Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Obscurantism in Modern Science an Address Delivered Before the Heretics Society in Cambridge
Dr. Wallace, whose mental agility in his ninetieth year is an answer to every counsel of despair that would slacken energy, gives us what, practically, is his last will and testament, because, he tells us, it is his summary and completion of a half-century of thought and labour on the Darwinian theory of evolution.i The body of facts therein has led him to the conclusion that there is, first, a Creative Power which so constituted matter as to render these marvels possible next, a directive Mind, which is demanded at every step of what we term growth; and, lastly, an ultimate Purpose in the very existence of the whole vast life-world in all its long course of evolution throughout the aeons of geological time. This Purpose, which alone throws light on many of the mysteries of its mode of evolution, I hold to be the development of Man, the one crowning product of the whole cosmic process of life-development the only being who can appreciate the hidden forces and motions everywhere at work, and can deduce from them a supreme and overruling Mind as their necessary cause. Further on Dr. Wallace asserts that the special purpose of this world of ours is the development of mankind for an enduring Spiritual existence for which the whole object of our earth life is a preparation (preface, p. Vii).
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.