Blackwell Family Elizabeth Blackwell General Correspondence From Henry Crompton42 [?] Square WC 12 May 1890 My Dear Dr Blackwell Thank you very much for your kind letter-I am only too glad to be of any assistance in such a work as yours. I do not think that there is any greater work as the present time or any greater responsibility-than that of giving guidance to the impulse and aspiration of women. The subjects on which you write,and which I mentioned in my letter to my niece are more easily talked over than written upon. Could we not meet?It would give my wife and myself great pleasure if you would come to us--or I could call upon you when you return to town. In all you say on the last page of your letter in regard to the ultimate causation or origin of matter, I must certainly agree--and if that was science [?] the less of it the better. But, in what I believe to be the true philosophic conception of science, all such investigations- all inquiries respecting the origin and purpose of things, the first and final causes, are beyond the limited capacity of human intellect, and beyond the scope of scientific method. Science cannot answer and never has answered the question 'Why?". It does and can answer the question 'how.' In other words the abstract laws, which constitute science, explain to us the way in which events occur or take place. And by limiting our researches to this, man has made immense progress and gained power over the forces of nature and his own destiny. It is however one thing to discover and know how events occur-a natural laws tell us this and often in a very precise way, when the law can be experienced in the form of a ratio or equation, as the law of gravity. It is quite another thing to take advantage of this truth-! and put it in practice!! The difference is expressed by several couples of words. Abstract and concrete. Science and art. Theory and practice. Spiritual and temporal-the step from one to the other is of extreme difficulty-it is by no means the [?] of powerful philosophic minds capable of [??] of abstract reasoning,that are the proper instruments for the practical application of abstract truths. To do so successfully, men have to combine their scientific knowledge with the practical details only to be acquired by long experience, or by the accumulated experience of the human race. In the case of physical science, we have classes of professional men arise, who are specifically trained in the theoretical knowledge and practical experience to apply the abstract laws of science to actual life, such as engineers-whether mechanical or electrical. In biology-the research which was in the hands of the medical profession, is ceasing to be so. The physiological [?] are [?] of everywhere-the biologists in the present day, even if they have been [?] of in the medical schools, are not practitioners-but solely devoted to the pursuit of their science. One has only to mention names such as Darwin, Spencer, Owen [???] all teachersNot appliers-[*consequently to be judged*]-I think very few people at all appreciate the immense difficulty of the step from theory to practice, from the abstract to the concrete. There is a valuable [?] in the introduction to skills political economy, perhaps the most valuable in the book, in which he warns the reader against the direct or immediate application of economical truths to practice!!- They are only a portion of the truth-they must be combined with other [?] aspects of life, before they can be used in practice-!!! You may illustrate this from physical science or biology. Is not the fault and error of the present generation of physicians that of specialists [*?? training*] of dealing with a portion of the body-as if that could be isolated in real life-as it may be for the [*???*] purpose of abstract scientific inquiry. I would say that the more you separate abstract and generalize in science, the more you must recombine and bring together in art. Analysis is of the utmost [?] and value-but as giving us means and materials for a subsequent synthesis. Perhaps I have written of at too great length. I do not know whether I can make clear to you or others what I seem to see clearly myself. Each of us sees, some part of the [?[ whole, I suppose, were clearly than the rest - one sees the vivid reality more accurately - another has trained his faculties of abstract conception & reasoning better. There are few from whom we may not get a lesson, if we can only place ourselves in full sympathy with them. If I have been or can be any help to you, I shall be most glad. Pray, believe me, very sincerely yours Henry Crompton Dr Elizabeth Blackwell Spencer changing his mind - Darwin modest exalting the moral = Husley shocked at application