He replied .

2 20 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
organisms which live in the absence o f oxygen while ,

vinegar is pro d uced from wine thro ugh the agency

o f bact eri a freely s upplied with the oxygen o f the

air Paste ur was seeing ever m ore clearly the part

.

played by the i nfini t e s i m ally small in the eco n omy

o f nature Witho ut these m i cr os 0 0 pi c beings life
.

wo ul d become impossible because death would be ,

incomplete On the basis o f Pasteur s st udy o f fer

.
’

mentation his demonstration that decompositio n is

,

owing to livi ng organisms and that minute forms of

life spring from parents like themselves his disciple ,

Joseph Lister began in 1 86 4 to develop antiseptic

surgery .

Pasteur s attention was next directed to the wine

’

industry which then had an ann ual val ue t o F rance

,

of francs Might not the acidity bit

.
,

termess defective flavor which were threatening the

, ,

foreign sale o f French wines be owing to ferment s ? ,

He discovered that this was indeed the case an d , , ,

that the diseases of wine co uld be cured by the

ple expedient of heating the liquor for a few mo
ments to a temperat ure of 5 0 to 6 0 C Tests on a ° °
.

considerable scale were made by order o f the naval

a uthorities The ship Jean Bart before st arting on
.

a voyage took on board five hundred liters of wine ,

half o f which had been heated under Pasteur s d i r ec ’

tions At the end of ten months the p as teur i zed

.

wine was mellow and of good color wh ile the wine ,

which had not been heated had an astri ngent almost ,

bitter taste A more extensive test seven hundred

, .

h ectoliters o f which six hundred and fifty had been

,

pasteurized was carried o ut o n the frigate la

Sibylle with satisfactory res ults Previously wines .
 SCIENCE AND W
AR 22 1

had been p r eserved by the addition of alcohol which ,

made them both dearer an d more detrimental to

health .

In 1 86 5 Pasteur was called upon to exercise his

scientific acumen o n behalf of the silk industry A
disease —p ébr i ne —h ad appeared among silkworms
.

in 1 8 45 In 1 84 9 the eflfect o n the French industry

.

was di sastrous I n the single ar r o nd i s s em ent o f

.

Al ais an ann ual income of f rancs w as

lost for the subseq uent fifteen years The m ul berry .

plantations o f the C evennes were abandoned and the

whole region was desolate Paste ur at the instiga .
,

tio n of the M inister of Agriculture undertook a n ,

in vesti gation After four o r five years in spite of

.
,

re peated domestic afflictions an d t he breakdown o f

his o w n heal th he arrived at a successful conclu
,

sion P ebr i ne due to corpuscles readily detected

.
’

un der the microscope co uld be recognized at the mo ,

men t of the moth s formation A second disease ’

.
,

acher i e w as due to a micro organism found in the

fl ,
-

di gestive cavi ty of the moth M easures were take n .

t o select the seed of the healthy moths and to destroy

“ “
the others These in vestigations revealed the i nfini
.

tes im ally small as di s organ izers of living tissue an d ,

brought Pasteur nearer his purpose o f arriving ,

as he h ad exp r essed it to Napoleon I I I in 1 8 63 at ,

the kn owledge of the causes of putrid and contagious

”
diseases .

Return ing in July 1 8 7 0 from a visit to Liebig , ,

at M unich Paste ur heard at St r asburg of the i m

,

m i n e n ce of war All his dr eams of conq uest over

.

di sease an d death seemed to vanish He hurried to .

Paris His son eighteen ye ars of age set out with

.
, ,
2 22 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
the army Every st udent of the Ecole Normale en
.

listed Paste ur s laboratory was used to ho use sol

.
’

diers He himself wished to be enrolled in the Na

.

t i o nal Guard and had to be told that a half paralyz ed

,
-

man could n ot render military service He was oh .

sessed with horror o f w an ton bloodshed and with

indignation at the insolence of armed injustice .

Trained to serve his country only in one way he

tried but in vain to resume his researches He r e
, , .

tired to the old home town of Ar bois and sought to ,

distract his mind from the conte mplation o f huma n

baseness Arbois was entered by the en emy i n Jan u
.

ary with the usual atrocities of war Pasteur aecom .

ani e d by wife and daughter had gone in search of his

p
son sick at Pontarlier The boy was restored to heal th
, .

and ret urn ed to his regiment the follo wing month .

“
D uring this crisis Paste ur an d his friends felt as ,

many English scientists feel i n 1 91 7 in reference ,

to ign orance in high places We are paying the .

”
penalty he said of fifty years forgetf ulness of
, ,
’

science and of its conditions of development Agai n

’

.
,

he speaks as Englishmen to d ay very well might of

,
~

the n eglect disdain even of the country for great

, ,

in tellectual men especially in the re al m of exact sci

,

ence In the same strain his friend Bertin said that

.

after the war everyt hing wo uld have to be rebuilt

from the top to the bottom the top especial ly Pas ,
.

te ur recall ed the per iod o f 1 7 9 2 when Lavoisier ,

Berthollet M onge Fo nr cr oy Guyton de Mor veau

, , , ,

Ch aptal Clouet and other scientists had furnished

, ,

France with gunpowder steel cannon fortifications , , , ,

balloons leather an d other me ans to repel unjust

, ,

i n vasion .
2 24 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
lent of his salary as Professor of Chemistry at the
Sorbonne ( He had received appointment in 1 86 7
.
,

but h ad been compelled by ill health to relinquis h -

his academic f unctions ) The grant was in all r e .

s pe ct s wise Huxley remar ked that Pasteur s d i sco v ’

.

eries al one would suffice to cover the war indemnity

o f five milliards paid by Fran ce to Germany in 1 8 7 1 .

M oreover all his activities were dictated by patriotic

,

motives He felt that scien ce is of no coun try and

.

that its conquests belong to man kind but that the ,

scien tist must be a patriot in the service of his nat ive

land .

Pasteur now applied his energies to the study of

virulent diseases followin g the prin ciples of hi s ear
,

lier investigations He opposed those physicians who.

believed in the spontaneity of disease an d he wished ,

to wage a war of extermination against all injurious

organisms As early as 1 8 5 0 D avai ne and Rayer h ad
.

shown that a rod like micro o r gani s m was al w ays pres

- -

ent in the blood o f animals dying of an thrax a dis ,

ease which was destroying the flocks and herds o f

F rance D r Koch who had served in the Franco
. .
,

Prussian War succeeded in 1 8 7 6 in obtain ing pu r e

,

cultures of this bacill us an d in defin ing its relation

to the disease Pasteur took up the study of anthrax
.

in 1 8 7 7 verified previous discoveries and as we shall

, , ,

see sought mean s for the prevention o f this pest

,
.

He di scovered ( with Jo ubert and Chamberland ) the

bacill us of malign a nt edema He applied the prin .

ci ple s of bacteriology to the t r eatment o f puerperal

fever which in 1 8 6 4 had rendered fatal 3 1 0 cases

,

o ut o f 1 3 5 0 co nfin e m en t s in the M aternité in Paris .

Here he h ad to fight agai n st co n servatism in the

 SC I ENCE AND WAR 225

medical profession and he fo ught strenuously one o f

, ,

hi s disciples remarking that it is characteristic o f lofty

m inds to put p assio n into ideas Swine plague which .
,

in the United States in 1 8 7 9 destroyed over a mil

li on hogs an d chicke n cholera als o en gaged his at
, ,

tention .

Cul tures of chicken cholera virus kept for some

time b ecame less active A hen t hat chanced to be .

inoc ulated with the weakened vi r us developed the

disease but after a time recove r ed (much as patien ts
, , ,

after the old th e small pox in oc ulations) It was the n

-
.

inoculated with a fresh cult ure supposed sufficient

to cause death It agai n recovered The use o f the
. .

weakened inoculation had developed its resistance to

infection A weakened virus recovered its strength
.

when passed through a n umber of sparrows t he sec ,

o nd being inoculated with virus from the first the ,

third from the second an d so on (this species being ,

subject to the dise ase ) Hens that had not had chicke n
.

cholera coul d be rendered immune by a series of at

te nuated inoculation s gradually increasing i n stre n gth .

In the case of anthrax the vir us could be weakened

by keepi n g it at a certain temperature while it could ,

be strengthened by passage through a succession o f

guinea pigs There are o f course many instances
- .

where pathogenic bacteria lose virulence in passing

fr om one animal to an other the human small pox ,

virus for example producing typical cowpo x in an

, ,

inocul ated heifer These facts help to explain why

.

certain infections have grown less vi rulent in the

course of history and why infections of w hich civil
,

i zed man has beco m e toler ant prove fatal when

parted to the primitive peoples of A ustralia .
226 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
Pas teur s preventive i n oculation for anthrax w as
’

tested under dramatic circ umstan ces at M elun i n

June 1 8 8 1 Sixty sheep and a number o f cows w ere
, .

subjected to experiment None of the sh eep that had .

been gi ven the preven tive treatment died from the

crucial inoculation ; while all those su ccumbed whi ch
h ad not received previous treatme n t The test for the .

cows was likewise successful Pasteur thought that .

in places where sheep dead o f anthrax had been buried ,

the microbe s were bro ught to the surface in the cast

ings of ea rt hworms He n ce he issued certain d i rec
.

tions to prevent the tran smission o f the disease He .

also aided agriculture by discoveri n g a v a ccine for

“
swine plague .

When Pasteur at the age o f fifteen was in Paris ,

overcome with homesickness he had exclaimed If , ,

I co uld o nly get a w hi fi o f the old tann ery yard ,

”
I feel I should be cured Certainly every time he .

came i n contact with the ind ustries silk wine beer , , ,

wool his scientific insight Antae us like seemed to ,

-
,

revive All his life he had preached the doctrine of

.

in terchan ge o f service between theory and practice ,

science and the occupation s What he did is more .

eloq uent than words His theory of molec ular dis .

sym m etry that the atoms i n a molec ul e may be ar

,

ranged i n left hand and right hand spirals or other

- -

tridimensional figures corresponding to asymmetrical

crystals touches the abstruse ques t ion of the consti
,

t ut i o n of matter His preventive treatment breathes

.

n ew life in to the o ld dictum s i m i li a s i m i li bus cu

r an tur The view he adopted of the gradual tran s
.

formation of species o fl er s a new interpretation of the

speculation s o f philosophy in refere n ce to be ing an d
228 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
boy Joseph M eister from a small place in Alsace
, ,

was brought by his mother t o Paris for treatment .

He had been severely bitten by a mad dog Pasteur .

,

with great trepidation but moved by his us ual com

,

p assion undertook the case The inoc ulation s o f

, .

the attenuated vi r us began at once The boy suf .

fer ed little inconvenience playing about the labo ,

r ato r
y during the ten days the treatment lasted .

Pasteur was racked with fears al ternating with

hopes his anxiety growing more inten se as the v iru
,

lence o f the inoculations increased O n Aug ust 20 .

,

however even he was co n vinced that the treatment

,

was a complete success I n O ctober a shepherd lad .

,

who tho ugh badly bitten himself h ad saved some

, ,

other children from t he attack o f a rabid dog was ,

the second o ne to benefit by the great discovery .

Pasteur s exchange of letters w ith these boys after

’

they had returned to their homes reveals the ki nd li

n ess of his disposition His sentimen t toward chil .

dren had regard both to what they were and to what

they might become O ne patient brought to him
.
,

thirty seven days after being bitten he failed to

-
,

s ave By M arch 1 Pasteur reported that three hun

.

dred and fifty c a ses had bee n tre ated with only o n e
death .

When subscri ptions were opened for the erection

and endowment o f the Paste ur Institute a sum of ,

francs w as received in contributions from

many di fferent parts of the world Noteworthy .

among the contributors were the Emperor of Brazil ,

the Czar o f Russia the S ultan o f Tu r key and the

, ,

peasants of Al sace O n November 1 4 1 888 Presi

.
, ,

dent C arn ot opened the i n stit ution which w as soo n ,

 Y
SC I ENCE AND WAR 229

to witn ess the tri umphs o f Roux er s i n M etchni

, ,

koff and other disciples of Pasteur I n the address

,
.

p r epared for this occ asion the veteran scientist

If I might be allowed M le Pr es i d ent to co n

, .
,

clud e by a philosophical remark inspired by your ,

presence i n this home o f work I should say that

,

two contrary laws seem to be wrestli ng with each

other at the present time ; the one a law of blood
an d death ever devising new mean s of destruo
,

tio n and fo r cing nations to be constantly read y for

the b attlefield —the other a law of pe ace work
, , ,

an d heal th ever developing n ew mean s o f deliveri n g

,

man from the scourges which beset him .

The one seeks violent conquests the other t he ,

relief of humanity The latter places one human life

.

a bove any vi ctory ; while the former wo ul d sacrifice

hun dreds and tho usan ds of li ves to the ambition of
o ne. The law of which we are the i n strume n ts
seeks even in the midst of carn age to cure the san
, ,

u i n a ill s o f the law o f war ; the treatment i n

g r
y
spir ed by o ur an tiseptic methods may preserve thou
sands of soldiers Which of these two laws will
.

ul timately prevail God alone k n ows But we may .

as sert that French science will have tried by obey ,

ing the law of hum an ity to exten d the fro ntiers of

,
23 0 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE

WW W
REFERENCES

. Fo r d The Life and

.
, or k of Rober t Koch Bulleti n o f the ,

Jo hns Hopki ns Ho s pital, D ec 1 9 1 1 , vol 22 . . .

C A Her t er The Influence of P as teur on M ed i cal S ci ence Bul

. .
, ,

le t i n o f t he Jo hns Ho pkin s Ho s pi tal D ec 1 9 03 vo l 1 4

W W
.
, , . .

E O Jo r d an Gener al Bacteri ology (fo ur t h e d it io n

. .
, ,

Char le s C Jud d The Life and or k of Lis ter , Bulletin of

. .
,

t h e Jo h ns Ho pkins Ho s pi tal Oct 1 9 10 vol 21

W
.
, , . .

S tephen Pag et P as teur and After P as teur

, .

T Sed g w i ck P ri nci ples of S ani tar y S ci ence

. .
, .

René Vallery -Rad o t, Life of P as teur .

23 2 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
phase i n the evol ution of navigation sin ce the carli
est times Like considerations wo uld apply to rail
.

ways antiseptic s urgery or friction matches The

, , .

n ineteenth cent ury inventor o f the frictio n match

-

was certainly no more ingenious (co n siderin g the

means th at chemistry had put at his d isposal )
than many of the savages who contributed by their
intelligence to methods of producing maintaining , ,

and using fire In fact as we approach the con s i d

.
,

cration o f prehistoric times it becomes di fficult to

distinguish inventions from the slow results o f de
v elo m e n t
p in metall urgy tool maki n g building ,
-
, ,

pottery war gear weaving cooking the domestica

,
-
, , ,

tion of animals the selectio n an d cultivation of

,

plants M oreover it is scarcely i n the category of

.
,

invention that the acquisition of alphabetic writing

o r the us e o f Arabic numerals properly belo n gs .

These and other objections s uch as the omissio n ,

o f explosi ves firearms paper will rea d ily occur to

, , ,

the reader Nevertheless these lists placed side by

.
, ,

side with the record o f theoretic discoveries en ,

co urage the belief that more and more sound theory , ,

is productive o f useful inventions and that hence ,

forth i t must fall to scientific endeavor rather than

to l ucky accident to strengthen man s control over ’

Nature Even as late as the middle of the nineteenth

.

century accident and n ot science was regarded as

“
the fountai n head of invention and the view that a
-
,

kno w ledge of the causes and secret motions o f things

would lead to the enlar ging of the bo unds of hu
man empire to the e ffecting of all things possible
was sco uted as the idle dream of a doctrinaire .

In the year 1 8 96 three importan t advan ces were

 SC I ENCE AND I NVENT ION 23 3

m ad e in man s mastery of his environment These

’
.

a re associated w ith the na m es o f Marconi Becquerel , ,

an d Langley It was i n this year that the last named

.
-
,

long known to the scientific world for his discoveries

in solar physics demonstrated in the judgment of
,

competent witnesses the practicab i lity of mechanic al

flight This was the result of nine ye ars exper i m en
.
’

tat i o n It wa s followed by several more years o f

.

fruitful investigation leading to that ultimate tri,

umph whi ch it was given to Sam uel Pierpont Lang

ley to see only with the eye of faith .

The English l anguage has need of a ne w word

plan e to signify the floatin g o f a bird upon the
wing with slight or n o appare n t motion o f the
, ,

wings ( p l aner s chw eben) To hover has other co n

,
.

n otations whi le to s o ar is properly to fly upward

, ,

an d n ot to hang poised upon the air The miracle o f .

a bird s flight that steady and almost e ffortless mo

’
,

tio n had in terested Langley inte n sely

,
as had also
the sun s radi ation
’
from the years of hi s chi ldhood .

The phenomenon ( the way of an eagle in the air)

has alw ays indeed fascinated the human imagin a
, ,

tion and at the same time baffled the comprehensio n .

The skater o n smooth ice the ship ridin g a t se a , ,

o r eve n the fis h floati n g i n water offers on ly an ,

i nco m plet e anal o gy ; fo r the fish has approximately

'

the same weight as the wat er it displaces while a ,

t urkey buzzard o f two or three pounds weight will ’

circle by the half hour on motionless wing upheld

-

only by the thin medium of the air .

I n 1 8 87 prior to his removal to Washingto n a s

,

S ecretary o f the Smithsonian Institution L angley ,

began hi s experimen ts in aerodyn amics at the old

234 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
observatory in Alleghe ny now a part o f the city
o f Pittsb urgh His chief apparatus was a whirlin g
.

table sixty feet i n diameter and with an outside

, ,

speed o f seventy miles an hour This was at first .

driven by a gas engine ironically named Auto

-

matic —for which a steam engine was substituted

,
”
,

i n the following year By mean s of the whirling

.

table and a resistance gauge (dyn amometer chrono

-

graph ) L angley studied the e ffect o f the air o n

planes of varying lengths and breadths set at vary ,

ing angles and born e horizontally at d i fler en t velc e

,

ities At times he substituted st uff ed birds for the

.

metal planes on the action o f which under air pre s

,

s ure his scientific ded uctions were based In 1 891 he .

published the results of his expe riments These proved .

- i n oppositio n to the teaching o f some very distin

u i s h ed sc ientis t s that the force required to sustai n
g
-

inclined planes i n hori z ontal locomotion through the

air diminishes wi th incre ased velocity ( at least withi n
the limits o f the experiment ) Here a m ar ked co n .

trast is sho w n between aerial locomotion o n the one

han d and lan d a n d water locomotion o n the other ;
,

whereas in land or marine transport increased speed

is maintained only by a disproportionate expenditure
o f power within the limits o f experiment i n such
,

a er i al ho ri zo n tal tr ansp or t the hi g her sp eed s ar e

,
”
m o r e eco n om i cal of p ow er than the l o w er o nes .

Again the experiments demonstrated that the force

,

n ecessary to maintai n at high velocity an apparatus

con sisting o f planes and motors could be produced
by means already available It was foun d for ex .
,

ample t hat one horse power rightly applied is suffi

,
-

cient to m ai n tai n a plan e of two hun dred poun ds i n

23 6 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
an emometer whi ch may register a m omentary calm
in the midst of a gale — how great a diversity of
p r ess ure must exist in a large extent of atmosphere .

This i nter n al w or k cf the w i nd will lift the soaring

bird at times to higher levels from which without
,

s pecial movement o f the wings it may descen d i n

the very face o f the win d s general course
’
.

From the beginning however of his experimen t s

, ,

L angley had sought to devise a s uccessful flying

m achine In 1 88 7 and the following years he con
.

structed about forty rubber dr iven models all of

-
,

which were submitted to trial and modification .

From these tests he felt that he learned much about

the conditions o f flight in free air which could n ot
be learned from the more definitely controlled tests
with simple planes on the whirling table His essen .

tial object was of course to reduce the principles of

, ,

equilibri um to practice Besides di fferent forms an d

.

sizes he tried various materials of construction and ,

ultimately various mean s o f propulsion Before he

could test his l arger steam —
.

driven models made for ,

the most part of steel and weighing abo ut one thou

san d times as much as the air displ aced Langley ,

spent many months contriving and constructing

suitable laun ching apparatus The solution o f the
.

problem of safe descent after flight he i n a sense

pos tponed conducting his experiments from a ho use
,

boat o n the Potomac where the model might come

,

down without serious damage .

It was o n M ay 6 1 8 96 ( the anniversary of which

,

date is n ow celebrated as Langley D ay ) that the ,

success was achieved which all who witnessed it con

s i d er ed decisive o f the f uture o f mechanical flight .
THE

A p
F IRS T S UCCES S F U L
h ot og r ap h t ak en at
H EAV IER TH AN—
t h e m o m e nt of
-

h
Y
AIR FL I NG M AC H I NE
l aunc i ng Lang l ey
’
s aer o d rom e

M ay 6 , 1 89 6
 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
to take o ut pate nts or in any way to make money
,

from scientific discove r y ; and like Henry the first ,

S ecre tary of the Smithsonian Institution (to whom

the early development of electro magnetic machines -

was d ue ) he preferred to be known as a scientist

,

rather than as an inventor .

Nevertheless Langley s desire to con struct a large

,
’
,

man carrying aeroplane ultimately became i rr es i s t

-

ible J ust before the o utbreak o f the Spanish War

.

in 1 8 98 he felt that such a machine might be of

serv i ce to his co untr y in the event o f hostilities that
seemed to him imminent The attention of P r esident
.

M cKi nley was called to the matter an d a joint com ,

mission o f Army and Navy o fficers w as appointed to

make investigation of the results of Pro fessor Lang
ley s experiments i n aerial navigation A favorable
’
.

report having been made by that body the Board of ,

O rdnance and F o r t i ficat i on recommended a gr an t of

fifty thousand dollars to defray the expenses o f fur
ther research Langley w as requested to undertake
.

the construction o f a m achi n e which might lead to

the development of an en gi n e o f war and in Decem ,

ber 1 8 9 8 he formally agreed to go o n with the work

, , .

He hoped at first to obtain from manu f acturers

a gasoline engine sufficiently light and sufficiently
po w e r ful for a man carrying machine After several
- .

d isappointments the automobile ind ustry being then

,

in its infan cy he succeeded in constructing a five

,

cylinder gasoline motor o f fifty two horse power and - -

weighing only abo ut a h un dred and twenty po unds .

“
He also constructed ne w launching apparatus After .

tests with superposed s ustaining s urfaces he adhered ,

”
to the sin gle tier plan There is interesting evi
-
.
 SCIENCE AND INVENTION 23 9

d euce that i n 1 900 Langley renewed his study of the

flight o f soaring birds the area o f their extended
,

wing surface i n relation to weight and the vertical ,

distance betwee n the ce nter o f pressure and the cen

ter o f gravity in gulls and diff erent species of buz
zar d s. He noted among other things that the tilting
o f a win g was sufficient to bring about a complete

chan ge of direction .

By the s ummer of 1 903 two new machines were

ready for field trials whi ch were undert ake n from a
,

large house boat especially co n structed for the pur

-
,

pose an d then moored in the mid stream of the -

Potomac about forty miles below Wa s hingto n The .

larger of these two machi n es weighed seven hun dre d

an d five pounds an d was designed to carry an en
i n r to control the motor and direct the flight
g ee .

The motive power was supplied by the light and

powerful gasolin e e n gine already referred to The .

s m aller aeroplan e was a quarter size model o f the

-

larger o n e It weighed fifty eight po unds had an en

.
-
,

gine of between two an d a half and three horse power -

,

an d a sustai ning s urface o f sixty six square feet

-
.

This smaller machine wa s tested August 8 1 903 , ,

the same launching apparatus being employed as

with the steam driven models of 1 8 9 6 In spite of
- .

the fact that one of the mechan ics failed to w ithdraw

a certain pin at the moment o f launching and that ,

some breakage o f the apparatus consequently c c

curred the aeroplan e made a good sta rt and fulfilled
, ,

the m ai n purpose of the test by mai n taining a per

fee t equilibrium After moving about three h undred
.

and fi f ty feet in a straight course it wheeled a q uar

ter circle to the right at the same time descendin g
-
,
2 40 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
slightly the engine slowing down Then it began to
, .

rise moving straight ahead again for three o r four

,

h undred feet the propellers picking up their former

,

rate O nce more the engine slackened but b efore

.
, ,

the aeroplan e reached t he water seemed to regain ,

its normal spe ed For a third time the engin e slowed

.

down and b efore it recovered the a eroplan e liad

, , , .

touched the water It had traversed a distance o f

.

o n e thousand feet i n twenty seven seconds One o f

-
.

the workme n confessed that he had poured into the

tank too much gas oline This had caused an overflow
.

i n to the intake pipe which in turn interfered with

,

the action o f a valve .

The larger aeroplane with the engineer M anly on

board was first tested on O ctober 7 of the same year ,

but the front guy post c aught in the launching car

and the machine plunged into the water a few feet
from the house boat I n spite of this dis couraging
-
.

mishap the engi n eers and others present felt confi

dence in the aeropla n e s power to fly What woul d
’
.

tod ay be regarded by an aeronaut as a slight set

back seemed at that moment like a tragic failure .

The fifty tho usand dollars had been exhausted nearly

two years previously ; Professor Langley had m ade
as ful l use as seemed to him ad visable of the resources
put at his d isposal by the Smithsonian Institution ;
the young men of the press for whom the supposed ,

aberration of a great scientist furn ished excellent

copy were virulent in their criticisms M an ly made
, .

o n e more heroic attempt u n der very unfavorable co n

d i t i o ns at the close o f a wi nter s day ( D ecember 8

’
,

Again di fficulty occur r ed with the launching

gear the rear win gs an d rudder bein g wrecked be
,
24 2 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
About three years after Langley s death the Board Of ’

Regents of the Smithsonian Institution established the

Langley M edal fo r investigations in aerodromics in its
application to aviation The fir st award went ( 1 9 09)
.

to Wilbur and Orville Wright the second ( 1 9 1 3) ,

to M r Glenn H Cur tiss and M G ustave Ei ff el O n

. . . .

the occasion Of the presentation Of the medals of the

second a w ard May 6 1 9 1 3 -
the Langley M e ,

morial Tablet erected in the main vestib ule o f the

,

Smithsonian b uildin g was unveiled by the scientist s

,
’

ol d friend D r John A Brashear

, . In the words of
. .

the present Secretary o f the I nstitution the tablet ,

represents Mr Langley seated o n a terrace where

.

he has a clear view O f the heavens and in a medi ta , ,

tive mood is observing the flight Of birds while in

, ,

his mind he sees his aerodrome soarin g above them .

The lettering of the tablet is as follows

S AMUEL P I ERPONT LANGLEY
—
Y
1 834 1 9 06

S ECRETAR OF THE S M I T HS ON IAN I NSTI TUT I ON

1 8 8 7 1 906-

V
D IS CO ERED THE REL AT I O NS OF S PEED

W W
AN D AN G LE OF INC LI NAT I O N T O T HE
L I FT I N G P O E R O F S U RFACES HEN
MOV I N G I N AIR

I hav e b r o ught t o a clo s e tio n o f the

t he po r
w o r k w h i ch s ee m e d t o b e es peci ally m i ne t he ,

d e m o ns t r at i o n o f t he pr act i cab i li t y o f m echan

i cal flight
”
.

The gr e at univ er s al hi ghw ay o v e r head is no w

”
soon t o be opened Langley , 1 8 97
. .
 SCIENCE AND INVENT I ON 243

A still more fitting tribute to the memory Of the

great inventor came two years late r f r om a s uccess
ful a viator I n the spring Of 1 9 1 4 M r Glenn H
. . .

Curtiss w as invited to send apparatus to Washing

t o n for the Lan gley D ay Celebration He expressed .

the desire to put the Langley aeroplane itself in the

air The machine was taken to the C urtiss Aviatio n
.

Field at Keuk a Lak e Ne w York Langley s method

, .
’

of launchin g had been proved practical b ut Curtiss ,

finally decided to start from the water and accor d ,

i ngly fitte d the aeroplan e with hyd r o aer o plan e floats .

In spite Of the great increase in weight involved by

thi s addition the Langley aeroplane under its own
, ,

power plant skimmed over the wavelets rose from

, ,

the lake an d soared grac ef ully in the air maintai n

, ,

in g its equilibrium on M ay 2 8 1 9 1 4 over eight

, , ,

years after the death Of its designer When f urn ished

.

with an eighty horse power motor more suited to its

-
,

in creased weight the aerodrome planed e asily over the

,

water in more prolonged flight I n the periodical

.

publications Of June 1 9 1 4 may be read the eloquen t

, ,

an n ouncement : Lan gley s Folly Flies

’
.
24 4 THE HISTOR Y OF SCIENCE

REFERENCES
Alexand er Gr ah am Bell Expe r i m ent s i n Mechani cal ,

Natur e M ay , 28 , 1 8 9 6 .

Alexand er G r ah am Bell The Pi o nee r Aeri al , Flight , S ci entific

“
Am er i can S upplem e nt Fe b 26 1 9 1 0
, , .
, .

S P Langley Exper i m ents i n Aer od ynam i cs

. .
,
.

S P Lang ley The Fly i ng M achine M cClur e s June 1 897

. .
, ,
” ’
, ,

(ill us t r at e d ) .

Langley M em oi r on M echani cal Fli ght S m i ths oni an Contri buti ons ,

to K now led ge vo l 2 7 no 3 (illus tr at ed )

, .
, . .

S ci entific Am er i can Jan 13 1 9 1 2 A M em ori al Ho nor t o a

, .
, ,

Pi o neer I nve nt or
—
.

The S m i thsoni an Insti tuti on 1 8 46 1 8 96 The Hi s tor y of i ts Fi n t .

Half Cent ur y e d i te d b y G B Good e

-
, . . .

A F Zahm The Fi r st M an-carryi ng Aer oplane capable of S us

. .
,

lo i ned Fr ee Fli ght Ann ual Repo r t o f t he S m i thso ni an I ns ti

,

t ut ion 1 9 1 4 (ill ust r ated )

, .
 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
science and lead to results that no devotee of facts
and scorn er of mere theo r y can well ignore .

I n 1 8 95 Sir William Ramsay who in the previous ,

year had di s co vered an ine r t gas argon i n the at , ,

m o s ph e r e identified a second inert gas ( obtain ed

,

fr om miner al s containing urani um and thorium ) as

helium ( fiM os s un) an eleme n t previo usly revealed
, ,

by spectrum analysis as a constituent o f the s un I n .

the same year Rontgen while experimenting with the

,

rays that stream from the cathode in a vacu um tube ,

d iscovered new rays ( which he called X ray s ) pos -

ses sed o f w onderf ul photogr aphic power At the b e .

gin n ing of 1 8 9 6 Henri Becquerel experimenting o n ,

the s upposition o r hypothesis that the emission o f

, ,

rays w as associated with phosphorescence tested the ,

photogr aphic e ff ects o f a numbe r of phosphorescent

s ubsta nces He exposed among other co m pounds
.
, ,

crystals of the double s ulphate o f urani um and po

t as s i um to sunlight and then placed upon the crystals
a photogr aphic plate w rapped in two thicknesses of
heavy black paper The outline of the phosphorescent
.

s ubstance w as developed o n the plate An image of a .

coin was obtained by placing it between uranic salts

and a photographic plate Two or three days after .

reporting this res ult Becquerel chanced (the s unlight

at the time seeming to him too intermittent for ex
e r i m ent at i on) to put aw ay in the same dra w er and in
p ,

j uxtaposition a photographic plate and these phos

,

h o r e s ce n t salts To his surp r ise he obtained a clear

p .

image when the plate was developed He now assumed .

the e x istence o f invisible rays similar to X rays - .

They proved capable of pas s ing thro ugh sheets o f

aluminum an d of copper and o f discharging elect r i
,
 SC I ENTIFIC HYPOTHES I S 24 7

fied bodies D ays elapsed without any apparent dimi

.

n ation of the radiation O n the s uppo s i t ion that the

.

rays might resemble light he t r ied to r ef r act reflect , ,

an d polarize the m b ut this hypothesis was by the ex

periments o i Rutherfo r d and of Becq uerel hi m self
, ,

ultimately overthro wn In the mean time the French

.

scientist obtained radiation s from metallic uranium

an d from urano us salts These in contrast with
.
,

the uranic s al ts are non phosphorescent Becquerel s

,
-
.
’

original hypothesis was thus overt hrown Radiation .

is a property inherent in urani um an d independent

bo th of light and o f phosphores cen ce .

O n April 1 3 and April 2 3 ( 1 8 98 ) respectively

M m e S klod o w ska C urie and G C Schmidt pub
. . .

li s h e d the results of their st udies of the radiations

o f the salts o f thorium Each of these studies was
.

based o n the wo r k of Becquerel M m e Curie e x . .

am i n e d at the same time the salts of urani um and a

n umber o f urani um ores Among the latter she .

mad e use of the composite mineral pitchblende from

the mines of J o achi m s t h al and else w here and found ,

that the radiations from the nat ural ores are more
active than those from pure urani um This discovery .

n aturall y led to further investigation o n the as s um p ,

tion that pitchblende contains mo r e than one radio

active substance Polonium named by Mm e Curie
.
,
.

in honor of her native country was the thi r d radio ,

active element to be disco vered I n the chemical .

analysis of pitchblende made by M m e Curie ( as .

sisted by M Cu r ie ) poloni um was found associated

.

with bism uth Radi um also discovered in this anal

.
,

y s i s of 1 89 8 w
, as associated with bari um M me . .

C urie s ucceeded in obtaining the pure chloride o f

248 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
r adium and in determining the atom i c weight of the
n ew element There is ( according to Soddy) about
.

o n e part of radium in five million p a rt s o f the best

pitchblende b ut the new element is about o ne mil

,

lion times more radioactive than uran ium It w a s .

calculated by M Curie that the energy of o ne gram

.

o f radi um wo uld s uffice to lift a weight o f five hun

d r ed tons to a height of o ne mile After discussin g .

the beari n g of the discovery of radioactivity on the

threatened exhaustion o f the co al supply Soddy
writes e n thusiastically : But the recognitio n of the
bou n dless and inexhaustible energy o f Nature ( an d
the intell ectual gratification it affords) brightens the
”
whole outlook o f the twentieth century The ele .

ment yields spontaneously rad ium eman ation without

any apparent diminution o f its o w n mass In 1 8 9 9 .

D eb i er n e discovered also i n the highly comple x

,

pitchblende actin i um which has proved co n siderably

, ,

less radioactive than radium D uring these i n vesti .

at i on s M an d M m e Curie M Becquerel an d those

g . .
,
.
,

associated with them were influenced by the hypoth

esis that radioactivity is an atom i c p r op er ty of radio
a ctive substances This hypothesis came to defin ite
.

expression i n 1 8 99 an d again in 1 9 02 through M m e .

Curie .

'

I n the latter year the physicist E Rutherford and .

the chem ist F Soddy while investigating the radio

.
,

t i vi t y o f thorium in the laboratories o f M cG ill

University M ontre al were forced to recogn ize that
, ,

thori um contin uously gives rise to new kinds of r a

d i o ac t i ve matter d i fi e r i ng from itself in chemical
properties in stability and in radiant e nergy They
, , .

co n curred i n the view held by all the most prominent

25 0 THE HISTORY OF SC IENCE
takes place After ten years o f further investigatio n
.

R uther f ord stated that this hypothesis affords a

satisfactory explanation of all radioactive phenom
ena and gives unity to what without it would see m
,

disconnected facts Besides accounting for old ex

.

p e r i m en t al results it s uggests n ew lines o f work

and even enables one to predict the outcome o f fur

ther investigation It does not really contradict as
.
,

some thought might be the case the principle o f the

,

conservation of energy The atom to be sure can

.
, ,

n o longer be considered the smallest unit of matter ,

as the mass of a 8 particle is approximately o n e

,

seventeen h un dredths that of an atom of hydrogen

-
.

Still the new hypothesis is a modification an d not a

contradiction of the atomic theory .

The assumption that the series of radioactive sub

stances is d ue no t to such molecular changes as chem
,

i s tr y had made familiar b ut to a breakdown o f the

,

atom seemed to Rutherford in 1 9 1 3 at least j ustified

by the results o f the investigators whose procedure
had been dictated by that hypothesis He set forth .

in tables these results ( since some w hat modified) ,

indicating after the name of each radioactive sub

stance the nature of the radiation thro ugh the emis
sion of which the element is transformed into the
n ext succeeding member o f its series
- .

Li st f
o Ra d i o acti ve S ubs t ances

URANIUM
U r ani um X
U r ani um
IONIUM
Y
SC I ENT I FIC HYPOTHES I S 25 1

a + l
s ow B
Em anat i o n
Rad i um A
Rad i um B
C1
C2
RAD IU M D
—
RADIO LEAD

Rad i um F

THORIUM
ME SO THORI UM l
M es o t h o r i um 2
RAD IOTHORIUM
Tho r i um X
Em ana t i o n
Tho ri um A
Tho r i um B
Th o r i um C

Tho ri um D

ACTINIUM
Rad io act in i um
-

Act ini um X
Em anat i o n
Act i ni um A
Act ini um B
Act ini um C
Actin i um D
25 2 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
Even a gla n ce at this lon g list o f new elemen ts
reveals certai n an alogies between o ne series o f trans
form ations and another Each series contains an em a
.

n ation o r gas which through the loss of a particles

, ,

is tran sformed i n to the next following member of the

series Con tinuing the comparison in either direction
.
,

up or do wn the lists one coul d readily detect other

,

an al ogies .

There is some ground for thi nking that le ad is the

e n d product of the Uranium series To reverse the .

process of the transformation and produce radium from

the base metal le ad would be an achievement greater
than the vaun ted transmutations of the alchemists .

“
Altho ugh that seems beyond the reach o f possibili ty ,

“
the idea has stirred the imagination of more than o n e
”
scientist The philosopher s stone writes Soddy
.
’
, ,

w as a ccredited the power n ot only o f transmuting

the metals b ut of acting as the eli xi r of l ife Now
, .
,

whatever the origin of this appare n tly meaningless

jumble o f ideas may have bee n it is really a perfect ,

and but very slightly allegorical expression of the

”
ac tual present vie w s we hold to d ay Again it is o
.
,

conjectured that bismuth is the end prod uct of the -

thorium series The presence of the results of atomic

.

disintegration ( like le ad and helium ) has proved of

interest to geology and other scien ces as affordin g a
cl ue to the age o f the rocks i n which they are foun d
deposited .

Before Rutherford Mm e Curie and others espe

, .
,

ci al ly interested in radioactive s ubstan ces assumed ,

that atoms are far di fier ent from the massy hard i m , ,

penetrable particles that Newton took for granted ,

S ir J J Thomson an d his school were studyi ng the

. .
25 4 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
gested this assumption of a primitive matter p r otyl , ,

from which all other s ubstances were derived I n the .

light of the corp us c ular theory as w ell as of the trans

for mation theory it s eems possible t hat the helium
ato m and the negative co r puscle will off er a clue to
the gene s is of the elements .

What is to be learned from this rapid sketch of ,

the discovery o f the radioactive s ubstances concern ,

ing the nature and value o f scientific hypothesis ?

Fo r o ne thing the scientific hypothesis is necessary
,

to the experimenter The mind runs ahead o f and

.

g uides the experiment Again the hypothesis sug

.
,

“
g ests new line s of research enables one in some cases
,

to anticipate the o utcome o f experiment and may be ,

”
ab undan tly j ustified by res ults It is safe to say .
,

writes Rutherford that the rapidity of growth of

,

accurate knowledge o f radioactive phenomena has

been largely d ue to the influence of the disinteg r atio n
”
theory The v al id hypothesis serves to explain facts
.
,

leads to discovery and does not conflict with kno w n

,

facts or with verified generalizations though as we ,

have seen it may modify other hypotheses

, hose
who support a hypothesis should bring it to the test
o f rigid verification avoiding skepticism shunnin g
, ,
‘
cr ed ul i ty lEve n a false assumption as we ha ve see n
.
, ,

may prove val uable when carefully put to the proof .

The layman s distrust of th e unverified hypothesis

’

is in the mai n wholesome It is a d uty not to believe

.

it not to disbelieve it b ut to weigh j udicially the e vi

, ,

dence for and against The fact that assumption plays

.

a large part in o ur mental attit ude toward practical

a ff airs should make us w ary o f co n testi n g the l egi t i

macy of scien tific hypotheses .

 SC I ENTIF I C HYPOTHES I S 25 5

No one wo uld deny the right of formi n g a provi

sioual assumption to the intelligence o fficer interpret
ing a cipher or to the detective unravelling the mys
,

t er y of a crime The first assumes that the message

.

is in a ce r t ai n language and perhaps that each sym

, , ,

bo l employed is the equivalent of a letter his as s um p

tion is put to the proof of getting a reasonable and
consistent meaning f r om the cipher The detective .

assumes a motive for the cri m e or the employment ,

o f certain means o f esc ape ; even if his assumption

does no t clear up the mystery it may have value as ,

leadin g to a ne w and more adeq uate assumption .

Henri Poincaré has pointed o ut that one of the

most dan gero us forms o f hypothesis is the uncon
scious hypothesis It is d i fli cult to prove or disprove
.

because it does not come to clear statement The al .

leged devotee o f facts and of things as they are i n ,

oppos i ng the assumptions of an up to date science is - -

,

often unkn own to himself standing on a platform

, ,

of outworn theory o r of mere vulgar assumption

, .

For example when Napoleon was trying to destroy

,

the commercial wealth of England at the beginning

o f the n ineteenth century he unconsciously based his
,

procedure on an an tiquated doctrine o f political

“
economy For him the teachings of Adam Smith an d
.

”
T ur got were idle S ophistries I seek he said to.
,

his M inister of Finance the good that is pr ac

,

tical not the ideal best : th e world is very o ld ; w e

,

m ust profit by its experience ; it teaches that old

practices ar e w o r th more than new theor ies : yo u are
”
not the only one w ho knows trade secrets We ar e .

not here especially concerned with the question o f

w hether Napoleon was or w as n ot pursuin g the best
25 6 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE x

me ans of breaking down English credit He did try .

t o prevent the English from exchanging expo rts for

European gold while permitting imports in the hope
,

o f depleting England of gold .But in pursuing this

policy b e thought he was proceeding on the gro und
o f immemorial practice while he was merely pitt ing
,

“
the seventeenth cen t ury doctrine o f Locke against
-

the doctrine of Adam Smith which had s uperseded it .

According to one scientific hypothesis Species ,

originated by mean s of n atural selection or through , ,

the preservation of favored races in the struggle for

life This assumption was rightly subjected to close
.

s crutiny in 1 85 9 and the years follo w ing The ephem

.

eral n ature of the vast majority of hypotheses and

the d an ger to progress o f accepting an unverified
assumption justify the demand for demon strative
evidence The testimony having been examined it
.
,

is o ur privilege to state and to support the opposing

hypothesis I t was thus that the hypothesis that the
.

planets move in circ ular orbits recommended by its

,

s implicity and a esthetic quality was forced to give

,

way to the hypothesis o f elliptical orbits Newto n s .

’

hypo thesis that light is due to particles emitted by

all luminous bodi es yi elded at least for the time to
, ,

the theory of light vibrations i n an ether perva ding

all space Th e path o f scientific progress is strewn
. .

with the ruins o f overthrown hypotheses M an y of .

the defeated assumptions have been merely implicit

errors o f the m an in the street and they are over
,

thr own not by facts alone b ut by new hypotheses

,

verified by facts and leading to fresh discoveries .

According to John S tuart M ill I t appears ,

t o be a con ditio n of a genui nely sci enti fic hypothesis

t
,
 CHAPTE R XIX
T HE S C I ENTI FI C I M AG I NATI ON

P S YCHOLOGY or the scie n ce of mental life as r e

,

vealed in tbe havi or has been greatly indebted to

,

physiologists an d to students o f medicine in general .

Any attempt to catalogue the names o f those who

have approached the study of the m ind from the
direction of the nat ural sciences is liable to prove
unsatisfactory and a brief list is sure to entail many
,

important omissions The mention of Locke Ch e s el.

,

den Hartley Cabanis Yo un g Weber Gall M ii l

, , , , , ,

ler D u Bois Reym ond Bell M agendie Helmholtz

,
-
, , , ,

D ar w in Lotze Fe r rier Goltz M unk M o sso M auds

, , , , , ,

ley Carpenter Galton Hering Clouston James

, , , , , ,

Janet Kraepelin Flechsig and V und t will however

, , ,
V
, ,

serve to remind us o f the richness o f the contr i b u

tion o f the natural sciences to the soc al led mental
science Indeed physiology wo uld be incom plete
.
,

unless it took account o f the f unctions of the sense

organs of the sensory and motor nerves of the brai n
, ,

with its association areas as well as the expression ,

o f the emotions and the changes o f f unction aecom

,

panying the development o f the nervous system ,

“
from the formation of the embryo ti ll physical disso
l ut i on and from species of the simplest to those o f
,

the most complex organi z ation .

At the beginning o f the nineteenth century the

F rench physician Cabanis was disposed to identify
human person ality with mere nervous organ izatio n
 THE SCIENT IFI C I MA GI NAT I ON 25 9

reacti n g to physical impressions and to look upo n ,

the brain as the organ for the production of m ind .

He soon however withdrew from thi s ext r eme posi

, ,

tion and expre s sed his conviction of the exi s tence of

an immortal spirit apar t f r om the body One might .

say that the brain is the instrument thro ugh which

the mind manifests itself rather than the organ by
which mind is excreted Even so it must be agreed
.
,

that the relation bet w een the psychic agent and the
physical inst ru m ent is so clo s e that physiology m ust
tak e heed of mental phenomena and that psychology
m ust not ign ore the physical concomitants of mental
processes Hence arises a new branch o f nat ural
.

science physiologi cal psychology or as Fechner

, , ,

the disciple of Weber called it psycho , ,

phy s ics .

Thro ugh this alliance bet w een the study of the

mind and the st udy o f bodily f unctions the i ntelli
gen ce of the lower animals and its survival value the ,

mental growth of the child mental deterioration i n,

age and disease and the psychological endowments

,

o f speci al classes or of individ uals became subjects ,

for investigation Now human psychology is recog

.

n iz ed as contribut in g to various branches o f anthro

o logy or t he general study o f man

p ,
.

W i lhelm Wundt who as already implied had ap

, , ,

r o ach e d the study o f the mind fr om the side of the

p
natural scien ces established in 1 8 7 5 at the University
,

o f Leip z ig the first psycho physical instit ute for the

-

experimental st udy of mental pheno m ena Hi s express .

p urpose w as to analyze the content o f con s cio usne s s

in to i t s ele m ents to examine these elements in their
,

q ualitative an d qu antitative di fferen ces and to deter ,

26 0 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
m ine with precision the conditions o f their ex i sten ce
and succession Thus science after contemplating a
wide range of o uter phenomena — plants animals
.

, ,

earth s c r us t heavenly bodies molec ules and atoms

’

—t urns its a ttention with keen scrutiny inward on

, ,

the thin k ing mind the s ubjective process by which

,

man becomes cognizant of all objective things .

The need of expert study o f the human mind as

the instr ument of scientific discovery might have been
inferred from the fact that the physicist Tyn dall read
before the British Association in 1 8 7 0 a paper o n the
Scientific Use o f the Im agi n at i o n i n which he spoke
,

o f the imagination as the a r chitect of physical theory ,

cited Ne w ton D alton D avy and Faraday as afford

, , ,

ing examples of the j ust use of this creative power

o f the mind and q uoted a disting uished chemist as
”

identifying the mental process of scientific d i sco v

cr
y with that of artistic prod u ction Ty n dall eve n .

chased the psychologists in their own field and state d

that it was onl y by the ex ercise o f the imagination that
we could ascribe the pos s ession o f mental powers to
o ur fellow creat ures You believe that in society
.

you are surrounded by reasonable beings like your

self . What i s your warrant for this convictio n ?
Simply and solely this : your fellow creatures beh ave -

”
as if they were reasonable .

O n the traces of this brilliant incursion o f the

n atural philosopher into the realm of mental science ,

later psychologists must follow but haltingly Just .

as in the history of phy s ics a long se r ies of studies

intervened between Bacon s hypothesi s that heat is
’

a kind o f motion ( 1 6 2 0) and Tyndall s o w n w or k ’

Heat as a M od e of M o ti on so must many

2 62 THE H I STORY OF SC I ENCE
graphic vividness The history of literatur e an d art
.

f urnishes us with illustr ations of remar k able powers

o f visualization . Bla k e and F r o m en t i n were able to
rep r od uce in pictures s cenes long retained in memory .

The latte r reco gn ized that his painting was not an

exact rep r oduction of what he had seen b ut that it ,

was none the less a r tistic because o f the sel ective i nflu
ence that his mind had e x erted on the memory image .

Wordsworth at times postponed the description of a

scene that appealed to his poetic fancy with the ex
press p urpose of blurring the o utlines b ut enhancing ,

the personal factor Goethe had the power to call up

.

at will the form o f a flo w er to make it change from

,

o n e color to another and to unfold before his mind s

’

eye Professor D ilthey has collected many other

.

records of the hall ucinatory clearness of the visual

imagery of literary artists .

On the other hand Galton after his classical

, ,

study of mental imagery stated that scientific

men as a class have feeble powers of visual r epr e
, ,

scutation He had appealed for evidence of visual

.

recall to distinguished scientists because he tho ught

r

them more capable than othe r s of acc urately stating

the results of their introspection He had recourse .

not only to English b ut to foreig n scientists incl ud ,

ing members of the French I nstitute To my aston

.

”
ishment he wri tes I found that the great majority
, ,

o f men o f science to w hom I first applied protested

that me n tal imagery was un k nown to them and they ,

looked on me as fancif ul and fantastic in s upposing

‘
that the words mental imagery really ex pressed ’

what I believed everybody s upposed them to mean .

They had n o more notion of its true nature than a

 THE SCIENTIFIC IMAGINATION 26 3

color blind man who has not discerned his defect

-
, ,
”
has of the nature of color One scientist confessed .

that it was only by a figure of speech that he co uld

d escribe his recollection of a scene as a mental image
to be perceived with the mind s eye
’
.

When Galton q uestioned persons w hom he met i n

general society he f o und an entirely diff erent dispo
s i t i o n to prevail M any men and a yet larger number
.

o f women an d man y boys and girls declared that

, ,

they habitually s aw mental image r y and that it was ,

”
perfectly distinct to them and f ull o f color The .

evidence of this di fference between the psychology

o f the a verage distinguished scientist and the average

member of general society was greatly strengthened

upon cross examination Galton attr ib uted the d i fle r
- .

ence to the scientist s habits of highly generali z ed

’

an d abstract thought especially when the steps o f

r easoning are carried on by words

symbols .
,

employed ] as "
It is only by the use of words as symbols that sci
e nt i fic tho ught i s possible I t is thro ugh cooperation
.

in work that mankind has imposed its will upon the

creation and cooperation could not have been carr ied
,

far without the development of lang uage as a mean s of

communication Were it not fo r the help of words
.

we should be depen d ent li k e the lower animals on , ,

the flee t ing images of things We should be bound .

to the world of sense and not have range in the w orld

o f ideas . Words are a free medium for tho ught for ,

the very reason that they are capable of shifting

their meaning and taking on greater extension or i n
tension For ex ample we may say that the apple falls
.
,

b ecause it is heavy or we may substitute synonymous

,
264 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
phraseology that helps us to view the fal ling apple i n
its universal aspects The mind acquires thro ugh
.

language a field of activity in dependent of the o h

e ct i ve world We have seen in an earlier chapter
j .

that geometry developed as a science is be coming

gradually wean ed from the art of surveying Tri .

angles and rectangles cease to suggest meadows or ,

vineyards o r an y definite imagery o f t hat sort and

, ,

are discussed in their abstract relationship Science .

d emands the concept ual rathe r than the merely sen

sory The invisible real world of atoms an d cor
.

u s cle s has its beginning i n the reason the word To

p , .

formulate new tr uths in the world of ideas is the pre

rogative o f minds gifted with exceptional reason .

To be sure language itself may be regar ded as

,

agery Some persons visuali z e eve r y word spoken as

.

though it were seen on the printed page others can

not recall a literary passage without motor imagery
o f the speech organs or even incipient speech ; while

others again experience motor M agery of the writing

han d With many in all forms o f word conscious
.
,
-

n ess ,
the auditory image is predominant In the .

sense of b eing accompanied by imagery all think

ing is imaginative But it is the use of words
.

that permits us to escape most completely from the

more primitive forms o f intelligence So di rectly .

does the printed word convey its meanin g to the

trained mind that to regard it as so much black on
white rather than as a symbol is a rare and rather
upsett ing m ental experience Words di ffer among
.

“
themselves in their power to suggest images o f the
thin g symbolized The word existence is less image
.

”
prod ucing th an flower an d flower th an red
,
2 66 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
langu age The facts o f abnorm al as well as those of
.
,

animal and child psychology prove that the subor ,

d i n at i o n o f the imagination a n d fancy to reason and

understan ding is an essential factor in i n tellectu al
development .

No one of co urse will claim that the me n tal ac

, ,

t i vi ty o f the scientific d iscoverer is wholly unlike

that of any other class of man ; but it leads only to
conf usion to seek to identify processes so unlike as
scientific generalization an d artist ic production The .

artist s p ur pose is the conveyance of a mood The

’
.

a uthor of M acbeth employs every device to impart to

the auditor the sense of blood guiltiness every lurid -

scene every somber phrase serves to enhan ce th e

, ,

sentiment A cert ain picture by D ii r er a certain

.
,

poem of Brown ing s convey in every detail the feel

’

i n g o f dau n tless resolution Again a landscape .

,

painter recognizing that his satisfaction in a certain

,

scene depends upo n a stretch o f blue water with a

yell ow strand an d old gold foliage proceeds to r e
-
,

arrange nature for the benefit o f the mood he desires

to enlive n and perpetuate It is s urely a far cry from
.

the attitude of these artists manipulating impressions

in order to impart to others an individ ual mood to ,

that of the scientific discoverer for m ulating a law

valid for all intellects .

In the psychology of the presen t day there is much

that is reminiscent of the biological psychology of
Aristotle From the primitive o r n utrient soul which
.

has to do with the vit al functions o f growth and r e

prod uctio n is developed the sentient soul concerned
, ,

with movement and sensibility Fi n ally emerges the .

intellectual and re as on ing soul These th ree parts .

 THE SCIENTIFI C IMAGINATION 26 7

a re n ot mut ually exclusive b ut the lower foreshado w ,

the higher and ar e s ubsumed in it Aristotle how .

,

ever interpreted the lower by the higher and not

,

vice versa I t is no compli ment to the scientific dis

.

coverer to say that his loftiest intellectual achievement

is closely akin to fiction or is the result of a mere ,

brooding on facts or is accompanied by emotional

,

excitement or is the work of blind instinct

, .

It will be found that scientific discove r y while ,

pr edomin an tly an intellectual process varies with the ,

nature of the phenomena of the diff erent sciences

and the i ndividual mental d i fler ences of the discover
ers As stated at the outset the psychology of scientific
.

di scovery m ust be the subject of prolonged investi

at i o n but some data are already available O ne great
g ,
.

mathematician Po i ncar e attributes his discoveries

, ,

to intuition The essential idea comes with a sense

.

o f ill umination It is characterized by suddenness

.
,

conciseness an d immediate certainty It may come

,
.

unheral de d as he is crossing the street walking o n

, ,

the cliffs or stepping into a carriage There may

,
.

have intervened a considerable period o f time free

from conscio us e ffort on the special q uestion involved
in the discovery Poincaré is inclined to account for
.

these s udden sol utions o f theoretical di fficulties on

the assum ption of long periods of previous uncon
scious work .

There are many such records from me n of geni us .

At the moment the inventor obtains the solution of

his problem his min d may seem to be least engaged
with it The long sought for idea comes like an i h
.
- -

spiration something freely imparted rather than

,

volu n tarily acquired No mental process is more .

2 68 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE

"
worthy to comma nd respect ; b ut it may not lie b e
yond the possibility of explanation Like ethical
insight o r spiritual illumination the scientific idea
, ,

comes to those who have striven for i t The door may

open after we ha ve ceased to knock or the response,

come when we have forgotten that we sent i n a call ;

but the discovery comes only after conscious work .

The whole history of science shows that it is to the

worker that the inspiration comes an d tha t new ,

ideas develop from old ideas .

It may detract still further from the mysterious

n ess o f the di scovery process to add that the ill u
-

m i n at i ng idea may come in the midst o f conscious

work and that then also it may appear as a sudden
,

gift rather than the legitimate outcome o f mental

e ff ort The spontaneity of wit may afford another clue
.

to the mystery of scientific discovery The utterer of .

a witticism is frequently as much surprised by it a s

the auditors probably because the ide a comes as
,

verbal imagery and the f ull realization o f their sig

,

n i fican ce is grasped only with the actual utterance of

the words The fact that to th e scientific discoverer

.

the solution o f his problem arrives at the mo m ent

when it is least sought is analogous to the common
experience that the effort to rec all a name may i n
bibit the natural association .

The ten dency to emphasize unduly the r 6le played

b y the scientific imagination springs probably from th e
miscon ception that the imagination is a psychological
s u e r flui ty o n e o f the l uxuries o f the mental life
p , ,

which should not be withheld from those who deserve

the best The View lingers with regard to the ae sthetic
.

imagi n ation James co ul d n ot understand the biologi

.
 CHAPTE R XX
S C IE NCE AND D E M O CRAT I C C U LTU RE

E D UCATION is the oversight an d guidan ce of the

development o f the immature with certain ethical
and social ends in view Pedagogy therefore is based
.
, ,

partly o n psychology — which as we have seen in

,

the preceding chapter is closely related to the b l o

,

logical sciences and partly on ethics o r the study ,

o f morals closely related to the soci al sciences These

, .

t w o aspects o f education the psychological and the

,

sociological were treated respectively in Rousseau s

,
’

E m i l e and Plato s Rep ubl i c The fo r m er ill un d er

’ '

-
.

stood work definitely referring its readers to the

,

latt er for the social aspect of education applies itself,

as exclusively as possible to the st udy of the physical

and mental development o f the individ ual chil d .

Rousseau consciously set aside the problem of na

t i o n ali ty o r citizenship ; he was cosmopolitan and ,

explicitly renounced the idea o f planning the educa

tion o f a Frenchman o r a Swiss Neither did he desire
.

to set forth the educatio n of a wild man free and ,

unrestrained He wi s hed rather to depict the devel

.

o m e n t o f a nat ural man in a state of society ; b ut

p
he emphasi z ed the native hereditary endowment ,

while expressing his admiration f or Plato s Rep ubl i c ’

as the great classic of social pedagogy The titles of the

.

two works one fr om the name of an individ ual child

, ,

the other from a form o f governme n t should se r ve ,

to remind us of the p urpose and limitation s of each .

 D E M OCRATIC CULTURE 27 1

Plato s thought was centered on the educatio n al

’

an d moral needs of the city state of Athens He was

-
.

apprehe nsive that the city was becoming corr upted

thr o ugh the wantonness an d lack of prin ciple o f the
Athenian youth He strove to rebuild on reasoned
.

foundations the sense o f social obligation and r e

sponsibility whi ch had in the ea r lier days o f Athens
rested upo n faith in the existence o f the gods As a .

conservative he hoped to res tore the ancient Athenian

feelin g for d uty and moral worth and he even en ,

vied some o f the ed ucational practices o f the rival

city state Sparta by which the citizen was s ub o r d i
-
,

nated to the state The novel feature o f Plato s ped

’
.

ago gy was the plan to ed ucate the directing classes ,

men disciplined in his o wn philosophical an d ethical

conceptions He was in fact an inte llectual aristo
.
, ,

“
cr at an d spoke o f democracy i n very ironic al terms
, ,

as th e followin g se n tences will show :

An d th us democracy comes into being after the
poor have co nquered their opponents And now .

what is their man ner o f life and what sort of a gov

,

e r n m e n t have they ? For as the government is s uch ,

will be the man I n the first place are they

.
,

n ot free an d the city is full of freedom an d fran k

n ess —a man may do as he likes And where
.

fre ed om is the individ ual is clearly able to order hi s

,

o wn life as he pleases Then in this kind of

State there w ill be t he greatest variety o f h uman na
tures ? This then wi ll be the fairest o f States ,

and will appear the fairest being spangled wi th the

,

manners and characters o f mankind li k e an em ,

broider ed robe which is spangled with every sort

o f flower . An d just as women and childre n think
 THE H I ST O R Y or SC I EN CE
v ariety charming so there are many men who will
,

deem this to be the fairest of States And is not .

the equan i mity of the condemned often charming ?

Under s uch a government there are me n who when ,

they have been sentenced to death o r exile stay

"
,

where they are an d walk about the world ; the gen

t le m an co n vict ] parades like a hero as though n o ,

body s aw o r cared See too the for gi v

‘
.

ing spirit of democracy and the don t ca re abo ut ’ ’

t r i fle s and the disregard o f all the fin e principles

,

which we solemnly affirmed how gran dly does

she trample o ur words under her feet never gi ving ,

a thought to the pursuits which m ake a statesman ,

and promotin g to honor anyone who professes to be

the people s friend
’
These an d other kindred
.

characteristics are proper to democracy which is a ,

charming form of government f ull o f variety an d,

disorder and dispensing equ al ity to equals an d nu

,

equals al ike .Consider now what manner

o f man the indivi dual is he lives through the
day indulging the appetite of the hour ; an d some
times he is lapped in drink an d strains of the fl ute ;
then he is for total abstinence an d tries to get thin ;
,

then agai n he is at gymnastics ; sometimes idling

, ,

and neglecting every thin g then once more living

,

the life of a philosopher ; often he is in politics and ,

starts to his feet and says and does whatever comes

into hi s head ; and if he is emul ous of anyone who
,

is a warrior off he is in that direction o r o f men of

, ,

business once more in that His life has neither

,
. -

order nor law ; so he goes o n continually and he ,

terms this joy and freedom an d happiness Yes his .

,

life is all libert y and equality Yes . an d multi

,
27 4 THE H I STORY OF SCIENCE
S tate , well as the Greek philosopher s ce n sure ’
as

that democracy shows disregard of ethical principles .

“"
In fact Arnold considered the people o f the United
,

States singularly homogeneous singularly free from,

the distinctions of class ; we the English] are so

little homogeneous we are living with a system o f
,

classes so intense that the whole action of our minds

,

is hampered and fal s e ned by it ; we are in couse

u e n ce wanting in l ucidity we do not see clear or
q ,

think straight and the Americans have here much

,

the advantage o f us As for the second point of

.

di ffere nce betwee n Arnold an d Plato the English ,

critic recognized that the American people belonged

to the great class in society in which t he sense o f
conduct and regard for ethical principles are p ar
t i cular ly developed .

Nearly all the old charges against American d e m oc

racy can be summari z ed in o n e general censure ,

the lack of calm and reasoned self criticism an d -

,

this general defect is rapidly being made good I t is .

partly owing to charity and good will and it includes -

,

the toleration of the mediocre or inferi or as for ex , ,

ample i n the theater ; the failure to recogn ize dis

,

tinction and to pay deference to things deserving it ;

,

the glorification of the average man and the hus tler , ,

and the lack of speci al educational opportunities for

the exceptionally gifted child That criticism as an
.

art is still som ewhat behindhand in America seems

to be confirmed by comparing French and American
literary criticism In France it is a professio n pr ac
.

ticed by a corps of expe r ts ; i n America only a very

few o f the best periodicals can be relied on to give
reviews based on critical pri n ciples of works in verse ,
 D E M OCRATIC CULTURE 27 5

or prose ( One American reviewer confesses that i n

.

a single day he has written notices o f twenty new

works of fiction his work bringing him a s remu
, ,

ner ati o n s eventy five cents a volume )

,
-
.

There is no evidence however that Americans as

, ,

in dividuals are wan ting in the self critic al spirit -

.

An d for Arnold this is vital seeing that the watch ,

word o f the cul ture he proclaims is Know Thyself .

It is not a q uestion of gaining a social advantage by

a sm at terin g of foreign lang uages I t is more than .

in tell ectual curiosity C ulture is more properly de

.

scribed a s having its origin in the love of perfection .

It moves by the force not merely or primarily of the

,

scientific passion fo r pure kn owledge but also of ,

the passion for doing good Human perfection the .

,

essence of cul ture is an intern al conditi on but the

, ,

will to d o good must be guided by the knowledge of

what is good to do ; acting and instituting are o f
little use unless we know how and what we ought to
act and institute Moreover
.
”
because men are all ,

members of one great whole and the sympathy which ,

is human n at ure will not all ow o ne member to be

i n different to the rest the expansion of o ur human
,

ity to suit the idea of pe rfection which culture forms

, ,
”
must be a g en er al expan sion .

For Arn old s contemporary Nietzsche the Germ an

’
,

exponent of Aristocracy the exp an s i on o f ed ucation

,

entai led its diminution For him ancient Greece was

.

the only home of culture an d s uch c ulture was not

,

for all comers The rights o f genius are not to be

.

democratized ; not the ed ucation of the masses b ut ,

rather the education o f a few picked men must be

the aim The one purpose which education should
.
27 6 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
most zealously strive to achieve is the suppression of
all ridic ulous claims to independen t j udgment an d ,

the inculcation upon young men o f obedi ence to the

scepter o f geni us The scientific man an d the cul
.

t ur ed man belong to two d ifl er ent spheres which ,

though comin g together at times i n the same indi

vidual a re never fully reconciled
, .

In order to appreciate the full perverse n ess from ,

the democratic stan dpoint o f Nietzsche s view of ,

’

culture it is necessary to glan ce at his political ideals

,

as explai ned by one o f his sponsors Nietzsche r e .

u d i a t e s the usual conception o f mor ality which he

p ,

calls slave morality in favor of a morality of m as

-
,

ters The former according to him encourages the

.

deterioration of humanity ; the latter promotes ad

vancement He favors a true aristocracy as the best
.

mean s of producing a race of supermen Instead .

o f advocating equal and inalie n able rights to life ,

liberty an d the pursuit o f happi n ess for which

, ,
’

there is at present such an outcry (a régime which

n ecessarily elevates fools and knaves and lowers the ,

honest and intelligent) Nietzsche advocates simple

—
,

j u s t i ce to individuals a nd families according to

their m er i ts according to their worth to society ;
,

n ot equal rights therefore but u n equ al rights an d

, , ,

inequality in advantages generally approximately ,

proportionate to deserts ; consequently therefore a , ,

genuinely superior ruling class at one end of the

social scale and an actually inferior rul ed clas s with
, ,
”
slaves at its basis at the O pposi te social extreme
,
.

Sin ce it is the view o f this aristocratic phi losopher

that science is the ally o f democracy a View that
every chapter of the history of science serves to dem
27 8 THE HI STORY OF SC I ENCE
scientist contemns scarcely anything ( J e n e m ép r i s e
p r es ue r i en
q ) The scientist is
. an instr ument but ,

"
not a goal ; he is something o f a slave nothing i n ,

himself p r es que r i en There is in the scientist

-

n othing bold powerful self centered that wan ts to

, ,
-
,

be master He is for the most part a man without

.

con tent and definite outline a selfless man , .

This ed ucation al product which the builders of ,

modern aristocracy reject an d describe after their ,

fashion we accept as the ally of the masses o f the

,

people and we term it democratic cult ure

, .

The objective man at the same time may find

, ,

even in the vehement pages of Nietzsche warnings

and criticisms which the frien d s of democracy should
n ot disregard Ext r eme almost insane as his doc
.
, ,

trine undoubtedly is it may have val ue as a cor r ec

,

tive influence an antidote for other extreme views

, .

It serves to remind us that democracy may be mis

led by feelings m themselves noble and may by , ,

grasping what seems good miss what is best For , .

example there are in the United States about three

,

hundred thousand persons defective o r s ubnorm al ,

mentally ; there is a smaller number of persons ex cep

t i o nally gifted mentally It is a poor form of social
.

service that would exhaust the reso urces of science

and philanthropy to care for the former without
m aking any special provisio n for the latte r Genius .

is too great an asset to be wasted or misapplied All .

culture would have suffered if Newton had been

held i n his early life to exacting administrative
, ,

w ork ; or if D arwin had devote d his years to allevi

ating the conditions o f the miners o f Peru whose
misery touched him so profou n dly ; or if Pasteur ha d
 D E M OCRAT I C CULTURE 27 9

been take n from the laboratory and pure science to

make a coun t ry doctor Nor can democracy r est sat
.

i sfied with an y s ubstit ute for cul ture which would

di s r egard what is great in literat ure in art and i n , ,

philosophy o r which wo uld ign ore history and the

, ,

lan guages an d civilizations of the past as if culture ,

had its beginning yesterday .

In this chapter we have considered democracy and

democratic c ul ture from the standpoint o f three
writers on ed ucation a Greek aristocrat a Germa n
, ,

ad vocate o f the domination o f the classes over the

m asses and an Oxford professor all by training and

, ,

temperame n t more or less hostile critics A more .

direct proce dure might have been employed to es

t abli s h the claim o f science to afi o r d a basis of intel
lectual and social homogen eity A brilliant literary .

m an of the present day considers that places in the

first ranks of literature are reserved for the d o ctr i
nally hete rodox None of the great writers of Euro pe
.
,

he as serts have been the adherents of the traditional

,

faith ( He makes an exception in favor of Racine :

.

but this is a needless concession for Racine owed ,

his early education to the Port Royalists became ,

alienated from them and wrote under the inspi r ation

o f the idea of the moral s uffi ciency of worldly honor ;

then after an experience that shook hi s faith in his

,

o wn code he returned to the early religious i n flu

,

e mees in his life and composed his Es ther and A tha

l i e ) But unli k e literature the study of science is
.
, ,

not exclusive In the front ran ks of science stand the

.

devout Ro m an Catholic Pasteur the Anglican D ar ,

win the Unitarian Priestley the Calvinist Faraday

, , ,

the Quakers Dalton Youn g an d L ister Huxley the

, , ,
28 0 THE HISTORY OF SC I ENCE
Agnostic and Aristotle the pagan biologis t Scien ce
, .

has no Test Acts .

That the cultivatio n of the sciences tends to pro

m ote a type of culture that is democratic ra ther than
a ristocratic sympathetic rather than austere i nclu
, ,

sive rather than exclusive is f urther witn essed by ,

the fact that the tradesman and artisan as well as ,

the dissenter play a large p art in their development

,
.

We have see n that Pasteur was the son of a tan

n er Priestley o f a cloth maker D alton o f a weaver
,
-
, ,

L ambert o f a tailor Kant of a saddl er Watt of a

, ,

shipb uilder Smith o f a farmer John Ray w as like

, .
,

Faraday the son of a blacksmith Joule was a

,
.

brewer D avy Scheele D umas Balar d Liebig

.
, , , , ,

Wohler an d a n umber of other d isting uished chem

,

i s t s were apothecaries apprentices Frankli n w as

’
.
,

a printer At the same time other ranks of society

.

are represented in the history of science by Boyle ,

Cavendish Lavoisier The physician s and the sons

, .

o f physicians have borne a partic ularly honorable

part in the advanceme nt o f physical as well as men

t al science The instinctive craving for power the
.
,

will to dominate o f which Nietzsche was the lyricist

, ,

was in these men s ubdued to patience industry and , ,

phil anth r opy The b ene ficent e ff ect o f their activities

.

o n the health and general welfare o f the masses o f

the people bears witness to the sanity an d worth of

the culture that prompted these activi t ies .

As was stated at the outset o f this chapter educa ,

tion is the ove r sight and guidan ce of the development

o f the immature w ith certain ethical and social ends

in view The material of instruction the method o f

.
,

instruction an d the type of educational i n stitution

, ,
282 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

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Mat thew Arnold Ess ays i n Cri ti ci sm and Cultur e and Anar chy
, , .

Mat t hew Ar no ld Ci vi li z ati o n i n the Uni ted S tates

W
.
,

Fr ied r ich Nie t z sche On the Futur e of our Ed ucati onal Ins ti tu
,

ti ons , vol . V I, o f th e Com plete or ks ; t r anslati o n ed ite d by

D r Os car Le vy

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. .

Fr ie d ri ch Niet zsche Beyond Good and Evi l, vol , chap VI, o f

, . v .

t he Com plete o r ks .

Plato Republi c Boo k vm ; vo l 1 11 o f Benjam in Jow ett s t rans

’
.
, , ,

lat ion of the Di alogues of P lato, 18 7 5 .

 IND EX

Acad ém i e d es Sciences 1 1 1 1 1 2 , , . Arno ld M at t hew 27 3

, , .

Acad e m y at At he ns 1 9 ; M il , , As t r o lo gy 1 0 , .

to n
’

plan, 1 02 ; D e o e s , 1 1 6 ;
s f ’
As t ro no m y (Egypt i an , and Ba
F r anklin s , 1 25 ; t ype o f sec
’
b y lo nian) 2 et s eq ; (G r eek) 1 6 .

o nd ar y schoo l, 28 2 .
(Ro m an) 34 ; (Alexand r ian) 45
Ad am s Jo hn Co uch 1 88 et s eq
, , .
(Hind u) 48 ; (Ar ab ian) 49 50 ,

Ae ro d y nam i cs 233 , .
(Co pe r nican) 5 5 (Ty cho
Agr ico la Ge o r ge 1 29 , , . Br ahe and K epler ) 8 7 et s eq .

Agr i cult ure 1 2 3 8 1 0 7 126 1 37 (Ne wt o n) 1 1 0 et s eq ; (neb u

, , , , , . .

Air 1 5 7
, . lar hy po th es is ) 1 42 et s eq ; .

Air cr aft 7 1 1 26 23 1 et s eq (d is co very o f Nept une) 1 8 4

W
.
, , ,

Air-pum p 96 et s eq
, . .

Akad em i e d er i sse nschaften At m os phere 1 5 7 , .

1 13 . At o m i c Theo r y 1 5 8 et s eq 250 , .
, .

Albe r t us Magnus 5 3 Ato m s 1 7 1 48 1 5 8 25 3 ,

.
, , , , .

Alchem y 5 0 25 2 ,
Augus t us Caes ar 3 6
, .
, .

Alcuin 5 2 ,
Ave rroes 5 1 et s eq
. , .

Alexand r ia 1 9 44 et s eq Avi ce nna 5 1

, , .
, .

Alge b ra 49 ,
Avo gad r o 1 6 5
.
, .

Alkali ne ear th s 1 7 9 , .

Am er ican Philo so phi cal S ociety Bab y lo ni a 1 et s eq , , .

1 21 . Baco n Fr ancis , 5 7 cl s eq 8 0 et
, .
,

Anato m y 6 8 38 5 0 7 8 , , , , , . s eq 105 ; Baco ni an pri nciples ,

.
,

Anem o m e te r 1 07 235 , , . 21 1 .

Ant hr ax 2 24 et s eq , . Baco n Ro ger 5 4, , .

Ant ipod es , Bact e r ia 9 3 , .

Ant is ept i c s ur ger y 220 231 , , . Bact e r i o lo gy , 21 3 et seq .

Appli cat io n 30 et s eq , . Bagd ad 49 , .

Aqua r egi a 5 1 1 32 , , . Bar b ar i ans 4 6 , .

Aqued uc t s 33 , . Baro m e t e r 94 et s eq , .

Aqueo us v apor 1 57 cl , s eq . Basalt 1 3 1 1 32 1 36 1 3 7 , 2 01

, , , , .

Ar ago 1 84
, . Bec quere l 2 33 24 6 et s eq , , .

Ar chi m ed es 27 , . Be d d oe s 1 7 3 , .

Archi tect ur e , 30 et s eq. Bee r 2 23 226

, , .

Arch y tas 1 8 , . Ber zeli us 1 6 2 , .

Aris to tle 20 , et s eq .
, 49 , 5 1 , Be s s e l 1 8 7
, .

26 6 . Bi o lo gy 6 7 23 et seq , 37 , 5 3,
, , , .

Ar i th m et ic 6 1 1 48 , , , . 7 8 , 1 09 , 19 7 et s eq , 2 13 . .
28 4 IND EX
Bi o t 21 5 et s eq
, . D arw i n Char les , 1 98 et s eq
, .

Black 1 29 1 33 , , . D ar w i n Er as m us 1 9 9, , .

Bod e s Law 1 8 9
’
, . D avy 1 22 1 6 3 , 1 7 0 et s eq
, , .

Bo ta ny , 6 , 2 6 , 3 7 , 3 9, D ed uct i o n 8 2 , .

ci s eq . D efoe 1 1 6
, .

Bo uvar d Alexi s 1 8 5 , , . D e m ocr at i c cult ure 44 27 0 , , ci

Bo uv ar d Eugene 18 7 , , . s eq.

Bo y le , 96 , 1 07 . D e m ocr i t us 1 7 4 8 1 48 , , , .

Bufio n 1 30 1 35 , , . D es car t es 5 7 7 2 8 2 et s eq , , , .

Build ing m ater ial , 32 . D es m are s t 1 32 , .

Di alogues o f Plato , 1 9 .

Cab ani s 25 8 , . D i d ero t 58 , .

C air o 49 , . D i o s co r id es 39 , .

Calend ar , 9 36 , . D y es 24 33 7 1 181
, , , , .

Car b o nic aci d 1 38 , 1 5 5 , 15 7 ,

217 . Ear t h quakes 40 1 37 , , .

C ar lis le 1 7 7 , . Eb er s papy r us 7 , .

C at o 35 38, , . Eclips e s 1 0 1 6 49 , , , .

Challis 1 8 9 , . Ed uca t i o n 1 9 35 3 6 40 44 5 2 , , , , , , ,

Char lem agne 5 2 , . 5 3 , 1 00 et s eq .

, 1 1 6 , 1 22, 1 23,
Char le s II 1 05 , . 1 7 1 - 7 2, 1 98 , 2 13, 2 14, 2 1 6,
Chem i cal affi ni t y 1 5 9 25 3 , , . 27 0 et s eq .

Chem i s t r y 6 8 5 0 5 1 1 5 5 ci , , , , , Egy pt 1 ci s eq
, .

s eq .
, 1 7 0 cl s eq , . 24 5 et s eq . Elect ri ci t y 7 5 1 23 cl , , s eq .
, 17 7,
Chi cken cho ler a 225 , . 23 1 .

Chlo ri ne 1 80 , . Elect ro ly s is 1 7 8 , .

Clocks 8 9 9 4 , , . Ele m e nt s 1 7 20 22 1 55 , , , , .

Co lli nso n 1 2 3 , . Elli pse 20 , .

Co lum b us 26 5 4 , , . Em b alm er s 7 , .

Co lum ella 38 , . Em ped o cles 1 7 40 , , .

Co m eni us 1 00 , . Ency clopaedi a 5 8 , .

Co m et s 1 0 40 1 49 , , ,
. Et hics 2 1 40 4 1
, , , .

Co ns erv at io n o f ener gy , 1 68 . Eucli d 1 8 1 9, , .

Co ns tant i ne 37 , . Ev ely n 1 09 , .

Co perni cus 55 , . Exper i m ent 7 2 et s eq , .

Co r al ree fs 203 , . Extinct i o n 206 , .

Co r d o va 5 0 , .

C o unt i ng 6 1 1 34 49 8 6 , , , , , . Farad ay , 1 8 1 .

Co w ley , 1 04 et s eq . Fe r m entat io n, 216 et seq .

Cro ns t e d t 1 30 , . Fi t z ro y 1 98 , .

Cur i e P and S 247 et s eq Flacher i e 22 1

W
. . .
, ,

Flam s t eed 1 1 0 1 1 1 , 1 84 , ,
.

D Alem b ert 5 8
’

, . Fo s s ils 1 40, .

D alt o n 1 55 1 57 , , et Fr anklin 1 5 , 1 14 , .
28 6 IND EX
Le i b ni t z 1 06 1 1 2 27 7, , , . M i neralogy 1 30 , .

Lense s 40 50 M i nut e and s eco nd

V
.
, , .

Leo nar d o d a inci 7 2 , . M o no cho r d 1 7 , .

Lev err i er , 1 90 et s eq . M o nt e Cas s i no 5 2 , .

Li b r ar ies 4 6 48 1 21 , , , . M o r ay 1 04 1 1 2 , , .

Li nco ln 43 s i s eq , . M urex 24 3 3 , , .

Li nnaeus 1 3 0 , .

Li pper s hey 9 2 , . Napier 9 1 , .

Li s t er 2 1 3 220 223
, , , . Napo leo n I 1 5 1 1 7 7 214 , , , .

Lo cke 1 1 6 1 7 2 25 8
, , , . Napo leo n III 22 1 , .

Lo gar i t hm s 9 1 , . Nat ur al h is to ry 23 37 5 2 , , , , 61 .

Lo g ic 21 5 3
, , . Nav igat io n 3 1 6 26 54 , , , , , 1 26 ,
Lucr e t i us 4 0 , . 231 .

Ly ell 1 97 201
, , . Neb ular hypo thes i s 1 47 1 5 0 , , .

Nept une 1 8 4 si s eq , .

M agne t i s m 7 5 1 27 , , . Nept uni s t 1 31 , .

Magnifier s 40 , . New Atlanti s 7 1 1 00 18 3 , , , .

M alpighi 9 3 1 06 1 09 , , , . Ne w t o n 1 1 0 1 35 1 5 8
, , , .

M alt hus 1 2 1 2 1 1 , , . Ni cho ls o n 1 7 7 , .

M anches te r 1 5 7 , . Ni et z sche 27 7 et s eq: ,

M ar b le 1 39 , . Ni t r ic oxi d e 1 5 6 1 6 1 , , .

M ars 1 0 9 1
, , . Ni t ro us oxi d e 1 7 4 , .

M ar s h gas 1 26 1 63 1 8 2 , , , . Novum Or ganum 7 0 7 2 , , .

hi at er i a m ed i ca 39 5 1 , , . Num erals 6 1 1 34 49 8 7 , , , , , ,

M at hem at i cs 4 5 6 1 0 1 1 15 , , , , , , , 23 1 .

1 7 , 1 8 , 1 9 , 3 4 48 , 4 9 , 55 , 8 7 ,

ci s eq .
, 1 10 et s eq .
, 1 84 et s eq .
, Ob s er vat o ri es 4 49 , , .

264 . O ccupat io ns 1 2 5 1 58 68 si , , , , s eq

M auper t ui s 145 , . 1 07 .

May o w 1 5 6 , . Opt i cs 5 0 5 4 93 , , , .

M eas ur i ng 5 1 0 8 6 et , , , s eq Or ganic re m ai ns 1 26 1 40
.
, , .

M echanics 1 8 7 7 23 1 , , , et s eq O r i g i n o f t he sci ences 1 et

.
,
'

s eq .

Med i cine 6 1 1 27 34 , , , , , 1 26 1 7 3 Or igi n of S peci es , 20 1

,
.

et s eq , . 207 , 21 6 et s eq .

M ens ur at i on 5 9 2 , , . Pans ophy 1 00 , .

M ent al i m age r y 26 3 , . Pas cal 9 5 1 1 7, , .

M er cur y 5 0 5 1 1 56 , , , . Pas t e ur 21 3 et s eq , .

M er senne 99 1 1 2 , , . Pear so n K ar l 6 0 , , .

M etallur gy 8 1 3 23 5 0 , , , , . Pe i r ce 1 9 5
, .

M e t eo r o lo gy 1 2 2 1 3 3 1 5 8 Pepy s 1 1 0

W
. .
, , , ,

M i cro s co pe 9 3 , . Pe t ty 1 03 1 22
, , .

M ilky ay 144 , . Pe ur b ach 55 , .

M i ll Jo hn S t uart 25 6
, , . P hilos ophi cal Tr ans acti ons 1 09 , .

M ilto n 1 02 2 1 3 , , . Philos o phy , 15 si s eq .

, 1 34 .
 IN D EX 28 7

Phy si cs 21 28 31 3 2 5 0 54
, , , , , , , Ro y al Socie ty of Lond o n ,

7 4 et s eq .
, 94 et s eq .
, 1 1 0 et s eq
.
, s eq .

1 23 , 1 55 et s eq .
, 17 0 et s eq .
, Rum fo r d 1 66 , .

23 1 et s eq .
, 24 5 et s eq . Ruther fo rd 24 7 , et s eq .

Phy s io logy , 6 , 21 , 38 , 7 8 , 1 7 3
si s eq .
, 225 s i s eq . S t Be ned ict 5 2
.
, .

P icar d 1 1 1 , . S t Tho m as Aquinas 53

.
, .

P lato 1 8 27 0 et s eq
, , . S at ur n 2 9 2 145 , , , .

Play fair 1 33 1 37 , , . S aus s ure 1 33 , .

S chee le 1 5 6 1 80 , , .

Pne um a t i c Ins t i t ut io n 1 7 3 , . S cie nt ific appar at us 1 7 , 49, 86 ,

Po incare He nr i 25 5 26 7 , , , . et s eq .

P o r t Ro y al 1 1 6 27 9 , , . S co t us Eri ge na 53 , .

Po tas h 23 5 1 1 7 9, , , . S e neca 40 , .

P otas s i um 1 7 9 , . Shaft es b ur y , 1 1 7 .

Precess io n o f th e e quinoxes , 10 S ig ns o f zo d iac 9 , ,

1 12 . S ilkw o rm 1 09 22 1 et s eq , , .

Pr i es t ley , 1 26 , 1 5 6 . S i ph o n 95 , .

P r i m i t i ve S i r i us 4

W
m an, 206 .
, .

P ri nci pi a , 1 1 0, 1 1 4 . S m i t h Ad am 1 21 1 33 25 6
, , , , .

S m it h ill iam 1 39 et s eq
, , .

P r otyl 254 , . S m i t h s o nian I ns t i t ut io n, 1 95 ,

Ps y ch o lo gy , 23 256 et , s eq . 233, 238 .

P to le m y 45 , , 55 . S ocr ates 44 1 1 7 , , .

Py thago ras , 17 .

So d d y 24 8 et s eq
, .

Quad rants , 5 0, 86 . S od i um 1 7 9 , .

Quintil ian , 39 . So s ige ne s 36 , .

S o und 33 , .

Rab ies 227 s i s eq , . S pe ci es 24 1 97 s i s eq

, , .

Racem i c acid 2 15 , . S pecific gr av i t y 28 36 5 0 , , , .

Radi oact i vi t y 245 et , s eq . S pect r um analy s i s 1 5 3 23 1 , , .

Ram s ay 246 , . S phe r i ci ty o f t he ear t h , 26 ,

Ray 1 1 0, . 37 .

Regi o m ontanus 5 5 , . S po ntaneo us ge nerat i on, 25 21 8 , .

Re ligi o n 3 8 1 0 40 , , , , , 43 cl s eq , . S pr at 1 05 1 09
, , .

1 42 et s eq . S tee l 8 23
, , .

Re y , 94 . S und i al 1 3 , .

B h ind papym ss 6 . S ur v i v al 206 , .

R6 nt ge n ray s 23 1 , . S y ntaxi s 45 , .

Ro us seau 27 0 , .

Ro y al I ns t i t ut io n 1 7 6 , . Table s , as t r o no m ical, 4 9 5 0, 9 1 ,
,

Ro y al Soc ie ty o f Ed i nb urgh , 1 85 et s eq .

1 33 . Tanni ng 1 7 7 , .
 IND EX
W
2 88

Tech nolo gy 5 1 6 20 27 30 et , , , , ,

W
W
ad ham

alke r ,
Co llege, 1 04 .

W
seq .
, 50, 6 8 et s eq .
, 86 et s eq .
, 1 95 .

allace ,

W
1 03, 1 07 , 1 26 , 1 2 9 , 1 30, 1 3 9 21 1 , 23 1 .

alli s ,

W
4 1 , 1 5 6 , 1 6 0, 1 67 , 1 7 7 , 1 8 2, 23 1 . 1 03 .

Thales 1 5 46 , 1 7 8 , 2 1 3

W
, . ar , et s eq.

an-e ngi nes ,

W
Theo lo gy 47 , 6 2 1 7 2 , , . 28 , 34 .

W
Theo n 46 , . atch , 94 .

W
Theo phr as t us 2 6 39 , , . at e r , 1 57 , 1 7 7 .

Theo ry 30 , 4 1 ; T of the Earth ate r -clocks ,

W
,
.
, 1 3, 9 4 .

W
1 33 . att , G r egory 1 7 2 , .

Jam e s
W
Ti d es 38 1 1 2
, , . at t , , 1 33 , 1 5 6 , 1 5 7 .

To rr i ce ll i 95 e d gw o o d s , 1 38 1 7 3, 1 99

W
. .
, ,

fi ad e and t r ad e igh i ng ,

W
es , 1 2, 51 , 68 7 , 1 0, 8 6 .

W
et s eq .
, 1 07 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 8 . e r ne r , 1 29 si s eq .

Tr ans fo rm at i o n Th eo r y , i lki ns , 1 01 , 1 04

W
24 9 .

ill i s 1 04

W
et s eq .
, .

W
Tr igo no m et ry 46 49 55 , , , . illughb y 1 09 1 10 , , .

W
Tur go t , 1 2 1 . i ne 22 0, 226
, .

Ty ch o Br ah e 87 et s eq o llas t o n, 1 19
—
W
. .
,

W
Ty nd all, 2 6 0 6 1 . 0 0 1, 226 .

W
r e n 1 04 1 07
, ,

Ur anus 1 8 4 et ,
s eq . r i gh t 1 43 et s eq
, .

und t , 258 259 , .

Vacuum 9 5 , .

Varr o 38 Xenopho n 1 17 .

V
, . ,

es ali us 7 8

V
.
,

i t ruv i us 30 et s eq Yo ung 25 8 , 27 9
V
. .
, ,

i v iani 9 4
V
.
,

i v i sect i o n 38 7 1 80 Zachar i as , 9 2
V
. .
, , ,

o lcano es 40, 1 3 6 Zo d iac, 9 , 33

"
. .
,

Vo lta 1 7 7
, . Zob lo gy , 7 , 1 2 2 1 , 24 25, 37 . , ,

Vulcanis t , 1 31 , 1 37 . 5 3, 66, 1 09, 1 1 0, 1 97 et s eg l . i

’