CONTENTS 



Chapter I. The Interpretation of History 1 



Theories used for the interpretation of history- 

 unique events, cycles of civilization, and the idea of 

 progress. 



Chapter II. The Helix of History 17 



A resume of the prehistoric and early history of man, 

 pointing out that its structure, and especially that of the 

 history of Egypt, corresponds well with Petrie's theory 

 of the Revolutions of Civilization. The cycles of his- 

 tory, however, show a progressive increase in natural 

 knowledge so that the whole structure can be likened to 

 a helix, in which the vertical component represents the 

 growth of scientific knowledge, which increased rapidly 

 after the sixteenth century and then became the domi- 

 nant factor in the history of civilization. 



Chapter III. The Method of Science 42 



The epistemology of science, the methods used by 

 scientific men in observing, recording, and correlating 

 facts, the development of theories and scientific laws. 



Chapter IV. The Development of the Scientific 



Method 65 



The early growth of science, beginning with its devel- 

 opment among the Greeks, the collapse in the Middle 

 Ages, and the rebirth in the Renaissance. The founda- 

 tion of the scientific societies at the end of the seven- 

 teenth century. 



xi 



