Jeans

Here's a thought from the physicist, astronomer, mathematician and thinker about science, James Hopwood Jeans, born on this day in 1877:

'The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter ... we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.'

That's from a book descriptively titled The Mysterious Universe, published in 1930.
And here is Jeans again, likening the universe to a work of art:

'Travelling as far back in time as we can brings us not to the creation of the picture, but to its edge; the creation of the picture lies as much outside the picture as the artist is outside his canvas. On this view, discussing the creation of the universe in terms of time and space is like trying to discover the artist and the action of painting, by going to the edge of the canvas. This brings us very near to those philosophical systems which regard the universe as a thought in the mind of its Creator, thereby reducing all discussion of material creation to futility.'

And here is a cautionary observation:

'Science should leave off making pronouncements; the river of knowledge has too often turned back on itself.'