Address Delivered Before The American Association For The Advancement Of Science

Author : Simon Newcomb
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331046653
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (466 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Course of Nature written by Simon Newcomb and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-09 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Course of Nature: An Address Delivered Before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, St. Louis, August 22, 1878 Nature, that it is necessary to approach my idea from more than one standpoint, and to illustrate it in more than one way. We all know that the history of the Caucasian race, during the last three centuries, has been marked by a kind of intellectual development so entirely without precedent that some might call it miraculous; in fact, by such a development of the understanding of the course of nature as has revolutionized human society in many of its phases. You also know that this development has been marked by frequent collisions of opinion between the investigators of the material manifestations of nature on the one side (if I may be allowed to use the expression), and philosophers and theologians on the other, respecting the true theory of the course of nature. My desire in entering this field is to act the part of the peacemaker rather than that of a combatant, not sustaining any other propositions than those which are actually believed in by the large majority of educated men at the present time; but the confusion of thought on this subject, to which I have just alluded, is so great that, although I may combat no opinions actually held, it may be necessary to greatly modify their application, and to criticise the forms in which they have found expression. The key-note of my discourse is found in a proposition which is fundamental in the history of modern science, and without a clear understanding of which everything I say may be entirely misunderstood. This proposition is, that science concerns itself only with phenomena and the relations which connect them, and does not take account of any questions which do not in some way admit of being brought to the test of observation. The only universe it knows is that made known by the telescope, the microscope, and other appliances of observation. That this is the whole universe we should all be very sorry to suppose, and none more so than he who has the honor to address you. But, should I pretend to a scientific knowledge of what lies behind this visible frame, I should be acting the part of the rash speculator rather than of the cautious thinker. Only into a single field of thought do I dare to venture. When we trace the efforts of men to penetrate the secrets of nature, we find them clearly divisible into two classes: philosophic speculation, and scientific investigation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.