登陆注册
8930700000023

第23章 PART VI(2)

I remarked,moreover,with respect to experiments,that they become always more necessary the more one is advanced in knowledge;for,at the commencement,it is better to make use only of what is spontaneously presented to our senses,and of which we cannot remain ignorant,provided we bestow on it any reflection,however slight,than to concern ourselves about more uncommon and recondite phenomena:the reason of which is,that the more uncommon often only mislead us so long as the causes of the more ordinary are still unknown;and the circumstances upon which they depend are almost always so special and minute as to be highly difficult to detect.But in this I have adopted the following order:first,I have essayed to find in general the principles,or first causes of all that is or can be in the world,without taking into consideration for this end anything but God himself who has created it,and without educing them from any other source than from certain germs of truths naturally existing in our minds In the second place,I examined what were the first and most ordinary effects that could be deduced from these causes;and it appears to me that,in this way,I have found heavens,stars,an earth,and even on the earth water,air,fire,minerals,and some other things of this kind,which of all others are the most common and ******,and hence the easiest to know.Afterwards when I wished to descend to the more particular,so many diverse objects presented themselves to me,that Ibelieved it to be impossible for the human mind to distinguish the forms or species of bodies that are upon the earth,from an infinity of others which might have been,if it had pleased God to place them there,or consequently to apply them to our use,unless we rise to causes through their effects,and avail ourselves of many particular experiments.

Thereupon,turning over in my mind I the objects that had ever been presented to my senses I freely venture to state that I have never observed any which I could not satisfactorily explain by the principles had discovered.But it is necessary also to confess that the power of nature is so ample and vast,and these principles so ****** and general,that I have hardly observed a single particular effect which I cannot at once recognize as capable of being deduced in man different modes from the principles,and that my greatest difficulty usually is to discover in which of these modes the effect is dependent upon them;for out of this difficulty cannot otherwise extricate myself than by again seeking certain experiments,which may be such that their result is not the same,if it is in the one of these modes at we must explain it,as it would be if it were to be explained in the other.As to what remains,I am now in a position to discern,as I think,with sufficient clearness what course must be taken to make the majority those experiments which may conduce to this end:but I perceive likewise that they are such and so numerous,that neither my hands nor my income,though it were a thousand times larger than it is,would be sufficient for them all;so that according as henceforward Ishall have the means of ****** more or fewer experiments,I shall in the same proportion make greater or less progress in the knowledge of nature.

This was what I had hoped to make known by the treatise I had written,and so clearly to exhibit the advantage that would thence accrue to the public,as to induce all who have the common good of man at heart,that is,all who are virtuous in truth,and not merely in appearance,or according to opinion,as well to communicate to me the experiments they had already made,as to assist me in those that remain to be made.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 梦玲飞舞

    梦玲飞舞

    荷怡,一个自卑而简单的女孩,却经历了万事,无奈而疲惫,事情总是爱缠着她,这一切,只为了他,她爱他,而他一次又一次伤害她,而她,并不恨他,一次又一次原谅他。
  • 极品美女的帅气小助理

    极品美女的帅气小助理

    做保镖的头一天,就得罪了何氏大少?真是触霉头。好好的英雄救美,竟然是个局。擦擦!我林小帅就是个孤儿,不带这么玩的。哎?给美女做助理?这是个好差事。身世成谜、清冷高傲,跟我有关系吗?流连花丛,成就复仇大业,这活能干!复仇之路开启中……
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 甜心助理pk高冷总裁

    甜心助理pk高冷总裁

    甜心助理跟高冷总裁之间,会擦出怎样的火花?
  • 踹开扶弟魔

    踹开扶弟魔

    简介:14岁高中毕业,18岁大学毕业,22岁研究生毕业,风风光光回到家族的龙玉羽,却因为母亲的事情而离家出走,来到东城安居乐业,本想平凡的度过一生,却遇到了扶弟魔媳妇,欠下一屁股的债务,终于忍耐不住爆发了......
  • 影中侍者

    影中侍者

    潜伏于阴影之中,随时准备出击。栖身于黑暗之中,弹奏死亡的乐曲。刀尖上的舞者,舞出收割生命的节奏。在我们的眼里,目标永远是一具冰冷的尸体!我们是暗夜里的王者,我们是光明的送葬者!我们将正义踩在脚下。我们是刺客!
  • 杭茗的秘密

    杭茗的秘密

    有的人,不能动心。有的人,不能在一起可王言之偏偏喜欢杭茗。喜欢一个不能动心不能在一起的人他说:“茗茗,我想和你谈谈。”杭茗:“谈什么?”王言之:“谈恋爱。”多年以后杭茗见到满身尘土的王言之她忍不住问:“你来做什么?”他在招呼帮忙搬东西的师傅,笑着说:“因为你不走,所以我来了。”王言之笑得从容自信,而杭茗的眼,模糊了
  • 辉煌调

    辉煌调

    那一年,我们青春年少,携手共赴辉煌。那一年,我们满腔热血,打下半壁江山。那一年,我们生离死别,体验生命轻薄。······当年华老去,当热血不在,那些轻狂岁月也化为往昔。曾经与我一路相伴的人们,你们如今又在何方过着怎样的生活?谨以此文,祭奠那一段叛逆的青春。
  • 林徽因:芳菲宛在四月天

    林徽因:芳菲宛在四月天

    《芳菲宛在四月天:林徽因美文(百年珍藏版)》最完整的林徽因美文珍藏集。多首珍贵佚诗,百年来首度惊艳面世,以飨读者。名篇名作+惊艳佚作,一代才女瑰丽的文学世界终可一窥全貌。诗歌、散文、翻译、戏剧、小说,各种文体尽数收揽,最值得珍藏的林徽因美文合集。
  • 天下唯我独活

    天下唯我独活

    我生而为魔,天下人无一不对我喊打喊杀。本以为自己冷心冷情,直到你的出现,我知道自己也有心。几千年的陪伴,只为你能对我心生好感,不曾想,换来的确实你的狠辣一剑和那一句:我再也不想看到你。重生一世,紫瞳依旧在,我只为自己而活!这一次,我只要天下唯我独活!此文架空,不映射任何地点,事物。