Scientific truth is the remotest of mistresses;
she hides in strange places, she is attained by tortuous and laborious
roads, but SHE IS ALWAYS THERE! Win to her and she will not fail you;
she is yours and mankind's for ever. She is reality, the one reality I
have found in this strange disorder of existence. She will not sulk with
you nor misunderstand you nor cheat you of your reward upon some petty
doubt. You cannot change her by advertisement or clamour, nor stifle her
in vulgarities. Things grow under your hands when you serve her, things
that are permanent as nothing else is permanent in the whole life of
man. That, I think, is the peculiar satisfaction of science and its
enduring reward....
The taking up of experimental work produced a great change in my
personal habits. I have told how already once in my life at Wimblehurst
I had a period of discipline and continuous effort, and how, when I
came to South Kensington, I became demoralised by the immense effect
of London, by its innumerable imperative demands upon my attention and
curiosity.
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