Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-22
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
l. G. NJ.

Energy. Motion. Inconceivable cons OF
time. Then the triumph of an ordered
progression evolved, mathematical In JUS
reactions, calculable in its Manifesto
tions through a seizure Nf its funda--
mental principles and command OF
the laws derived therefrom. universe
in the making. Sun systems swinging
through space, each its own. YET AL
a part of the grand symphony OF the
spheres speeding in rhythmic waves
across immeaSurable skies. universe
made.
In the stupendous pageantry there
Our gain of dust. Upon 1t an llnrecKoh-
able stretch of time achieved lite-piant
life, animal life, man. A crude tnlng'
this new man. LaboriouSly, precarlous-
ly learning the lessons OF existence from
the footspan upon which ne STANDS.
Yet, from the very beginning OF TINS
long process of learning to De awe
there was In man curious oVercnar8e
of the energy that created him man;
an excess that expends itself in what
Langdon- Davies calls "overbel1ef, an
intuition not satisfied with the bare
returns of sight and sound, OF taste ana
touch and smell. Here, clearly, the SEED
of religion. That reaching past ones
self for outer Safeties, for inner salts
factions. So. away back at the start OF
his career there began mans hunt Tor
God. Behind the daily behavlors OF
the near world roundabout unseen pow
ers were at work. Fields grew warm
and fruitful under a benign sun god.
Again. an angry deity tossed the light
ming in swift devastation, let loose the
floods, unleaShed fierce tempests OF
disastrous wind. And so. in Difference
to these unseen mightinesses, the new
man began to give thanks, on the one
hand, to placate with offerings on the
other. Devotion and sacrifice. Re
ligion in the making.
In the beginning there were many
gods. There had to be. Mans sense
of the universe was that of l1eighbor-
hood, highly individualistic in content,
its parts small and but loosely related
There were, therefore, gods of field and
hearth, gods of battle and fierce retribu-
tive gods. But even then, there was
great god in high command. A hint
this, of the family dawning sense of
unity in diversity. In the course Of
time and under a widening view of the
world-if not yet any sense of the uni
verse-the pagan gods gave way to the
idea of God-Supreme Ruler of Heaven
and Earth.
John Langdon-Da here reviews
history as a growth in knowledge and
understanding. From legend to bodies
of authentic fact the survey runs From
tradition to modern scientific search for
truth in its every aspect. The point of
such looking backward, and forward is
to trace the effect of an expanding
sense of the universe upon this in
herent "overbelief" of man. upon that
IF fhn hrVr1a hat
forever seeks to probe the future for
some sane and acceptable answer to the
riddle that he himself Is. Not in any
sense is this book a study of religions
regional. racial, recuSrent. Rather it is
purpoSed demonstration that whereas
the universe primarily created man. it
has come to pass that in the astounding
progress OF science man is, in effect,
creating the universe And that. more
over, the Unsuitable search for truth
that Is science is establishing in man.
the individual, counterpart of the
universe as a possible answer to himself.
Step by step, therefore. different. ages
and periods are brought forward here
to set out again what the universe
meant to each of these. What picture
OF 1t formed and lifted before these
various peoples and eras, a potent force
upon them? Just how, most important
OF all, did these conceptions enter into
the scheme of existence, shaping the
common outlook, determining the COM
mon life, rounding this period and its
people to an embodied expression of
the universe in its acceptance at this
time, or at that one? Here is the
medieval picture. And We are asked
to move back into this old homestead
OF the modern mind in order TO under
stand itself better. Here the modern
meets Aristotle and Ptolemy and others
who, varying in their respective
theories, agree intellectually, how
ever, that the earth is fiat. Not so
vital, this-not yet. The great point
here is that the medieval mind held as
its central belief that the universe was
designed for man and that every part
of it, therefore, affected mans life.
Then came the first renaissance.
Sere is Copernicus, with his unsettling
theory OF the universe and Calico and
Kepler, trouble-makerS all, imposing
upon Deity powers even beyond the
conception of the most devout believers.
The author at this point asks the
modern man to imagine himself alive
in 1643 in order to understand why
Calico was not condemned for saying
that the earth moved. Not that. He
was trying to upset a philosophy, to
tamper with q belief.
From here the story moves, painstak-
ingly, on to Dalton and Newton. to
Darwin and evolution. In word, 1t
moves on to science 1.-The leyeler and
meaSurer." Moves into a close exam
nation of the turmoil occaSioned by
the theory of evolution. Excitement
and controversy on the part OF earlier
scientists, as well as on the part OF
fundamentalist and other unready on
of ftaa of This
is not controversy. 1t is, rather,
gathering up of the stages of change in
common ideas of the universe and III
summary, as well, of the effect OF
these changes upon the texture of COM
mon thought and behavior. The reader
is asked to go back again for re-
survey of the road along which he mas
comeback to 1543, 1913, 10000 ar
rive at the new conception OF the uni
verse. Just a matter of the increase
of knowledge of new aptitudes toward
fresh recognitions and acceptances.
So on through evolution and its PROB
lens not yet solved, not yet really ap-
preached, maybe, to man--todays man
and tomorrows-for an outlook upon
him in the astounding present OF which
he is a part. For a conjecture, besides,
of what all this of magic and marvel
what all this of science working In the
material field-may have to do with
mans 'overbeliefs.' May have to do
also with his current ways of life, with
his outlook upon social problems-crime,
lawlessness generally, upon work, upon
every form of collective life, And what
will the new day do with ideas about
future life? Conjectural all, of course.
Probably they will do nothing at all with
these ideas. Beliefs are precious things,
not to be disturbed. And far from any
such intent is this writer. His work,
his superb work. has been to follow
along the trail of history merely to hunt
out the most vital in the steps of devel-
opment and growth that have been