Separation of other kindred studies -- p. 56-62. The uranological portion
of the Cosmos is more simple than the telluric; the impossibility of
ascertaining the diversity of matter simplifies the study of the mechanism
of the heavens. Origin of the word 'Cosmos', its signification of adornment
and order of the universe. The 'existing' can not be absolutely separated
in our contemplation of nature from the 'future'. History of the world and
description of the world -- p. 26-73.
Attempts to embrace the multiplicity of the phenomena of the Cosmos in the
unity of thought and under the form of a purely rational combination.
Natural philosophy, which preceded all exact observation in antiquity, is a
natural, but not unfrequently ill-directed, effort of reason. Two forms of
abstraction rule in the whole mass of knowledge, viz.: the 'quantitative',
relative determinations according to number and magnitude, and
'qualitative', material characters. Means of submitting phenomena to
calculation. Atoms, mechanical methods of construction. Figurative
representations; mythical conception of imponderable matters, and the
peculiar vital forces in every organism. That which is attained by
observation and experiment (calling forth phenomena) leads, by analogy and
induction, to a knowledge of 'empirical laws'; their gradual simplification
and generalization.
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