Science may be likened to a mirror wherein the images of the
mysteries of outer phenomena are reflected. It brings forth and exhibits to us
in the arena of knowledge all the product of the past. It links together past
and present. The philosophical conclusions of bygone centuries, the teachings
of the Prophets and wisdom of former sages are crystallized and reproduced in
the scientific advancement of today. Science is the discoverer of the past.
From its premises of past and present we deduce conclusions as to the future. Science
is the governor of nature and its mysteries, the one agency by which man
explores the institutions of material creation.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk at
Columbia University,
New York, 19 April 1912; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by
'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)
