SCIENTIFIC METHOD 83 



astically of that pleasure which one feels in truth, 

 and which in this world is about the only pure and 

 unmixed happiness. 



At the same time he shared Bacon's distrust of 

 the Aristotelian logic and maintained that ordinary 

 dialectic is valueless for those who desire to investi- 

 gate the truth of things. There is need of a method 

 for finding out the truth. He compares himself to a 

 smith forced to begin at the beginning by fashion- 

 ing tools with which to work. 



In his method of discovery he determined to ac- 

 cept nothing as true that he did not clearly recog- 

 nize to be so. He stood against assumptions, and 

 insisted on rigid proof. Trust only what is com- 

 pletely known. Attain a certitude equal to that of 

 arithmetic and geometry. This attitude of strict 

 criticism is characteristic of the scientific mind. 



Again, Descartes was bent on analyzing each dif- 

 ficulty in order to solve it ; to neglect no intermediate 

 steps in the deduction, but to make the enumeration 

 of details adequate and methodical. Preserve a cer- 

 tain order ; do not attempt to jump from the ground 

 to the gable, but rise gradually from what is simple 

 and easily understood. 



Descartes' interest was not in the several branches 

 of mathematics ; rather he wished to establish a uni- 

 versal mathematics, a general science relating to 

 order and measurement. He considered all physical 

 nature, including the human body, as a mechanism, 

 capable of explanation on mathematical principles. 

 But his immediate interest lay in numerical relation- 

 ships and geometrical proportions. 



Recognizing that the understanding was depend- 



