The Universe a Vast Electric OrganismWarder, Geo. W. (George Woodward)
Science
The Universe a Vast Electric Organism
Warder, Geo. W. (George Woodward)
Science -- Miscellanea
The great boast of the mathematicians is that Le Verrier calculated
where Neptune was before it was discovered by Galle at Berlin, but the
fact is he missed it eight astronomical units or over seven hundred
millions of miles, and said Neptune was not the planet he was looking
for.
These are two average tests of mathematical calculations, and they are
on a par with the mis-calculations of how much the sun must burn up
annually under the so-called laws of gravity to supply the necessary
heat to the earth and planets.
Imagination--constructive ideality--is the highest gift of Deity to man,
and the only faculty that can reason from the known to the unknown and
comprehend the wonders and grandeur of the universe.
I am not a practical chemist seeking the mysteries of nature in the
laboratory, nor a professional scientist exploring the fields of
original research; but, like La Place, Comte, Herbert Spencer and
others, I formulate my theories and scientific hypotheses from the
latest and best established facts of science as I see it. Science is
only unified or systematic knowledge. Every fact is a scientific fact,
and every truth is a scientific truth whether it pertains to so-called
science or to religion or philosophy. Nature has no subdivisions of
science, religion or philosophy, nor astronomy, chemistry or geology;
but all things are a unity, constituting one harmonious universe; and he
who separates science from religion or either from philosophy goes
contrary to nature and divides the universe into fractions. As I am not
a member of any scientific or religious association, I have no
prejudices to overcome and seek the truth only, without fear, favor or
undue predilections. Old traditions, fossilized theories and antiquated
authority have little weight in my mind by the side of recent facts. But
I am not an iconoclast, for I am more anxious to build up than to tear
down.
The professional scientists may deem such students of nature as myself
who trespass upon their chosen domain as amateurs. If so, it is a proud
distinction. Amateurs have accomplished nearly all the great things in
the world's history. Cromwell was a farmer, Hastings and Clive were
clerks, Bismarck twice failed in his examination to become a lawyer,
Washington was a surveyor and Franklin a printer, Herschell was a
musician, Faraday a bookbinder, Scott a lawyer's clerk, Arkwright, the
inventor of the spinning machine, was a barber; Spinoza a glass-blower,
Herbert Spencer an engineer, Edison a newsboy, and Stephenson, the
inventor of the locomotive, an ordinary workman; Lincoln was a
railsplitter, Grant a tanner, Andrew Johnson a tailor, Andrew Jackson a
saddler, Vanderbilt a ferryman, Rothschild a peddler, Krupp a
blacksmith, Paul a tent-maker, and Christ a carpenter. The names of
distinguished amateurs could be continued indefinitely, but space
forbids.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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