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play and impact. This view dates back to   Leucippus and Democritus, and it was long the prevailing hypothesis of those who fought the   notion of "design" in nature and contended for a mechanical, quantitative explanation of things.

The mechanical theory has by no means been abandoned. But it seems more and more improbable that atoms are the ultimate elements of all being. Recent discoveries have pointed to the conclusion that radiant energy in various forms is the primal physical force of all that we   denominate "substance," "elements," and the like. It may be that modes of motion in the ether are the final activities with which physical science has to deal. Such activities may still be describable in quantitative terms. The more simple, relatively independent the description of   nature becomes, the more serviceable will be such description alike for the physical scientist and for the philosopher. The attempt to carry the mechanical hypothesis as far and as high as possible is not to be deplored but to be welcomed. It is the physical scientist who is alone able to develop the great idea of the uniformity of nature, for it is he alone who possesses the essential facts. It is only a question of secondary details. The conception of uniformity is now well-established. If the secondary details and the discoveries of new elements point to a higher conception than the