ART 



OF 



SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



PART I. 



GENERAL VIEW AND BASIS OF 

 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL NATURE OF ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 



The laws of Nature are the thoughts of God. OERSTED. 



A great problem, ever pressing upon mankind, 



Is, how to discover and apply 



The immense Universe of Truth yet unknown : 



Thus to understand the Great Cause of all things, 



And harmonise our actions with it. And thus 



The final end of all original research 



Is the improvement and perfection of Mankind. 



ORIGINAL Scientific Research aims at the discovery of new 

 truths of nature, and the elucidation and explanation of 

 natural phenomena, by means of experiments, observation, 

 comparison, and reasoning. It is, in its fullest scope, an 

 almost unlimited subject, because it includes all investiga- 

 tions in the whole of the sciences ; and these treat of the 



