Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-23
ORIGIN OF MODERN SCIENCE.


Professor John Draper delivered a fire.
lecture at New York last week in tn
chapel Of the University. His subjec
was: ''Ihe Origin Of Modern Science. :
Substantially he said: There ar,
certain ideas which have becom,
dormant in the intellectual wOrls
which we call science. Modern sci
enee is not, as generally supposed
built upon elements derived from Greco,
and Rome. This is tradition withou
foundation. Science owes more to Alex
ander than to Athens. There Euclid
PtOlemy, ApOllOnius, Hipparchus, anC
Archimedes studied. The speaker, when
a boy, was impressed by the fact thai
the names of the stars We're Arabic.
One of them, situated thirty-twO de-
! grees from the south pole Of the heavens,
and which did not snow north of Egypt
or Arabia, he specially noticed. The
I heavens have been spread like 8 scroll.
upon which man may record BIZ
/ thoughts. Some say the Arabians were
mere commentators. But since they
classified the stars they must be regard
/ ed as original discoveries and philosO-
piers. This false idea arose from pO-
| litical snimOsities. il is necessary to
study all the phases of the history OF
/ thought to reach its real springs. Every
event and action is the result Of fore
gone event OF action. We can only see
the nearest links Of the chain Of destiny.
! We can not see who or what holds the
/ first link. The old magicians were said
to have magic crystals, in which, when
| they looked, would appear past events.
! The Doctor imagined himself reading
history in such a crystal. Twenty CEN
turtles ago Rome ruled 3 large part of
the world. The Caesars were worshiped
as gods, though their dominion Of this
planet even was far from universal
Some feeble Syrian fishermen were then
plying their trade by Galilee whose la
bOrs were destined tO have mighty re-
suits. Four centuries later the faith
they taught had spread through the RO-
man Empire. A great battle is fought
by Constantine, and he becomes auto
crat Of the empire. He degrades Rome
into provincial city, builds new cap
ital, and legalizes new religion. Three
centuries later, in a corner Of Arabia, an
earnest man has been persuading his
neighbOrs to worship God. He wins
victories over souls az well as bodies.
His Arabian armies Overrun the Holy
Land. They capture Asia Minor, Egypt
and all Of North Africa. They establish
themselves in Spain. The Emperor
aud Sultan are then confronted. France
is in danger of falling, when the Calipb
al Damascus orders his armies to halt
IL is disobeyed. A barefOoted envoy
comes from Damascus, SEXES the Gen
eral before his army, and takes him to
Damascus, and France is saved. Twice
has Rome ruled EurOpe-Onee by her
Caesars, once by her Popes. In the
twelfth century the two great powers,
Christian and Mohammedan, were still
confronted. The capture OF the Holy
Sepulcher was taken as an insult to all
ChristendOm. The Popes had made
the possession Of that place q test of
their legitimacy. But they had to let
it 90, and it remains still in the hands of
the Moslem. The prestige of the Papaey
was shaken by the failure of the cru
sades Rome was now sinking in decay.
The Cesar palaces were Wondering
Columns, temples, arches in ruins ad-
ded only desOlation to the scene. The
chief towns of Europe had only novels
for houses. Streets were unpaved. There Z
were no sewers or acqueducts. Win
dows and beds were lacking. Clothing
once put on remained on the person I'm I
til it rotted. Resort TO shrines was the
only medicine. Meanwhile Bagdad and I
Cairo were full of luxury, elegance and /
comfort. They had baths, libraries, and /
splendid dining halls. Their feasts were I
marked by s0briety instead of the drunk I
en- wassaiI Oftue barbsr0Us north. Again, T
while Rome denied all right or private !.
Judgment amcug the Christians, among I
the MOsiems the human mind was IN
fettered. SchOOlhOuses stood by all the 4
mosques. Greek classics were carefully 4
studied. On one point they were cir /
they could not make pic /
lures or paintings, as they were forbid
ien TO make "graven images.n But a
reaction ensued. 1t was impossible that
The refinement of Seville should not
sooner or later pass into France. The
south Of France soon felt the charm Of
he love songs ofthe trOubadouTs. TassO,
and Dante led the way into
civilization The science Of the Saracens
brought LutheTs to LanguedOc four Gen.
uries before they appeared in Germany.
the Third saw the danger
rom these bright Moorish innOvatOFs.
lie had LanguedOc wasted with fire and
word. The Saraeenic science that most
disturbed the Popes was the Arabic sci
nee of Arithmetic. The Arabs had
on the Enumeration received
rom the HindOOs. Their system is
most wonderful and simple. We speak
Arabic when we use the word cipher
Sat the Arabians also taught Europe its
lgebra. They were the authors Of most .
{ the current mathematical rules. In
rigonOmetry they introduced ''sines. "
hey said "the symbols of geometry, by
for US, save Us the trouble" They
i've US nitric and muriatie acid, and ,
Their chemicals. They introduced the
of metals as possibility. I,
he speaker believes it viii be done in :
MS generation. CApplause.] Their ad-
in astronomy is a proof that
ley were at high position in science.
When Europe was no better than Caffra-
a they gave US their mathematical Z
obstruction of the heavens IIaplace
,und use for some of their observations; =
ct at the time these were made the Eu-
)peans thought that the world was
Iuare. Terrestrial globes were in use
nOng them. They discovered the
clock and the true length of
he year, measured the hight of the at
lOsphere and understood the twinkiiDQ
TIT 1tlAAos LACf blk1l tie ltsl QL5CEh- I 2
DRY at Seville. They saw far into
lysies, made tables of specific CRAWL
ss. In optics they corrected the Greek
Ieories. They explained how we see +
ngly looking from two eyes. They in L
Odueed rice, cotton, morocco, sugar,
flee, steel blades into Europe, and
silly the Arabian horse. They made
e "grainn the standard of weight, and
Il #a-,r rrr.,sA l. ~ I -
&c books there is a current of true de !.
'tiOn to Deity. They mingled all their :
scOveries with implOratiOns for bless :
gs from heaven. Their philosophical
Unions as q curiosity at least, are IN
resting. In spite of their fatalism
cir best philosophers rest ON the fact d
st every living thing rests on some :,
ing that existed previous to it, This u
Orid being thing of life they say it
ust have been produced and maintain 3
by living being. They believe that y
ID will finally absorb all things. These
cas- pervaded all Europe after awhile;
en- Wiekliffe was tinctured with them,
le Franciscans adopted them; the
lminicans hated them. In the thir-
enth century Paris was their head VI
arters, and they were all the fashion "a
Venice. Columbus was first led by nj
Arabian book to believe that there
listed a western hemisphere. II from v,
'me as center q line be drawn to =
2 BOsphorus and another to the Pyre- r.
es, we may say that throughout the
ddle ages the darkness Of ignorance
d the comforts of civilization below.
e two regions were in deadly enmity.
e Southern nations were the deposit
les of Old-time knowledge. This
ssed into FTaOce through the gates of
) Pyrenees. 1t began IN the Iluht lft NJ