What is the nature of matter? The behavior and properties of matter are subjects of intense inquiry by physicists. The more basic question of matter's place in ultimate reality is also the subject of inquiry by philosophers, theologians, and thinkers at many levels. An answer to this basic question has been given by Mrs. Eddy. This answer is of immediate practical use for the individual; and as it is generally accepted, it will greatly promote humanity's well-being, knowledge, and advancement. Briefly it is this: in ultimate reality matter does not exist at all.
Matter is not what it seems; it is certainly not what the unaided physical senses tell us it is. Prophets, poets, and philosophers have been saying this much since history began. Today physicists, penetrating matter with X rays, bombarding it with high-energy particles, observing its conversion into energy, and describing it in terms of symbols or mathematical equations, lend massive support to the same conclusion.
Many thoughtful persons are rightly impressed by the professional integrity and dedication of physical scientists and by the immense technological achievements deriving from research in the physical and mathematical sciences. So they look to these sciences to provide the data and data-processing methods for the further search into matter's ultimate nature. But too often they attempt to use these data and these methods to evaluate quite other types of evidence for which the data and methods are not in any way suited. This can lead only to dead ends.
