Science now held a position of unique honour among the First Men. This
was not so much because it was in this field that the race long ago
during its high noon had thought most rigorously, nor because it was
through science that men had gained some insight into the nature of the
physical world, but rather because the application of scientific
principles had revolutionized their material circumstances. The once
fluid doctrines of science had by now begun to crystallize into a fixed
and intricate dogma; but inventive scientific intelligence still
exercised itself brilliantly in improving the technique of industry, and
thus completely dominated the imagination of a race in which the pure
intellectual curiosity had waned. The scientist was regarded as an
embodiment, not merely of knowledge, but of power; and no legends of the
potency of science seemed too fantastic to be believed.
A century after the founding of the first World State a rumour began to
be heard in China about the supreme secret of scientific religion, the
awful mystery of Gordelpus, by means of which it should be possible to
utilize the energy locked up in the opposition of proton and electron.
Long ago discovered by a Chinese physicist and saint, this invaluable
knowledge was now reputed to have been preserved ever since among the
_élite_ of science, and to be ready for publication as soon as the world
seemed fit to possess it. The new sect of Energists claimed that the
young Discoverer was himself an incarnation of Buddha, and that, since
the world was still unfit for the supreme revelation, he had entrusted
his secret to the Scientists. On the side of Christianity a very similar
legend was concerned with the same individual. The Regenerate Christian
Brotherhood, by now overwhelmingly the most powerful of the Western
Churches, regarded the Discoverer as the Son of God, who, in this his
Second Coming, had proposed to bring about the millennium by publishing
the secret of divine power; but, finding the peoples still unable to put
in practice even the more primitive gospel of love which was announced
at his First Coming, he had suffered martyrdom for man’s sake, and had
entrusted his secret to the Scientists.
The scientific workers of the world had long ago organized themselves as
a close corporation. Entrance to the International College of Science
was to be obtained only by examination and the payment of high fees.
Membership conferred the title of ‘Scientist,’ and the right to perform
experiments. It was also an essential qualification for many lucrative
posts. Moreover, there were said to be certain technical secrets which
members were pledged not to reveal. Rumour had it that in at least one
case of minor blabbing the traitor had shortly afterwards mysteriously
died.
Science itself, the actual corpus of natural knowledge, had by now
become so complex that only a tiny fraction of it could be mastered by
one brain. Thus students of one branch of science knew practically
nothing of the work of others in kindred branches Especially was this
the case with the huge science called Subatomic Physics. Within this
were contained a dozen studies, any one of which was as complex as the
whole of the physics of the Nineteenth Christian Century. This growing
complexity had rendered students in one field ever more reluctant to
criticize, or even to try to understand, the principles of other fields.
Each petty department, jealous of its own preserves, was meticulously
respectful of the preserves of others. In an earlier period the sciences
had been coordinated and criticized philosophically by their own leaders
and by the technical philosophers. But philosophy, as a rigorous
technical discipline, no longer existed. There was, of course, a vague
framework of ideas, or assumptions, based on science, and common to all
men, a popular pseudo-science, constructed by the journalists from
striking phrases current among scientists. But actual scientific workers
prided themselves on the rejection of this ramshackle structure, even
while they themselves were unwittingly assuming it. And each insisted
that his own special subject must inevitably remain unintelligible even
to most of his brother scientists.
Under these circumstances, when rumour declared that the mystery of
Gordelpus was known to the physicists, each department of subatomic
physics was both reluctant to deny the charge explicitly in its own
case, and ready to believe that some other department really did possess
the secret. Consequently, the conduct of the scientists as a body
strengthened the general belief that they knew and would not tell.
About two centuries after the formation of the first World State, the
President of the World declared that the time was ripe for a formal
union of science and religion, and called a conference of the leaders of
these two great disciplines. Upon that island in the Pacific which had
become the Mecca of cosmopolitan sentiment, and was by now one vast
many-storied and cloud-capped Temple of Peace, the heads of Buddhism,
Mohammedanism, Hinduism, the Regenerate Christian Brotherhood, and the
Modern Catholic Church in South America, agreed that their differences
were but differences of expression. One and all were worshippers of the
Divine Energy, whether expressed in activity, or in tense stillness. One
and all recognized the saintly Discoverer as either the last and
greatest of the prophets or an actual incarnation of divine Movement.
And these two concepts were easily shown, in the light of modern
science, to be identical.
In an earlier age it had been the custom to single out heresy and
extirpate it with fire and sword. But now the craving for uniformity was
fulfilled by explaining away differences, amid universal applause.
When the Conference had registered the unity of the religions, it went
on to establish the unity of religion and science. All knew, said the
President, that some of the scientists were in possession of the supreme
secret, though, wisely, they would not definitely admit it. It was time,
then, that the organizations of Science and Religion should be merged,
for the better guidance of men. He, therefore, called upon the
International College of Science to nominate from amongst themselves a
select body, which should be sanctified by the Church, and called the
Sacred Order of Scientists. These custodians of the supreme secret were
to be kept at public expense. They were to devote themselves wholly to
the service of science, and in particular to research into the most
scientific manner of worshipping the Divine Gordelpus.
Of the scientists present, some few looked distinctly uncomfortable, but
the majority scarcely concealed their delight under dignified and
thoughtful hesitation. Amongst the priests also two expressions were
visible; but on the whole it was felt that the Church must gain by thus
gathering into herself the unique prestige of science. And so it was
that the Order was founded which was destined to become the dominant
force in human affairs until the downfall of the first world
civilization.