This
unity of contemplation presupposes a connection of phenomena according to
their internal combination. A mere tabular arrangement of these facts would
not fulfill the object I have proposed to myself, and would not satisfy that
requirement for cosmical presentation awakened in me by the
p 163
aspect of nature in my journeyings by sea and land, by the careful study of
forms and forces, and by a vivid impression of the unity of nature in the
midst of the most varied portions of the Earth. In the rapid advance of all
branches of physical science, much that is deficient in this attempt will,
perhaps, at no remote period, be corrected and rendered more perfect, for it
belongs to the history of the development of knowledge that portions which
have long stood isolated become gradually connected, and subject to higher
laws. I only indicate the empirical path in which I and many others of
similar pursuits with myself are advancing, full of expectation that, as
Plato tells us Socrates once desired, "Nature may be interpreted by reason
alone."*
[footnote] *Plato, 'Phaedo', p. 97. (Arist., 'Metaph.', p. 985.) compare
Hegel, 'Philosophie der Geschichte', 1840, s. 16.
The delineation of the principal characteristics of telluric phenomena must
begin with the form of our planet and its relations in space.
Pages:
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339