world of pure miracle. I strongly doubt the correctness of Mr Richards’ diagnosis.[4] I am certain that not all poets have been as childish as that. No――the essential element in this general outlook is not that phenomena occur in an orderly way, but that man’s existence is not regarded as forming part of some universal purpose. The essential element is the same as in old-fashioned materialism, the “accidental collocations of atoms” theory. The emphasis was on the “accidental” not on the “atoms”. This becomes clear when Mr Richards describes the appropriate emotional reaction to his view. “A sense of desolation and uncertainty, of futility, of the baselessness of aspirations, of the vanity of endeavour, and a thirst for a life-giving water which seems suddenly to have failed, are the signs in consciousness of this necessary reorganization of our lives.” It is difficult to believe that this state of mind can be produced by the recognition of such facts as that unsupported stones always fall to the ground. But if Mr Richards is right, I suggest that the poets who are so depressed by law and order should study, besides the theory of relativity, Quantum Theory. They will find there much that is, at present, agreeably miraculous. But one need not fly to miracles to get rid of the bug-bear of “unalterable law”. It is only necessary to understand the true status of the unalterable laws, and this is just what relativity theory enables us to do. [3] _Science and Poetry_, 1926. [4] But possibly Mr Richards means that the scientific description does not include values. See Section 5 of this essay. 3