Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comparison Between The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.
with all the ingenuity of which the mind of man is capable , to account for the various p henomena of nature ; but all were replete with error and absurdity , so long as the ancient mode of philosophising prevailed . But happily for mankind the . fallacy of this mode of enquiry was at last displayed to the world by Lord Bacon , whose capacious mind at once detected and exposed the deceitful errors of
abstract reasoning and speculation in physical studies ; and has taught us to substitute in the room of these observation and experiment , which he has clearly demonstrated to be the only certain means of ascertaining truth in natural philosophy . The wonderful progress since made in every branch of this part of science , is a sufficient evidence of the importance of this discovery . It has enabled us to penetrate into the recessesof nature with a p hilosophic eye , and to bring
to light those grand truths which had so long baffled the efforts of the most ingenious speculatists . . It is needless to mention the great influence which this rapid advancement of philosophy has had upon the comforts , conveniences , and the general happiness of society . Indebted to its beneficial assistance , the arts have been more successfully cultivated , manufactures have more universally flourished , commerce has been extended from one end of the globe to the other , and the understandings and manners of mankind have received a greater degree of refinement and melioration .
But to descend to a few particulars , let us compare for a moment the progress of the ancients in astronomy with the astonishing discoveries of modern philosophers . In this enlightened age , and at this distance of time , the absurdity of the Ptolemaic or Aristotelian system strikes us immediately ; but our surprise will cease if we attend to the observations just made , which evidently shew the paucity of means and the confined opportunities that could be possessed by the authors of this system , for forming just conclusions
concerning the situations , motions , and affections of the heavenly bodies . Pythagoras , indeed , is said to have entertained the true opinion respecting the mundane S 5 'stem ; but this we must attribute more to the happiness of his conjectures , than to any certain evidence which could lead him to the proper inference . Certain it is that his doctrine gained but little ground , while that of Ptolemy not only procured the belief of the age in which it was invented ; but such was the
veneration with which it was regarded , that for many succeeding centuries few dared to dissent from what was so generally adopted , and still fewer ventured publicly to call in question its reality and truth . After the lapse , however , of many ages , when the means of cultivating astronomical knowledge became better known and more attainable , Tycho Brahe , the Danish philosopher , was fully convinced of its errors . He could not but perceive the absurdity of supposing a revolution of the whole fabric of the universe round our triobe . This
he justly considered as a cause in the hig hest degree disproportionate to the effect . In order , therefore , to account in a more rational manner for the phenomena of nature , he framed a system which certainly approached in many respects nearer to the truth than the former ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comparison Between The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.
with all the ingenuity of which the mind of man is capable , to account for the various p henomena of nature ; but all were replete with error and absurdity , so long as the ancient mode of philosophising prevailed . But happily for mankind the . fallacy of this mode of enquiry was at last displayed to the world by Lord Bacon , whose capacious mind at once detected and exposed the deceitful errors of
abstract reasoning and speculation in physical studies ; and has taught us to substitute in the room of these observation and experiment , which he has clearly demonstrated to be the only certain means of ascertaining truth in natural philosophy . The wonderful progress since made in every branch of this part of science , is a sufficient evidence of the importance of this discovery . It has enabled us to penetrate into the recessesof nature with a p hilosophic eye , and to bring
to light those grand truths which had so long baffled the efforts of the most ingenious speculatists . . It is needless to mention the great influence which this rapid advancement of philosophy has had upon the comforts , conveniences , and the general happiness of society . Indebted to its beneficial assistance , the arts have been more successfully cultivated , manufactures have more universally flourished , commerce has been extended from one end of the globe to the other , and the understandings and manners of mankind have received a greater degree of refinement and melioration .
But to descend to a few particulars , let us compare for a moment the progress of the ancients in astronomy with the astonishing discoveries of modern philosophers . In this enlightened age , and at this distance of time , the absurdity of the Ptolemaic or Aristotelian system strikes us immediately ; but our surprise will cease if we attend to the observations just made , which evidently shew the paucity of means and the confined opportunities that could be possessed by the authors of this system , for forming just conclusions
concerning the situations , motions , and affections of the heavenly bodies . Pythagoras , indeed , is said to have entertained the true opinion respecting the mundane S 5 'stem ; but this we must attribute more to the happiness of his conjectures , than to any certain evidence which could lead him to the proper inference . Certain it is that his doctrine gained but little ground , while that of Ptolemy not only procured the belief of the age in which it was invented ; but such was the
veneration with which it was regarded , that for many succeeding centuries few dared to dissent from what was so generally adopted , and still fewer ventured publicly to call in question its reality and truth . After the lapse , however , of many ages , when the means of cultivating astronomical knowledge became better known and more attainable , Tycho Brahe , the Danish philosopher , was fully convinced of its errors . He could not but perceive the absurdity of supposing a revolution of the whole fabric of the universe round our triobe . This
he justly considered as a cause in the hig hest degree disproportionate to the effect . In order , therefore , to account in a more rational manner for the phenomena of nature , he framed a system which certainly approached in many respects nearer to the truth than the former ,