66 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
Asapebble,droppedinwater,causesripplesinthe
watertotraveloutward acrossthesurface, so notes
andtones cause vibrations, orwaves, in the atmos-
phere;andthese, reachingtheear,setupavibration
ofthedrumoftheear,causingatlastasensationof
sound. Inasimilarmanner,avibrationintheether,
reaching at last the eyes, gives one the sensation
oflight.
Butallthisbeingsaidandunderstood,thefactstill
remains thatno one can explain how light reaches
across an intervening""space. Wecannot, even now,
withallourboastedscience,answerthequestionGod
addressedtoJob;andtheconvictiongrowsthatitis
unanswerable—the simple question, "By what way
isthelightdistributed?"
And this mysteryof thetransfer of light is also
themysteryofthetransferofgravity,electricity,heat,
andallradiantforceswhatsoever. Weknow,insome
measure, whatthese forcesdo;buthowtheydoitis
aquestionasyetveryimperfectlyanswered.
'*Wemustcarefullybearinmindthattheoriginof
phenomenaisnotexplainedbecause,inthelanguage
ofscience,theyhavebeenreferredtoanassumedforce
withahigh-sounding name. Namesarenotthings;
andweknownothingmoreofthecausewhichbrings
theappletothegroundbecauseNewton hascalledit
theforceofgravitation,thanwedidbefore. Hegave
usthelawofmotion, andshowedustheformulaof
itsworking,andenabledustopredicthoweveryapple
wouldfall,andhoweveryplanetwouldmovethrough-
outspace;butthecause ofthemotion is as closely