THE HELIX OF HISTORY 41 



now determines the progress of civilization as a whole. This 

 component can only be that of progress in the field in which, 

 according to Sarton, it has definite and unquestionable 

 meaning, that of "systematized, positive knowledge," that is. 

 Science. 



Through the ages we see an increase in man's understand- 

 ing of nature and his control of natural forces. Astronomy 

 started as astrology, but this involved the observation of the 

 positions of the heavenly bodies and thus led to the astronom- 

 ical determination of time and the establishment of a calen- 

 dar. Moreover, fiom obser\ ations of the stars it was possible 

 to form an idea of world geography; and this made possible 

 the development of navigation away from the coasts. Prac- 

 tical metallurgy led into chemistry, for which alchemy played 

 the part that astrology played for astronomy. Through a 

 vast amount of suffering man attained some know^ledge of 

 anatomy, because of his need for surgery, and finally of 

 physiology. Thus, step by step, science advanced through 

 the ages until we reached the seventeenth century. Then 

 there was a sudden and definite change in the rate of learn- 

 ing. The experimental method of research ^vas discovered, 

 and the advance in scientific method and knowledsre sud- 

 denly became much more rapid. The cause and nature of 

 this sudden change are discussed later. Indeed, the nature 

 of science and the methods of experimental inquiry form the 

 principal subjects of this book. In the meantime, we may 

 complete our picture of the helix of history by realizing that 

 it shows a steady increase in the separation of the coils and 

 then, suddenly, after the discovery of the methods of experi- 

 mental science, springs upward in an almost vertical direction. 



