Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23
By FRANCIS BoAK CARTER.

general are but little better
and that as a class they may
be regarded as having no souls. So
when Prof. w. II. Bragg announced In
his recent inaugural address to the
British Association for the Advance
ment of Science at Glasgow not only
that he had one, but that everybody
else possessed that desirable equipment,
the fundamentalist rejoiced at the news
of another brand snatched from the
burning fire and felt that finally science
and religion were going to be recon-
ciled.
But such rejoicing Is premature. For,
as has almost inevitably occurred In
the past, some other equally eminent
scientist will probably announce in Q
few weeks that there is no such thing
as q soul; that neither the microscope
nor the telescope reveals any such or
gan. and that the brain secrctcS emo
tons and ideas just as the stomach Sc
cretes gastric juice. Evidently there is
some sort of warfare between religion
and science.
Whv was 1t reported that the emf
nent English anthropologist, Prof. Ar
| thur Keith, denied q soul to man? AS
a matter OF fact, he did no such thing.
He stuck strictly to the scientific point
, of view that science Is concerned with
things which can be observed by the
five senses, aided, If necessary, by in
struments and experimental apparatus.
No Such Conflict.
If the realization of this fact were
only general there would be no loose
| talk about the conflict between science
and religion, for there is no such thing.
Science is investigating the infinite soul
of things. irving to see the laws which
lie behind what goes on in the world,
| trying to simplify the enormous accu-
| mutation of observations which have
/ been made, and string these pearls OF
thought on a thread which for the mo-
ment Is called a law. But this law IS
not absolute. That 1t represents tne
whole truth no scientist believes:
For the moment only it may be con-
sjdered as best representing all the
truth that we know at present. The
question of faith or of belief cannot
| enter into science The only thing the
scientific man can have faith in is his
own integrity or that Of brother scien-
lists. He cannot range the whole uni
| verse OF fact himself; therefore he must
accept the observations of others, and
| in this he expresses his only faith. But
the moment some one brings along a
better explanation for the facts and
shows that the current law does not
cover all the observations, the true
scientist cheerfully changes his mind
and accepts the new law as representing
! the facts to date.
But there Is higher part OF the
brain which does not think and Whlcn
is not a simple reflex. Wnlch carries
all of the musical, artistic and poetic
aspirations and emotions and all OF
those special qualities of the spirit which
distinguish man from an earthworm
The architecture of the brain cells, IN
which all our impressions are stored,
does not differ very much between the
| genius. the idiot or the lower animal; 1t
is the number of these cells and the
extraordinary completely OF their IN
terconnectionS that characterize the hu-
man brain; but that science has yet
found method for seeing the soul by
merely examining the house In which
it lives is foolish.
AnaIyxe Dead Material.
We may analyZe chemically, but we
analyZe only dead material. The proc
esseS of nature may be stimulated in
curious ways The sea urchin can be
produced from an unfertilized egg by
changing the composition OF the sea
| water in which IT grows, but 1t is not
very good sea urchin, at best. A frog
may be produced by puncturing an UNI
| fertilized egg with sharp needle. but
| it is a poor sort of frog that results. In
other words it is sometimes simple to
arouse unknown forces, to set in motion
unknown processes and thus produce
something which is merely an imitation
| of natures own product. The scientist
NAV measure the activities of the brain
and may study it's reactions. He may
| conduct intelligence tests, but all he is
doing is testing the efficiency Of the
automatic telephone system through
which the soul sends its messages to the
outer world.
The scientist forgets too often that his
laws are merely momentary statements
If what we now know. The views of the
| great physicists on physics are final for
| the moment. His views on whether there
| is a soul and higher power above us.
! )r an after-life, have no more value than
, those of the simplest human creature.
| While there is no reason why a pro-
| fessor even of physics should not be per-
| mitted to air his views on prohibition
| and finance, or even on child welfare,
| and express his feelings concerning life
now and hereafter, the fact that he is
competent physicist gives him no pri-
vate knowledge concerning matters OF
which physics know nothing. questions
which are, after all. matters of faith: and
faith is for the individual and his rela-
ton with those infinite powers of the
divine which cannot be weighed nor
measured.
How can the men of science. knowing
that the movement of one atom sets up
disturbance which reaches in the
course of years the far distance of space.
| and being absorbed there may then start
up a new process which will In course of
time come here to earth again-how can
such a man deny the probability of SIM
liar radiation Of spiritual energy and the
necessary implication of Immortality?