New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-09-05
SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
Fill, TEXT OF PROF. TYNDALLs Address
prFoPF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION,

pFFORF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION,
49,, osoD,,,c,t. HISTORY OF sc1ENcTT-RccLEs1As
r,c.r MODES OF THOUGHT INTERFERING WITH
ppoapEss - IMAGINARY DISCUSSION BETWEEN
1UcRETIUs AND BISHOP BUrLER-rfNDALLs Es
INNATE OF DARWIN AND sPENc ER-rHE PRESENT
POSITION OF SCIENCE.
An ;mnulse inherent in primeval man turned
and questounRs betimes toward the sources
=, n.,uraI phepomeBa The impulse Inherited and
tptensf,ed is the spur of scientific action To-Day DE-
,ona nv II nv a process of abstraction from expert
.n.a we orm phy steal theories which lie beyond the
male of experience which satisfy the desire OF tue
mind TO q every natural occurrence resting upon
eanse In forming notions OF the origin OF thhgs'
our earliest historic and doubtless might add our
prehistor:c pursued, as far as their lh'e
gence permitted the same course They also rel oacA
ppon experience but with this derence-that the par
tcular experiences furnished the weff ana "ooi
OF their theories drawn, not from the study Oh "a
ture but from what Law much closer to then the oO'
vaton Of men, Their theories accordingly took an an
thronomorphic form. To supersensual beings WHICH,
however potent and invisible, were nothing put species
of human creatures. perhaps raised from among man
Kind and retaining all human passions ana appetes'
were handed over rule and governance OF hatuai
phenomena Tested by observation and reIecton tnese
early notions failed in the long to satisfy the more
penetrating neects of our race Far IN the depths Oh
history we and men of exceptional power dinerenu-
ming themselves from the crowd rejecting these an
thropomorphc notions and seeking to connect natural
phenomenal with their physical principles
THE BIRTH OF SCIENCE.
But long prior to purer efforts OF the under
standing the merchant had bsen abroad and rendered
the philosopher possible; commerce had been deVeI-
oped wealth amassed leisure for travel and for specu-
lation secured while races educated under dnereht
conditions and therefore differently informed and en-
lowed had been stimulated and sharpeped by mutual
contact In regions where the commercla aris-
tocraey Of ancient Greece mingled with It's Eastern
peignbors the sciences born being nurtured and
developed by free-thinking and courageous men, The
state nj things 10 be displaced be gathered from
sassage OF Earipides quoted by Hume. There Is
nothing IN the world; glory, no prosperity Inc
gods toss all into confusion mix everything with s re-
verse that all Of us, from our ignorance ana uncer-
tainty, may pay them the more worship ana rev.
erenee" Now. science demands the radical exurpa
ton Of caprice and absolute reliance upon law III
nature there grew with growth OF scientific notions
desire and determination TO sweep from the neld OF
theory OF gods and demons and 10 place hatu
raj phenomena a basis more congruent WIN lhem-
selves. Tue problem which mad been previously ap-
preached from above was now attacked from below
theoretic effort passed from the super TO the sub
sensible felt that TO construct the universe ID
idea IL was necessary notion of its con-
stuent parts-Oi what Lucrctius subsequently called
the First Beginnings" Absraeting again from expe-
rlenee leaders OF scientific speculation reached at
length the pregnant doctrine Of atoms and molecules
the latest developments Of which we're set forth with
such power ana cearness at tine last meeting OF the
British Association.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF DEMOCRITUs.
Thought DO doubt had long lowered about this doc
trne before attained the precision and completeness
which It assumed in the mind OF Democritus, philos
opher VINO may well for a moment arrest our attention
Pew great men," says LanRe, in his excellent History
OF Materiasn work to the spirit and letter OF which
lam equally Indebted have been despltefuly used by
history DemOcrtus 10 the distorted images sent down
TO through unsenthc traditions there remains OF him
almost nothing but the name OF the laughing phi0s
opher' While figures Of immeasura0ly smaller sgnin-
canee spread themselves at full length before u.s."
LANCE speaks Of Baeon's nigh appreciation of Democr
tus-for ample illustrations Of which am indebted TO
Ky excellent friend Mr. Speeding, the learned editor
and biographer OF II Is evident indeed that
Bacon considered Democritus TO be man of weightier
metal than either Plato Aristotle though their PM
lOsophy nOised and Celebrated in the schools amid
the din and pomp professors" 1t not they but
Genseric Attla the barbarlans who destroyed
the atomic philosophy. For at time when all
human learning had suffered shpwreck, these panks of
AristOtellau aud PlaiOnc philosophy, as being OF a
lighter ami Inflated substance, were pre-
served and came down to us, While things
more solid sank and almost passed into
OBLIVION. The principles enunciated by Democritus re-
veal his uncOm promising antagOnism 10 those who de-
duced the phenomena nature from the caprices Of
gods They briefly these: l. From nothing comes
nothing. Nothing that exists can be destroyed. All
changes are due 70 the combination and separation OF
molecules q Nothing happens BY chance. Every oc-
currence from which follows by necessity
s. The only existing things the atoms and empty
space; all else opinion. The atoms infinite
IN number anc infinitely various form; they strike
together lateral motions and WRITINGS which
the beginnings of worlds The varieties
Of all things depend upon the varieties of their atoms in
number size. aggregation G. The soul consists Of
free smooth round atoms, like those Of fire. These
the most mobile OF ALL They interpenetrate the whole
body and in their phenomena of life
Thus the atoms Democrtus individually without
sensaton they combine in obedience mechanical laws
only forms bus the phenomena OF
and thought also the result of their combination
THE EPICUREAN philosophy.
That great enigma, the exquisite adaptation OF
part Of organism 70 another part and the cOndi
lions OF life" especially the construction of the
human body Democrtus made attempt TO solve.
Empedocles man Of more merry and poetic nature, in
the notion Of love and hate among the atoms
70 account for their combination and separation. No
tclng gap the doctrine OF DemOcrius he struck
In with the penetrating thought. linked however, with
wild speculation that lay in the very nature of
combinations which suited their ends lin
other words, in harmony vita their ENVIRONMENT
maintain themselves while unfit combinations,
having proper habitat must rapidly disappear.
Thus more than 1900 years age the doctrine OF the
survival of fttest," which day. not on the
basis OF conjecture. but Of positive knowledge,
has been raised extraordinary significance
received at all events partial eIunciationi Epicurus
said 10 be tue OF poor schoimaster at samos is
said 10 be the next dominant figure in the atomic
philosophy. BE mastered the writings OF Democritus
heard lectures In Athens, returned TO samos and
subsequently wandered through various countries |
He finally returned TO Athens. where he bought |
q garden and surrounded himself pupls IN
the midst OF whom he lived a pure and serene
life, and died peaceful death. His philosophy was