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Article SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE. * ← Page 3 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Science And The Bible. *
did not dream about the cause or nature of gravitation ; he had read the law , and rejoiced in the revealed truth . Crystallization opens to us " other , laws , no less comprehensive . All are familiar with the pretty geometrical forms of some crystals . But the observing eye sees the world full of crystals . "When it snows , the
heavens are showering down crystals , for every flake is a congeries of crystalline grains , and they are often in elegant symmetrical forms . "When the waters freeze , they become a mass of crystals , only so blended that we distinguish not their outlines . "When sea-water evaporates , it drops crystals freely ; for every grain of salt that goes
down , is itself a gem . A bar of iron is broken , and its whole texture proves to be an aggregation of crystal particles , showing the angular lines and cleavage of true crystallization . The granite of the hills is but a mountain of crystals ; and every pudding-stone , although made of pebbles , has myriads of crystalline grains of fragments of crystals in and among those pebbles . Finally , the special fact first noted , developes into a general truth or law , that cohesion in the
inorganic kingdom producing solidification , is actually crystallization ; that we not merely see nature geometrizing , but matter in its profoundest quality governed by geometrical principles ; and therefore
that cohesion in solidification is not a sort of agglutination acting in all directions alike , which would be well enough for making spheres , but an axial or polar attraction , bringing out symmetrical forms according to fixed laws .
Examining further , more definite laws come out : each species or kind of substance , wherever found or however made , proves to have its distinct and constant fundamental crystalline form , so unvarying in angles and structure , although admitting of modifications by simple ratios , that it may be as easily known by it , as an animal by
its form . These crystalline forms are cubes , square prisms , rhombic prisms either right or oblique , & c . ; and in each case , the axes of the prisms—that is , their relative dimensions—admit of mathematical calculation . Thus , by widening our field of vision from the single fact to universal nature , we learn that molecules have their specific forms or dimensions , and cohesion in solids its mathematical basis . This
fundamental quality of cohesion is sustained by every other characteristic of crystals : the hardness is different in the direction of unequal axes ; so also the transparency , elasticity , conduction of heat , and refraction of light ; and all in exact accordance with the law of symmetry in the crystal . Do we not see , here , that the very molecules , of which the universe is built , were modelled variously and with
precision by the hand of Deity ? Looking deeper still , we learn that these molecules are not , like the blocks of an architect , squared and cornered for one place alono , but have their laws according to which they are adapted to numberless forms and structures . Gaining entrance to these inner temples of nature , we recognise everywhere the appointments of Him whose glories are infinite . The chemist reads Nature in another of her departments : ho
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Science And The Bible. *
did not dream about the cause or nature of gravitation ; he had read the law , and rejoiced in the revealed truth . Crystallization opens to us " other , laws , no less comprehensive . All are familiar with the pretty geometrical forms of some crystals . But the observing eye sees the world full of crystals . "When it snows , the
heavens are showering down crystals , for every flake is a congeries of crystalline grains , and they are often in elegant symmetrical forms . "When the waters freeze , they become a mass of crystals , only so blended that we distinguish not their outlines . "When sea-water evaporates , it drops crystals freely ; for every grain of salt that goes
down , is itself a gem . A bar of iron is broken , and its whole texture proves to be an aggregation of crystal particles , showing the angular lines and cleavage of true crystallization . The granite of the hills is but a mountain of crystals ; and every pudding-stone , although made of pebbles , has myriads of crystalline grains of fragments of crystals in and among those pebbles . Finally , the special fact first noted , developes into a general truth or law , that cohesion in the
inorganic kingdom producing solidification , is actually crystallization ; that we not merely see nature geometrizing , but matter in its profoundest quality governed by geometrical principles ; and therefore
that cohesion in solidification is not a sort of agglutination acting in all directions alike , which would be well enough for making spheres , but an axial or polar attraction , bringing out symmetrical forms according to fixed laws .
Examining further , more definite laws come out : each species or kind of substance , wherever found or however made , proves to have its distinct and constant fundamental crystalline form , so unvarying in angles and structure , although admitting of modifications by simple ratios , that it may be as easily known by it , as an animal by
its form . These crystalline forms are cubes , square prisms , rhombic prisms either right or oblique , & c . ; and in each case , the axes of the prisms—that is , their relative dimensions—admit of mathematical calculation . Thus , by widening our field of vision from the single fact to universal nature , we learn that molecules have their specific forms or dimensions , and cohesion in solids its mathematical basis . This
fundamental quality of cohesion is sustained by every other characteristic of crystals : the hardness is different in the direction of unequal axes ; so also the transparency , elasticity , conduction of heat , and refraction of light ; and all in exact accordance with the law of symmetry in the crystal . Do we not see , here , that the very molecules , of which the universe is built , were modelled variously and with
precision by the hand of Deity ? Looking deeper still , we learn that these molecules are not , like the blocks of an architect , squared and cornered for one place alono , but have their laws according to which they are adapted to numberless forms and structures . Gaining entrance to these inner temples of nature , we recognise everywhere the appointments of Him whose glories are infinite . The chemist reads Nature in another of her departments : ho