This, for Herschel, was the very wonder of science: not a wonder at things, not a wonder at the colors and contours of Sugar Loaf Rock, but a wonder at how, across those three months and the relentless wash of the sea day after day, with bitter winds and violent currents and no land sightings to mark their place, the captain had always known where they were. It was a wonder at the reasoning that could yield so masterful a command of nature.
