Science and Hypothesis Wissenschaft und Hyothese

Abstract

A SCIENTIFIC man, while actively engaged in work of research, must have faith in the solidity of the foundations on which he builds his reasoning in order to preserve the persistent patience which is necessary if his work is to be successful. Vere he to doubt that there are laws which cannot be broken, were he to examine critically every brick in his foundation in order to discover some secret flaw which might endanger the safety of his edifice, he would become a philosopher, but as a man of science he would go to swell the ranks of the unemployed. Nevertheless, we must assign a proper place in the history of scientific thought to the spirit of scepticism which throws doubt on the premises, has no faith in the reasoning, and only grudgingly concedes the conclusions. If I have qualified the statement contained in the opening sentence and confined its application to the time a man is actively engaged in scientific work, it is because there are periods in every man's life when it is good for him to dig down to the bottom of his beliefs. Nor will the critical examination of axioms and definitions be without profit; for it will tend to loosen the ties of preconceived notions which keep men of science, like other mortals, in bondage.

Science and Hypothesis.

By Prof. H. Poincaré. Pp. xxvii + 244. (London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., 1905.) Price 3s. 6d.

Wissenschaft und Hyothese.

By Prof. H. Poincaré. Autorisierte deutsche Ausgabe. Translated by F. and L. Lindemann. Pp. xvi + 342. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1904.) Price 4.80 marks.