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340 wait till the first dawnings open slowly by little and little into a full and clear light." Commenting upon this somewhat modest remark Lodge says: "That is the way—quiet, steady, continuous thinking, uninterrupted and unharassed brooding. Much may be done under these conditions; much ought to be sacrificed to obtain these conditions. All the best thinking work of the world has been thus done."

In closing, let us pause and consider the state of knowledge before and after Newton. Before him are the foreshadowings of Copernicus, the dim gropings of Kepler, the elementary truths of Galileo, the flashes of Borelli and Huygens, the fantastic speculations of Descartes; after him is a magnificent and comprehensive system of well-ordered knowledge. As we contemplate this we can understand the significance of the inscription on Newton's tomb. "Let mortals congratulate themselves that so great an ornament of the human race has existed."