Thus increased
exactness is given to the time on all our railroads, increased
safety is obtained, and great loss of time saved to every one. If
we estimated the money value of this saving alone we should no
doubt find it to be greater than all that our study of astronomy
costs.
It must therefore be conceded that, on the whole, astronomy is a
science of more practical use than one would at first suppose. To
the thoughtless man, the stars seem to have very little relation
to his daily life; they might be forever hid from view without his
being the worse for it. He wonders what object men can have in
devoting themselves to the study of the motions or phenomena of
the heavens. But the more he looks into the subject, and the wider
the range which his studies include, the more he will be impressed
with the great practical usefulness of the science of the heavens.
And yet I think it would be a serious error to say that the
world's greatest debt to astronomy was owing to its usefulness in
surveying, navigation, and chronology. The more enlightened a man
is, the more he will feel that what makes his mind what it is, and
gives him the ideas of himself and creation which he possesses, is
more important than that which gains him wealth.
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