E-Book Overview
The discussion in his book centres on the question "What is truth?" Dr. Bell traces the story of man's search for the answer over a period of roughly 6000 years, from the time of the early Egyptians until the present. Very early there arose "doubts which trouble us to-day, and which, historically at least, are responsible for the advances of recent years . . .". Generally speaking, "we see four great peaks towering above the general level of profound or lofty speculation on the nature of truth. The first of these marks ancient Egypt, say 4241 B.C. to 1800 B.C.; the second, the early Greece of Pythagoras in the Sixth Century; the third, the invention in 1826 by Lobatchewsky of Non-Euclidean Geometry; and the fourth, rising in 1930, the creation, by Lucasiewicz and Tarski of strict deductive reasoning radically different from the traditional logic of Aristotle . . ."
E-Book Content
Eric Temple Bell The Search for Truth THE WILLIAMS & WILKINS COMPANY "Pilate saith unto him, 'What is '!'ruth?'" -JOHN I8:J8 The Search for Truth 6y Eric Temple Bell PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MEMBER NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES PAST-PRESIDENT MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA THE WILLIAMS & WILKINS COMPANY BALTIMORE • ------ w CoPYRIGHT, 1934 THE WILLIAMS & WILKINS COMPANY Male in IM U nilel Sidles of Allllrica Second Printing, September, COMPOSED AND P.RlNT itD 1935 AT THE WAVERLY PRESS, INC. FOR THE WILLIAKS It WILKINS COIIPANY BALTIMORE, KD. C ONTENTS Vll THANKS ! INTRODUCTION Chapter I. LooKING FoRWARD JESTI NG PILATE. FUNDAMENTA L Q U E STIONS. DOES IT EXPAND ? FU RTH ER QUESTIONS. PRO S P ECT. Chapter II. CA S E HISTO RI ES GOD AND TH E ASTRONOMERS. MONKEYING WITH TIME. WHAT RAYLEIGH SAID. Chapter III. TH E GREAT PYRAMID TOWARD CLOUDCUCKO O LAND. B. C. 42.4 1 . TH E EGYP TIAN MADNESS. TH EIR GOLDEN AGE. TH E GREATEST PYRAMID. Chapter IV. TH E ANCI ENT CAMBODIA NS A S ENSI B L E QU ESTION. WHO WERE TH E CAMBODIANS ? TH E S EARCH FOR TRUTH . Chapter V. TH E INFANT PRoDIGY WORDS O R WH E E LBARROWS ? WE ARE NOT AS THEY WERE. TH E GREEK VICE. Chapter VI. TH E TREATY oF CRoToN lX I 2. 8 43 6I 79 93 P P Ioo Chapter VII. ARALYZED AND ETRIFI ED ' PERPETUA L MOTION. TH E PYRAMID AGAI N . PLATO S H EAVEN. HOG-TI ED. I2.8 Chapter VIII. TH ROUGH TH E TuNN E L TH E A LEXANDRIAN LI B RARY. MODERN INSTANC E S . Chapter IX. BoGGED INTO TH E MORA S S . A BAD B ET. CALLIMACH U S LAUGHS . TH E PYRAMID YET AGAI N. v C O NTE NTS Vl Chapter X . EscA P E I s6 ? R ETRO S PECT. EXPERIMENT OR EXPERIENCE GEOMETRY UNTIED. A P LAIN STATEMENT. YET AGAIN. Chapter XI. HEATH EN GoDs 1 75 A GREAT MORAL LESSON. BACON VERSUS A RISTOTLE. FA LSE GODS. Chapter XII. SciENCE A ND RELIGIO S ITY 1 86 ' MRS. STURTEVANT CODD. TH E ROSY O N E . OMAR S SOLUTION. 1 99 Chapter XIII. Ow CLO ' A MYSTERY. AN A PO LOGY. DO U BTS. VERBAL MAGIC. Chapter XIV. TH E GR EAT EMANCIPATO R 217 WHAT IS FAME ? PA RALLEL CENTAURS. TH E RUSSIAN R EVO LUTIO N XV. TH E FouRTH DIM ENSION Chapter 2J I A TOUCHSTO N E . A SANE B EGINNING. A MAD ENDING. HE DONE HER DIRT Chapter XVI. TH E LAST IDoL TH E GRAND CATA LOGUE. TH E PIONE ER. SMASH ED. Chapter XVII. RETRO S P ECT FOUR LANDMARKS. POS SIB ILITIES. WHAT IS AHEAD ? Chapter X VIII. TH E PRIESTHOOD oF SciENCE ' ISIS U NVEILED. AN EXPERT S OPINION. ADDENDA 2 62 28 1 292 T H A NKS! HE pleasantest part of a writer's task is thanking those who have helped with their sympathy, encouragement, and