On the Advisableness of Improving Natural Knowledge

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On the Advisableness of Improving Natural Knowledge is a piece by Thomas Henry Huxley. The piece says that our forefathers who inhabited this great and ancient city took breath between the shocks of two fearful calamities, one not quite past, although its fury had abated, and the other to come. The piece says that, in 'The History of the Plague Year', Defoe shows death, with every accompaniment of pain and terror, stalking through the narrow streets.

The piece says our forefathers submitted to the plague in humility and in penitence, for they believed it to be the judgment of God. The text speaks of people who take this view of natural knowledge and can see nothing in the bountiful mother of humanity but a sort of comfort-grinding machine. The piece says the improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such, and that for him scepticism is the highest of duties and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.

About the author

Thomas Henry Huxley

Thomas Henry Huxley was a Victorian biologist, comparative anatomist, educator, and prominent defender of evolutionary science. Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature, published in 1863, brought together essays comparing humans with other primates and considering fossil evidence.

More by Thomas Henry Huxley

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Book facts

Author: Thomas Henry Huxley
Reading time: About 25 minutes
Pages: 12
Language: English
Genre: Essays
Formats: PDF, EPUB, Read online