and of magnetism, previously separated, form now but one;
and this annexation seems final."

There has been thus an increasing approach toward unity,
toward the summation of phenomena under one simple, general
formula.[1] Poincare, in reviewing this progress, writes:

[Footnote 1: Poincare notes also the opposite tendency, for
science to grow more complex. As he says: "And Newton's law
itself? Its simplicity, so long undetected, is perhaps only
apparent. Who knows whether it is not due to some complicated
mechanism, to the impact of some subtile matter animated
by irregular movements, and whether it has not become simple
only through the action of averages and of great numbers? In
any case it is difficult not to suppose that the true law
contains complementary terms, which would become sensible
at small distances." (_Foundations of Science_, p. 132.)]

The better one knows the properties of matter the more one sees
continuity reign. Since the labors of Andrews and Van der Wals, we
get an idea of how the passage is made from the liquid to the gaseous
state and that this passage is not abrupt. Similarly there is no gap
between the liquid and solid states, and in the proceedings of a recent
congress is to be seen, alongside of a work on the rigidity of liquids,
a memoir on the flow of solids....

Finally the methods of physics have invaded a new domain, that
of chemistry; physical chemistry is born. It is still very young, but
we already see that it will enable us to connect such phenomena as
electrolysis, osmosis, and the motions of ions.

From this rapid exposition what shall we conclude?

Everything considered, we have approached unity; we have not
been as quick as we had hoped fifty years ago, we have not always
taken the predicted way; but, finally, we have gained ever so much
ground.[2]

[Footnote 2: Poincare: _loc. cit._, pp. 153-54.]

The satisfaction which disinterested science gives to the
investigator is thus, in the first place, one of clarification.
Science, by enabling us to see the wide general laws of which
all phenomena are particular instances, emancipates the
imagination. It frees us from being bound by the accidental
suggestions which come to us from mere personal caprice,
habit, and environment, and enables us to observe facts
uncolored by passions and hope, and to discover those laws of
the universe which, in the words of Karl Pearson, "hold for
all normally constituted minds." In ordinary