I doubt it. And so will every one who has felt the pangs of sleepless nights spent in thought, at first fruitless, but in the end successful. No thought in such struggles was thought in vain; each one, even the most insignificant, nay, even the erroneous thought, that which apparently was the least productive, served to prepare the way for those that afterwards bore fruit. And as in the thought of the individual naught is in vain, so, also, it is in that of humanity. Galileo wished to measure the velocity of light. He had to close his eyes before his wish was realised. But he at least found the lantern by which his successor could accomplish the task. And so I may maintain that we all, so far as inclination goes, are working at the civilisation of the future. If only we all strive for the right, then are we _all_ called and _all_ chosen! FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 11: According to Mr. Jules Andrieu, the idea that nature must be tortured to reveal her secrets is preserved in the name _crucible_--from the Latin _crux_, a cross. But, more probably, _crucible_ is derived from some Old French or Teutonic form, as _cruche_, _kroes_, _krus_, etc., a pot or jug (cf. Modern English _crock_, _cruse_, and German _Krug_).--_Trans._] [Footnote 12: Xenophon, Memorabilia iv, 7, puts into the mouth of Socrates these words: [Greek: oute gar heureta anthrôpois auta enomizen einai, oute chaoizesthai theois an hêgeito ton zêtounta ha ekeinoi saphênisai ouk eboulêthêsan].] [Footnote 13: Galilei, _Discorsi e dimostrazione matematiche_. Leyden, 1638. _Dialogo Primo._] [Footnote 14: In the same way, the pitch of a locomotive-whistle is higher as the locomotive rapidly approaches an observer, and lower when rapidly leaving him than if the locomotive were at rest.--_Trans._] [Footnote 15: A kilometre is 0.621 or nearly five-eighths of a statute mile.] [Footnote 16: Observe, also, the respect in which the wheel is held in India, Japan and other Buddhistic countries, as the emblem of power, order, and law, and of the superiority of mind over matter. The consciousness of the importance of this invention seems to have lingered long in the minds of these nations.--_Tr._] WHY HAS MAN TWO EYES? Why has man two eyes? That the pretty symmetry of his face may not be disturbed, the artist answers. That his second eye may furnish a substitute for his first if that be lost, says the far-sighted economist. That we may weep with two eyes at the sins of the world, replies the religious enthusiast. Odd opinions! Yet if you should approach a modern scientist with this question you might consider yourself fortunate if you escaped with less than a rebuff. "Pardon me, madam, or my dear sir," he would say, with stern expression, "man fulfils no purpose in the possession of his eyes; nature is not a person, and consequently not so vulgar as to pursue purposes of any kind."