The other body, and probably much the largest, would be represented by those who, holding that mind is essentially superior to matter and distinct from it, cannot believe that life, consciousness, mind, are products of matter. They hold that the marvellous complexity of forces which appear to control matter, if not actually to constitute it, are and must be mind-products; and when they see life and mind apparently rising out of matter and giving to its myriad forms an added complexity and unfathomable mystery, they see in this development an additional proof of the supremacy of mind. Such persons would be inclined to the belief of the great eighteenth century scholar, Dr. Bentley, that the soul of one virtuous man is of greater worth and excellency than the sun and all his planets and all the stars in the heavens; and when they are shown that there are strong reasons for thinking that man is the unique and supreme product of this vast universe, they will see no difficulty in going a little further, and believing that the universe was actually brought into existence for this very purpose.
With infinite space around us and infinite time before and behind us, there is no incongruity in this conception. A universe as large as ours for the purpose of bringing into existence many myriads of living, intellectual, moral, and spiritual beings, with unlimited possibilities of life and happiness, is surely not more out of proportion than is the complex machinery, the life-long labour, the ingenuity and invention which we have bestowed upon the production of the humble, the trivial, pin. Neither is the apparent waste of energy so great in such a universe, comparatively, as the millions of acorns, produced during its life by an oak, every one of which might grow to be a tree, but of which only one does actually, after several hundred years, produce the one tree which is to replace the parent. And if it is said that the acorns are food for bird and beast, yet the spores of ferns and the seeds of orchids are not so, and countless millions of these go to waste for every one which reproduces the parent form. And all through the animal world, especially among the lower types, the same thing is seen. For the great majority of these entities we can see no use whatever, either of the enormous variety of the species, or the vast hordes of individuals. Of beetles alone there are at least a hundred thousand distinct species now living, while in some parts of sub-arctic America mosquitoes are sometimes so excessively abundant that they obscure the sun. And when we think of the myriads that have existed through the vast ages of geological time, the mind reels under the immensity of, to us, apparently useless life.
All nature tells us the same strange, mysterious story, of the exuberance of life, of endless variety, of unimaginable quantity. All this life upon our earth has led up to and culminated in that of man. It has been, I believe, a common and not unpopular idea that during the whole process of the rise and growth and extinction of past forms, the earth has been preparing for the ultimate—Man. Much of the wealth and luxuriance of living things, the infinite variety of form and structure, the exquisite grace and beauty in bird and insect, in foliage and flower, may have been mere by-products of the grand mechanism we call nature—the one and only method of developing humanity.
And is it not in perfect harmony with this grandeur of design (if it be design), this vastness of scale, this marvellous process of development through all the ages, that the material universe needed to produce this cradle of organic life, and of a being destined to a higher and a permanent existence, should be on a corresponding scale of vastness, of complexity, of beauty? Even if there were no such evidence as I have here adduced for the unique position and the exceptional characteristics which distinguish the earth, the old idea that all the planets were inhabited, and that all the stars existed for the sake of other planets, which planets existed to develop life, would, in the light of our present knowledge, seem utterly improbable and incredible. It would introduce monotony into a universe whose grand character and teaching is endless diversity. It would imply that to produce the living soul in the marvellous and glorious body of man—man with his faculties, his aspirations, his powers for good and evil—that this was an easy matter which could be brought about anywhere, in any world. It would imply that man is an animal and nothing more, is of no importance in the universe, needed no great preparations for his advent, only, perhaps, a second-rate demon, and a third or fourth-rate earth. Looking at the long and slow and complex growth of nature that preceded his appearance, the immensity of the stellar universe with its thousand million suns, and the vast æons of time during which it has been developing—all these seem only the appropriate and harmonious surroundings, the necessary supply of material, the sufficiently spacious workshop for the production of that planet which was to produce first, the organic world, and then, Man.
In one of his finest passages our great world-poet gives us his conception of the grandeur of human nature—'What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god!' And for the development of such a being what is a universe such as ours? However vast it may seem to our faculties, it is as a mere nothing in the ocean of the infinite. In infinite space there may be infinite universes, but I hardly think they would be all universes of matter. That would indeed be a low conception of infinite power! Here, on earth, we see millions of distinct species of animals, millions of different species of plants, and each and every species consisting often of many millions of individuals, no two individuals exactly alike; and when we turn to the heavens, no two planets, no two satellites alike; and outside our system we see the same law prevailing—no two stars, no two clusters, no two nebulæ alike. Why then should there be other universes of the same matter and subject to the same laws—as is implied by the conception that the stars are infinite in number, and extend through infinite space?
Of course there may be, and probably are, other universes, perhaps of other kinds of matter and subject to other laws, perhaps more like our conceptions of the ether, perhaps wholly non-material, and what we can only conceive of as spiritual. But, unless these universes, even though each of them were a million times vaster than our stellar universe, were also infinite in number, they could not fill infinite space, which would extend on all sides beyond them, so that even a million million such universes would shrink to imperceptibility when compared with the vast beyond!
Of infinity in any of its aspects we can really know nothing, but that it exists and is inconceivable. It is a thought that oppresses and overwhelms. Yet many speak of it glibly as if they knew what it contains, and even use that assumed knowledge as an argument against views that are unacceptable to themselves. To me its existence is absolute but unthinkable—that way madness lies.
I will conclude with one of the finest passages relating to the infinite that I am acquainted with, from the pen of the late R.A. Proctor:
'Inconceivable, doubtless, are these infinities of time and space, of matter, of motion, and of life. Inconceivable that the whole universe can be for all time the scene of the operation of infinite power, omnipresent, all-knowing. Utterly incomprehensible how Infinite Purpose can be associated with endless material evolution. But it is no new thought, no modern discovery, that we are thus utterly powerless to conceive or comprehend the idea of an Infinite Being, Almighty, All-knowing, Omnipresent, and Eternal, of whose inscrutable purpose the material universe is the unexplained manifestation. Science is in presence of the old, old mystery; the old, old questions are asked of her—"Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?" And science answers these questions as they were answered of old—"As touching the Almighty we cannot find Him out."'
The following beautiful lines—among the latest products of Tennyson's genius—so completely harmonise with the subject-matter of the present volume, that no apology is needed for quoting them here:—
(The Question)
(The Answer)
INDEX
- Adrianus Tollius on stone axes, 203.
- Air criminally poisoned by us, 260.
- Albedo explained, 162.
- Algol and its companion, 39;
- change of colour of, 41.
- Allen, Prof. F.J., on living matter, 193;
- on importance of nitrogen, 195;
- on physical conditions essential for life, 196.
- Alpha Centauri, nearest star, 74.
- Ammonia, importance of, to life, 195.
- Anaximander's cosmic theory, 2.
- Angles of a minute and second, 80.
- Arcturus, rapid motion of, 172.
- Argument of book, summary of, 310.
- Astronomers, the first, 2.
- Astronomy, the new, 24.
- Astrophysics, a new science, 32.
- Atmosphere, qualities requisite for life, 210;
- requisite composition of, 212;
- aqueous vapour in, 214;
- and life, 243;
- effects of density of, 245;
- a complex structure, 259;
- its vital importance to us, 260.
- Ball, Sir R., on dark stars, 143;
- Time and Tide, 233.
- Barnham, S.W., on double stars, 123.
- Blue of sky due to dust, 251.
- Boeddicker's map of Milky Way, 164.
- Brewster, Sir D., against Whewell, 15.
- Campbell, Prof., on spectroscopic binaries, 125;
- on uncertainty of sun's motions, 179;
- on number of binary systems, 286.
- Carbon compounds, vast numbers of, 194.
- Carbonic acid gas essential for life, 196.
- Central position of sun, importance of, 305.
- Chaldeans the first astronomers, 2.
- Chalmers Dr., on plurality of worlds, 13.
- Chamberlin, T.C., origin of nebulæ, 120;
- on stellar disruption, 186.
- Chromosphere, the sun's, 107.
- Clerke, Miss A.M., on limits of star system, 138;
- on Milky Way, 158, 160;
- on solar cluster, 165;
- on uncertainty of the sun's motion, 177.
- Climate, persistence of mild, 222.
- Clouds, importance of, to life, 248.
- Clusters in relation to Galaxy, 67.
- Comte, on impossibility of real knowledge of the stars, 25.
- Conclusions of the book, 317;
- bearing of, on science and on religion, 319.
- Corona of sun, 108.
- Criticisms of article in Fortnightly Review, 168, 180.
- Darwin, Prof. G., on meteoritic hypothesis, 133;
- on origin of moon, 233;
- on instability of annular systems, 295.
- Day and night, uses of, 215.
- Diagrams of star-distribution, 62, 66.
- Diffraction-gratings, 30.
- Disruption of stellar bodies, 187.
- Doppler principle, the, 37.
- Double stars, evolution of, 123;
- not fitted for life, 286.
- Dust, importance of, 249.
- Dust-free air, results of, 254.
- Earth, first measured, 5;
- in relation to life, 218;
- the only habitable planet, 262;
- cannot retain hydrogen, 264;
- supposed extreme conditions of, 271.
- Earth's mass, how related to life, 265.
- Ecliptic, obliquity of, in relation to life, 219.
- Electricity, effects of atmospheric, 257;
- atmospheric, how caused, 258.
- Elements, change in spectra of, 129;
- in the sun, 184;
- in meteorites, 185;
- in organic structures, 201.
- Empedocles an early astronomer, 3.
- Eudoxus on motions of planets, 3.
- Evolution of the stars, 128.
- Explanations of life-processes, 202.
- Faculæ of sun, 105.
- Fisher, Rev. O., on oceanic basins, 234;
- on thin sub-oceanic crust, 237.
- Fizeau measures speed of light, 79.
- Flammarion, C., on universality of life, 274, 281.
- Fontenelle on plurality of worlds, 9.
- Galileo on star measurement, 74.
- Geological climates, 222.
- Geologists on duration of sun's heat, 275.
- Germinal vesicle, M'Kendrick on, 202.
- Gill, Sir D., on systematic star-motions, 178.
- Globular clusters, stability of, 126;
- and variables, 127.
- Gore, Mr. J.E., on stars in Galaxy, 60;
- on mass of binary stars, 97;
- on remoteness of bright stars, 140;
- on limits of star system, 145;
- on limited number of stars, 151;
- on life on planets of other suns, 282, 289.
- Gould on solar cluster, 165.
- Gould's map of Milky Way, 164.
- Gravitation, motions produced by, on Lord Kelvin's hypothesis, 298.
- Haliburton, Professor W.D., on proteids, 200.
- Heat and cold on earth's surface, 207.
- Heat-supply, our long-continued, accounted for, 305.
- Herschel, Sir J., on Milky Way, 50;
- on limits of the star-system, 147.
- Heliometer, description of, 89.
- Huggins, Sir W., on spectra of stars, 32;
- measures radial motion, 37.
- Huxley, Prof., on protoplasm, 198;
- on duration of life, 278.
- Hydrogen, why not in atmosphere, 240;
- escapes from earth, 264.
- Infinity, unknowable, 323;
- Proctor on, 324.
- Jupiter's satellites show speed of light, 79.
- Kapteyn on solar cluster, 166.
- Kelvin, Lord, on the sun's age, 279;
- on a suggested primitive form of star-system, 298.
- Kirchhoff, discovers spectrum-analysis, 28.
- Laws of matter uniform throughout universe, 187.
- Leaves, importance of, 197.
- Lee, Dr., on origin of double stars, 123.
- Lewis, on remote bright stars, 141.
- Life, unity of organic, 189;
- definitions of, 191;
- conditions essential for, 206;
- water essential for, 210;
- atmosphere for, 210;
- dependent on temperature, 218;
- now improbable in stars, 288;
- conditions essential for, summarised, 314.
- Life-processes, explanations of, 202.
- Light, velocity of measured, 79;
- necessity of solar, 209;
- from sky due to dust, 252.
- Light-journey explained, 75.
- Light-ratio shows stars to be limited, 152.
- Living bodies, essential points in, 192.
- Lockyer, Sir. N., on inorganic evolution, 117;
- on evolution of stars, 130;
- on Milky Way, 159;
- on position of solar system, 161.
- Luigi d'Auria on stellar motion, 306.
- M'Kendrick, Prof., on germinal vesicle, 202.
- Magnetism and sun-spots, 106.
- Man, Shakespeare on, 322.
- Mars, has no water, 266;
- excessive temperatures on, 267.
- Matter of universe uniform, 183.
- Maunder on dark stars, 143.
- Maxwell Hall, Mr., on star-motions, 178.
- Measurement of star-distances, 85;
- difficulty of, 86.
- Mercury not habitable, 266.
- Meteorites, elements in, 185;
- not primitive bodies, 186.
- Meteoritic hypothesis, 113;
- Proctor on, 114;
- explains nebulæ, 116;
- Dr. Roberts on, 119.
- Milky Way, the, 48;
- form of, 51, 159;
- description of, 52;
- telescopic view of, 57;
- stars in relation to, 59;
- Mr. Gore on, 60;
- density of stars in, 61;
- clusters and nebulæ in relation to, 67;
- probable distance of, 96;
- forms a great circle, 157, 162;
- Prof. Newcomb on, 158;
- probably no life in, 284;
- diagrams of, 300;
- revolution of, important to us, 307.
- Million, how to appreciate a, 82.
- Minchin, G.M., on radiation from stars, 290.
- Monck, Mr. W.H.S., on non-infinity of stars, 144;
- on uncertainty of sun's motion, 177.
- Moon, why no atmosphere, 263.
- Moon's supposed origin, 233.
- Motion, in line of sight, 35.
- Motions, imperceptible, 39.
- Nebulæ, with gaseous spectra, 43;
- in relation to Galaxy, 66;
- distribution of, 69;
- many forms of, 70;
- gaseous, 71;
- meteoritic theory of, 116;
- planetary and annular, 175;
- Dr. Roberts on spiral, 117, 174;
- Chamberlin on origin of, 120.
- Nebular hypothesis, 98, 111;
- objection to, 112.
- Newcomb, Prof. S., on star distribution, 61;
- on parallax of stars, 94;
- on stability of star clusters, 126;
- on scarcity of single stars, 128;
- on limits of star system, 138;
- on Milky Way, 158, 160;
- on solar cluster, 167;
- on star velocities, 171;
- on average small mass of stars, 285;
- on star-motions, 297.
- Newton, Sir Isaac, on sun's habitability, 9.
- Nichols, E.F., on heat of stars, 290.
- Nitrogen, its importance to life, 195.
- Non-habitability of great planets, 272.
- Ocean and land, diagram of, 228.
- —— basins, permanence of, 229.
- —— —— symmetry of, 238.
- —— depths, how produced, 232.
- Oceans, effect of, on temperature, 239;
- curious relations of, 264.
- Organic products, diversity of, 195.
- Photographic astronomy, 43;
- measures of star-distances, 89.
- Photosphere, the, 105.
- Physicists on sun's duration, 278.
- Pickering's measurements of Algol, 40.
- Planets, supposed habitability of, 266, 269;
- the great, uninhabitable, 272;
- internal heat of great, 273;
- a last argument for habitability of, 274;
- have probably no life, 315.
- Planets' motions first explained, 3;
- mass and atmosphere, 262.
- Pleiades, number of stars in, 67;
- a drifting cluster, 177.
- Plurality of worlds, early writers on, 9;
- Proctor on, 18.
- Posidonius measures the earth, 5.
- Pritchard's photographic measures of star-distance, 89.
- Proctor, R.A., on other worlds, 18;
- on form of Galaxy, 51;
- on Herschel's views, 101;
- on stellar universe, 103;
- on meteoritic theory, 114;
- on infinities, 136;
- on star-drift, 176;
- on life under varied conditions, 271;
- on infinity, 324.
- Proctor's Old and New Astronomy, 46;
- chart of stars, 60.
- Prominences of sun, 107.
- Proteids, formation of, 199;
- Prof. Haliburton on, 200.
- Protoplasm, complexity of, 194;
- a mechanism, 198;
- sensibility of, to heat, 208.
- Ptolemaic system of the heavens, 4.
- Radial motion, 35.
- Radiation from stars, 290.
- Rain in the Carboniferous age, 225;
- dependent on dust, 249.
- Ramsay, Prof., on geological climates, 278.
- Ranyard, on star-discs, 98;
- on infinite universe, 137;
- on mass of Orion nebula, 173.
- Religious bearing of my conclusions, 319.
- Reproduction, marvel of, 201.
- Reversing layer of sun, 107.
- Roberts, A.W., on birth of double stars, 123.
- —— Dr. I., on limits of star-system, 148;
- on spiral nebulæ, 117;
- on meteoritic theory, 119;
- photographs of nebulæ, 45, 174.
- Roche limit explained, 120, 187.
- Sanderson, Prof. Burdon, on living matter, 192.
- Scientific and agnostic opinion on my conclusions, 318.
- Secchi's classification of stars, 33.
- Single stars perhaps rare, 128.
- Solar apex, position of, 176.
- Solar cluster, the, 165;
- diagram showing, 300;
- evidence for, 302;
- importance to us, 306-7, 312.
- Solar system, position of, 304.
- Sorby on constitution of meteorites, 186.
- Spectra, varieties of, 34;
- of elements, changes in, 129.
- Spectroscopic binaries, abundance of, 125;
- great numbers of, 286.
- Spectrum analysis, discovery of, 26.
- Spencer, H., on status of nebulæ, 102.
- Spiral nebulæ, origin of, 120.
- Stars, proved to be suns, 32;
- invisible, 39;
- classification of, 33;
- spectroscopic double, 42;
- distribution of the, 47;
- number of visible, 48;
- description of Milky Way, 52;
- in relation to Milky Way, 59;
- distances of, 74;
- measurement of distance of, 85;
- mass of binary, 97;
- evolution of double, 122;
- spectroscopic double, 123;
- clusters of, 125;
- evolution of the, 128;
- classification of, 130;
- the hottest, 131;
- when cooling give more heat, 132;
- cycle of evolution and decay, 133;
- supposed infinite number of, 135;
- not infinite, 138;
- law of diminishing numbers of, 149;
- systematic motions of, 178;
- in relation to life, 282, 287;
- possible use of their emanations, 289.
- Star-clusters and variables, 127.
- Star-density, diagram of, 66.
- Star-drift, Proctor on, 176.
- Starlight, electrical measure of, 290;
- possible uses of, 292.
- Star-motions, Prof. Newcomb on, 297.
- Star-system, limited, 145;
- stability of, 295;
- supposed primitive form of, 297.
- Stellar motion, Luigi d'Auria on, 306.
- —— universe, shape of, 49;
- unity of, 100;
- evolution of, 103;
- diagrams of, 300.
- Stoney, Dr., on atmospheres and gravity, 263.
- Sun, a typical star, 104;
- brightness of, 104;
- heat of, 104;
- surface of, 105;
- surroundings of, 106-110;
- corona of, 108;
- colour of, 111;
- elements in, 184.
- Sun's distance, measure of, 76.
- —— heat, supposed limits of, 275.
- —— life, all required to develop earth-life, 280.
- —— motion through space, 91, 169.
- —— —— uncertain, 177.
- Sun-spots, nature of, 105.
- Symmetry of oceans, cause of, 238.
- Temperature, essential for life, 206;
- equalised by water, 239;
- as regards life on planets, 267.
- Tennyson on man and the universe, 325.
- Uniformity of matter, 183.
- Unity of stellar universe, 100.
- Universe of stars, how its form has affected our sun and earth, 308.
- Universe not disproportionate if man is its sole product, 320.
- Venus, radial motions of, 38;
- diagram of transit of, 77;
- life barely possible on, 266;
- adverse climatic conditions of, 268.
- Water, an essential for life, 210;
- its amount and distribution, 227;
- an equaliser of temperature, 239.
- Wave-lengths, how measured, 31.
- Whewell, on plurality of worlds, 8, 15;
- on man as the highest product of the universe, 14.
- Whittaker, Mr. E.T., on gravitative and electro-dynamical forces, 296.
- Winds, importance of, to life, 246.
- Zodiacal light, 109.
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at the Edinburgh University Press