NEWTON: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy [Prefaces, Definitions, Axioms, General Scholium]

Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy was first published in 1687. Two subsequent editions with emendations were published in 1713 and 1726. In the text, Newton lays the foundations for what would be known in the future as classical mechanics – a technical term that simply indicates the study of the behavior of macroscopic bodies when acted upon by forces.

DESCARTES: Discourse on the Method

Rene Descartes published the Discourse on the Method in 1637. The work is a philosophical and autobiographical treatise that propounds Descartes’ method for attaining truth.

BACON: Novum Organum [Preface, Book I]

Francis Bacon wrote and published Novum Organum in 1620. The subject of the work is the method by which one ought to seek truth. According to Bacon, men ought to begin with observations – i.e. the senses – and then move incrementally from intermediate axioms to the most general axioms. This process is called induction, which is the method employed by modern science. For example, a man observes that all cats that he has encountered have tails. He concludes that it is highly probable that all cats have tails. The contrary method is called deduction. The process of deduction is when general principles are proposed and then used to assert particular truths. For example, all cats have a tail. X is a cat. X has a tail. To summarize the difference between the two methodologies, induction begins with particulars and moves to generalities while deduction begins with generalities and moves to particulars.

GALILEO: Two New Sciences [Third Day, through Scholium of Theorem II]

Galileo’s Two New Sciences is a scientific treatise published in 1638. The Third Day section through the Scholium of Theorem II is concerned with the constant speed of physical bodies and the uniform acceleration of falling bodies.

MONTAIGNE: Apology for Raymond de Sebonde

In the Apology for Raymond de Sebonde, Montaigne writes a long treatise supporting the religious arguments of Raymond de Sebonde. Montaigne does not analyze the specific arguments Sebonde presents to counter the arguments of atheists, but rather he presents his own evidence for justifying a radical skepticism toward all knowledge except knowledge obtained directly from the divine.