Bryn Mawr College - Bryn Mawr Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

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Philosophy, ninny. What else is there worth thinking about? It ' s all a lie. He doesn ' t think. Then, said Sophie triumphantly, if he doesn ' t think and I stop perceiving him he ought to become non-existent. You watch him, while I close my eyes, and see if he disappears. At this empirical suggestion they all scornfully turned their backs again on Sophie, who thus had to think very hard to keep from disappearing herself. Several painful minutes elapsed before they all burst into a lusty anassa kata kato kale, all except the gentleman with the stop watch, who turned out to be Zeno and of course wanted the tortoise to win. You see, Miss Phile, he explained confidentially to Sophie, the tortoise was winning in mythology. But time is funny, he added, looking ruefully at the watch, which he kept punching to make it read zero — and now that the race has become historical, it ' s getting quite out of hand Sophie thought it was getting rather out of sight as well, although strictly speaking it had never been in, so deciding she could read about it in the News she thanked Zeno and groped her way to the door. She was still a bit puzzled when on the following Wednesday she read : The tortoise . . . plodded on while Achilles was swifter and so rested and did not concentrate all his con- tinuous energies toward winning the race. . . . The tortoise beat the hare. Achilles didn ' t race this race, except maybe in spirit. But who was it, mused Sophie, who said, ' Next time get ethyl ' ? E. M. ' 35 Science ' Proper A Text Book and a Guide definition 1. Science. Science Proper must be carefully distinguished from Popular Science. Science Proper is what one hears in Dalton, Popular Science what one hears in the Home. A more detailed definition need not concern us here. As this work can by no means hope to treat both fields exhaustively or even adequately, we will confine ourselves here to a consideration of Science Proper, allowing ourselves a few brief words of introduction. the new 2. The Scientific Era. In a certain sense we are all of us children of a movement scientific age, and our approach to all questions is characterized by the scientific spirit, which makes it impossible for us to observe natural phenomena without asking the question Why? As early as the nineteenth century this spirit was manifest; Napoleon, departing for Elba exclaimed Why? And now, in the twentieth century, as an automobile refuses to start, the driver says to himself, Why not? The question of Why not?, however, is slightly different in its implications from See our volume on History Proper (No. 1). Just as it is important to distinguish between Science Proper and Popular Science, so it is absolutely essential to distinguish between such a volume as History Proper, and 1066 and All That. 13

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oA liberal Education The Adventures of Sophias Phile among the Wise meN of agashuLanD THERE were many doors leading off the long passage, each with its brass plaque, but owing to the poor illumination Little Sophie was unable to make out what they said. But she knocked anyway. No one answered, so she went in. A heavy cloud of the best smoke hung over all, filling every cranny. Ah, she mused, weeping copiously, just as I thought. To be is to be perceived, since that which ' exists fills space and that which fills space must be perceived, whereupon a sudden dreadful doubt seized upon her susceptible young mind. Is this cloud, this space-filling and all too well perceived smoke, existent while I, I in my lonesomeness, am relegated to non-being? But no! for Aristotle reasoned that I think, therefore I am; we can assume nothing except starting with this preface. Therefore will start with this preface. This, then, is the beginning, the beginning without end, for am not able to stop myself from thinking about some- thing, therefore I must exist. Furthermore, one thinks then one has a mi?td and so one exists. This is progress. But if one exists then one is perceived by someone (to couple Hume with Aristotle) and if you are, there must be others; these others perceive you; you are perceived Q. E. D. even though (by this time the smoke was as thick as Kant ' s collected works) you cannot see yourself, therefore some think that the only test of knowing you are real is by perceiving others or by having them perceive you. Surmising by this time the need for companionship (this need, she noted in passing, was one of those truths the idea of which according to Plato enters our minds by study or otherwise and so we learn, them!), Sophie tied up her sash and dug away valiantly at the smoke, which she now perceived to be a cloud of ignorance — ignorance which in being so perceived became, alas, existent. This, not Pandora ' s box or the apple, was the beginning of evil. Just as little Sophie was about to succumb to the asphyxiating fumes there suddenly came into existence (i.e. were perceived) a number of individuals with their backs to her, sitting on a bench. Sophie tried to sit down on the end next to a very stolid figure to all appearances utterly saturated in himself. He was wearing a blue denim coat on which Sophie was able to make out in large red letters Unmoved Movers, Inc. Don ' t mind him, said a long-eared fellow with a stop watch in his hand. He ' s just thinking. Heavens, cried Sophie. What about? There was a chorus from the bench-warmers: ' Everything, of course. Nothing, stupid. See page 25. 12

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the question Why? A consideration of these differences does not concern us here. classification 3. Fields of Scientific Inquiry. Science may be roughly divided into four large fields: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geology. We cannot in- clude Astronomy and other sciences in our present discussion, as only the above mentioned four are included under Dalton roof. 4. Physics. Physics has been defined as essentially a system of explanations. The truth of this definition will become increasingly clear as the paragraph advances. The spirit of the physicist is part of the great scientific spirit already referred to in para- graph 2, and is marked by a facility on the part of the physicist in explaining why experiments do not work out in the class room in quite the same way as predicted in the book. The classic example of these class room difficulties is seen in connection with the electric circuit (when all the wires are attached, and still no current seems to flow). It takes all the spirit the physicist has to explain this. Another case where professorial explanation is essential, is where the text book states that so and so will happen if a rod is rubbed with cat ' s fur, and where in the class room, so and so does happen when the rod is rubbed with what is obviously a piece of red flannel. All the ingenuity of the physicist is required to explain this crude substitution. divisions It is obviously quite impossible to consider all the phenomena of nature of physics without attempting a classification of some sort. In fact the chief charac- teristic of the scientific spirit (see paragraph 2), is to classify and reclassify, thus narrowing the field of inquiry from a topic such as The Universe; Its Laws and Nature, down to a topic such as: when you light a gas jet, why is it that the gas in the mains and tank does not take fire? A discussion of these two topics has no place among our present considerations; suffice it to say that the reason the gas in the mains and tank does not take fire is simply because the gas is being pushed out in very small quantities. We will now briefly go into the traditional divisions of physics. Mechanics. This field includes such problems as the man carrying the pails, the elephant getting on the raft, etc. Heat. Under this heading may be included such questions as the amount of hot water necessary to melt a certain amount of snow, the calorimeter, etc. Sound. This topic involves a detailed consideration of the tuning fork, the sound of tolling bells travelling under water, etc. The sluchnt in metaphysics is referred to our volume on Philosophy Proper, and is cautioned against Why Not Try God? AI1 those interested in Astronomy are referred to our volume on Astronomy Proper and cautioned against Stars Fell on Alabama. A First Course in Physics for Colleges, by Milliken, Gale and Edwards, p. 3. The thoughtful student, and in particular the candidate for the Ph.D. degree, will do well to acquire this habit of narrowing the field of scientific inquiry, as soon as possible. 14