Introduction to True Physics

...tion, they have become incapable of perceiving and tasting other principles.

An infinite number of books have appeared in this genre which all—with the exception of the works of Paracelsus Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493–1541), a Swiss physician and alchemist who pioneered the use of minerals in medicine., Van Helmont Jan Baptist van Helmont (1580–1644), a chemist and physician who bridged the gap between alchemy and early chemistry., Verulam Francis Bacon (1561–1626), 1st Viscount St Alban, Baron Verulam; a philosopher often called the father of empiricism for his work on the scientific method., Descartes René Descartes (1596–1650), the French philosopher whose mechanical philosophy sought to explain the physical world through mathematical and mechanical laws., and a small number of others—teach the same errors.

This entire multitude of treatises on Physics In this context, "Physics" refers to Natural Philosophy, the study of the laws of nature and the physical world before the modern separation of sciences., when considered carefully, presents nothing but endless repetitions of the same thing, various ways of operating, and discoveries that are not new; at first, one expects to see many things, but after a mature examination, all these grand reasonings are reduced to nothing.

To many of these books, commentaries have been added; others are reduced into abridgments; to some, clarifications have been joined; and both are accompanied by reasoned judgments and praises; they are translated into several languages; collections of selected passages are made, which are cited as infallible and authentic truths; finally, in this genre, people imagine everything that the greed of Booksellers original: "Libraires." In the 17th and 18th centuries, booksellers often acted as publishers, financing and directing the production of new volumes. can suggest to au...