AN INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE 



SECTION I 



CHAPTER I 

 First Principles 



Definition of Science. " Definitions might be good 

 if words were not used in making them," is Rousseau's well- 

 known paradox. Before any form of words can be found 

 which will convey to the mind an idea of the meaning of 

 science, the words themselves must be defined. Yet every- 

 one knows what the expression science means, and appre- 

 ciates its value as an amplification of the term knowledge. 

 The idea of science as it hovers in the atmosphere of the 

 mind has significance, difficult as it is to pin it down in words. 

 "Science is knowledge reduced to law and embodied in 

 system." The phrase sounds explanatory, yet each of its 

 terms might be challenged ; and it might well be asked 

 whether our knowledge is reduced to law because our 

 thoughts about the things we know are arranged in order 

 in our minds. It might be pointed out that the force of 

 the phrase is extrinsic rather than intrinsic, proportional not 

 to its lucidity but to the experience of the individual using it 

 of the applications of the word law, and his acquaintance 

 with systems of philosophy. A definition should be at the 

 same time an explanation; but the concise forms of words in 

 which we attempt to define our mental conceptions resemble 

 more frequently the analytical titles which the authors of the 

 last century affected for their books. A formula does not 

 necessarily inform. It may limit without elucidating, and 



A (I) 



