On the Development of the Methods of Theoretical Physics in Recent Times

In earlier centuries, science advanced steadily but slowly through the work of the most select minds, just as an old town constantly grows through new buildings put up by industrious and enterprising citizens. In contrast, our present century of steam and telegraphy has set its seal of nervous and precipitate activity on scientific progress too. Especially the development of natural science in recent times resembles rather that of a modern American town which in a few decades grows from a village into a city of millions.