Science is a match that man has just got alight. He thought he was in a room - in moments of devotion, a temple- and that his light would be reflected from and display walls inscribed with wonderful secrets and pillars carved with philosophical systems wrought into harmony. It is a curious sensation, now that the preliminary splutter is over and the flame burns up clear, to see his hand lit and just a glimpse of himself and the patch he stands on visible, and around him, in place of all that human comfort and beauty he anticipated - darkness still.
(H.G Wells, 'The Rediscovery of the Unique',1891)
