The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-05-14

&1c~ OF All Sciencep an eSSettidi part
OF any synthesis- He says:
Matter. says the spectr. scope. is
essentially the same every where,
in the earth and the sun, in the
comet that visits us once in a thou
sand years. in the star whose dis
lance is incalculable. and in the
great clouds of "fire-mist' that we
call nebula.
That is one of the cornerstones
OF all science.
In the second part of the book We
approach a statement of he great
central doctrine. that may be best
summed up in the one worJ-Evolu-
ton Indeed, throughout. that doc
trine is necessarily taken somewhat
for granted. as starting point,
though, OF course, it is no mere
hypothesis without abundant proof.
But when he says. speaking of the
possibilities of life on Mars. that if
there are life forms there, we may
confidently say that they would tend
toward increasing intelliger &C." there
is an implied therefore" which the
metaphysician might ques..en. But
If any one does raise that objection
the scientist is abundantly ready for
him, with an overwhelming array of
facts. which. if they do no. amount
to an absolutely satisfactory meta
physical proof. are none the less a
thoroughly valid scientific demon
stration. Prof. Thomson says.
frankly:
The idea or evolution. that the
present is the child of the past and
the parent of the future cannot
De pTored as one may riove the
law OF grayitation- All that can be
done is to show that it is a Key
that fits the facts There
Is no lock that it does not open.
Elsewhere he points out that there
are retrogressiye movements. inter-
ruptions. false starts, but tcat "eyo-
luton is on the whole inte9ratire::
that IS to say. it makes against in
stability and disorder and towards
harmony and progress. The
advance Of animal life through the
ages has been chequered. Dat on the
whole it has been an advance toward
increasing fullness, freedom, and fit
ness Of life. In the study of this
advance-the central fact of Organic
Evolution-there is assureely much
for mans instruction and much for
his encouragement"
That is the gist of the book; a
Progressive migration, a steady
combination and reconciliation of
elements to the making of a finer
pattern of the whole. Obviously
science can set no termiui at either
end. for there is no end or begin
ling. but a constant becoming. Yet
there is sort of scientific teIe-
ology as Impressive as any other
far more impressive. indeed. to the
understanding mind than any other
in this eternal movement toward
state Of things better. in any sense
of the word. than what went before
Tie idea. of course. is not new. II
was glimDsed in primitive Buddh, IN,
and Empedocles and many other
Greeks saw it. But what is new IS
the modern understanding of it. and
the tremendous array of facts. gath
cred from all the sciences thai show
it to be. indeed, the master key of
the universe.
V.
The bulk of TIE book is devoted
to more or less detailed examination
Of many OF these evolutionary facts.
First, we have the story of the
beginning of the earth itself. its
preparation as home for life. the
appearance of the first living crea-
lures. the beginning Of bodies (as
distinct from unicelluIar nfe); che
development of sex. ana then a rapid
1survey of the long procession of life
through the ages. Then follows a
consideration of various factors in
animal and plant evolution. with a
lcng and imme nseiy interesting
chapter on adaptations TO environ
ment." and another on the struggle
for existence" He showed az many