Excerpt from Cosmos, Vol. 1: A Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe

Subjects embraced by the study of the Cosmos or of physical cosmog raphy. Separation of other kindred studies - p. 56-62. The menu logical portion of the Cosmos is more simple than the telluric, the im possibility of ascertaining the diversity of matter simplifies the study of the mechanism of the heavens. Origin of the word Cosmos, its sig nification 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. 62-73. Attempts to embrace the multiplicity of the phenomena of the Cos mos in the unity of thought and under the form of a purely rational combination. Natural philosophy, which preceded all exact observa tion in antiquity, is a natural, but not unfrequently ill-directed, effort of reason. Two forms of abstraction rule the whole mass of knowl edge, viz.: the quantitative, relative determinations according to num ber and magnitude, and qualitative, material characters. Means of submitting phenomena to calculation. Atoms, mechanical methods of construction. Figurative representations, mythical conception of im ponderable 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 empir ical laws, their gradual simplification and generalization. Arrance ment of the facts discovered in accordance with leading ideas. The treasure of empirical contemplation, collected through ages, is in no dan ger of experiencing any hostile agency from philosophy - p. 73-78.

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