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An Account of fome Books; 
l.ELEMENS des ^ At HEM ATl^UES^cu Precipes Gtne* 
rAux de tout es Us Sciences qui ontUs Grandeurs four Ohjeit 5 par 
3. P. ^Paris, 1 67 5. in quarto. 
THe Author of this Work makes it his bufinefs to deliver a 
ftort andeafie Method to compare ^uantitieSyZud to difco- 
ver their Proportions and Relations to one another by Charaflers 
of Numbers, and Letters of the Alphabet ; affirming to have here 
demonftrated things in a Geometrical order, and rendred the j1/ge- 
hraicd Analy fis much eafier , and treated the fame more fundamen- 
tally than hath been donehitherto. 
By ^mtlty he underftands here not only the Extenfion in length, 
bredth and depth , but vvhatfoever we conceive to be capable of 
more or lefs^and that can beexaftly meafured, whether it be exaftly 
known, or fuppofed fuch. Thus Time,Weight, Celerity, and even 
the Senfible Qualities, the Degrees of Perfeftion, being capable of 
moreorlefs,are,tohin3,iheObjeftof the Mathematicks. Vor^ Jaith 
he^]{you do exaflly know thefe perfections and qualities,you may 
compare them in order to know exaftly their proportions, and if 
you do not know them exaftly,you may compare them by fuppofi- 
tion: For,if you know,that a piece of lron(^^.) is four times hea- 
vier than fuch a piece of Wood; by fuppofing that Wood is a thou- 
fand times weightier rhan Air, you may conclude by this fuppofiti- 
on,that the Iron is 4000 times heavier than Air. 
He confiders, that though ^rithmetick be a Science from which 
all others depend ; yet 'tis this y^-^c^r^, which ferves to elucidate, 
extend and perfeft,as much as is poffible, Arithmetick, and general- 
ly all the Sciences that relate to the Mathematicks : It being fo ge- 
neral,that it confiders all Quantities,and what it demonftrares being 
capable to be applied not only to Numbers Lines and Figures, 
Weights and Velocities ; but alfo to all fuch Numbers,Lines, Velo- 
cities,and particular quantities, as you can conceive in each fpecies 
of Quantities, 
But 'tis not only the Extent and Univerfalityof Algebra.^ for 
which he commends it ; but alfo the Facility it affords to the mind 
of difcoveringthe moft hidden Verities, and which 'tisimpoflible 
to manifeft by ordinary Arithmetick and Geometry, or by the aid 
of any other Science ; fince it not being poflible to give to our un- 
derftanding a greater extent and capacity than it hath, this Science 
only teaches to manage it, by reprefenting to it under very fliort ex- 
preflions an Aggregat of many Ideas^by taking it up fo little by the 
fenfes 
