Besides, i had a contempt for the uses of modern natural philosophy. it was very different when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand; but now the scene was changed. the ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. i was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.