Indeed, it is easy to see how the very fact of pursuing such
an object would detract from that thoroughness of examination
which is the first condition of a real advance. True science
demands in its every research a completeness far beyond what is
apparently necessary for its practical applications. The precision
with which the astronomer seeks to measure the heavens and the
chemist to determine the relations of the ultimate molecules of
matter has no limit, except that set by the imperfections of the
instruments of research. There is no such division recognized as
that of useful and useless knowledge. The ultimate aim is nothing
less than that of bringing all the phenomena of nature under laws
as exact as those which govern the planetary motions.
Now the pursuit of any high object in this spirit commands from
men of wide views that respect which is felt towards all exertion
having in view more elevated objects than the pursuit of gain.
Accordingly, it is very natural to classify scientists and
philosophers with the men who in all ages have sought after
learning instead of utility. But there is another aspect of the
question which will show the relations of scientific advance to
the practical affairs of life in a different light.
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