William Whewell
Polymath and philosopher of science, 1794-1866
Cited as Whewell. — 64 quotations
-ics
Mechanics, like pure mathematics, may be geometrical, or may be analytical; that is, it may treat space either by a direct consideration of its properties, or by a symbolical representation.
Assume
The consequences of assumed principles.
Assumption
The assumption of authority.
Candor
Attribute superior sagacity and candor to those who held that side of the question.
Catasterism
The catasterisms of Eratosthenes.
Causality
The causality of the divine mind.
Causation
The kind of causation by which vision is produced.
Celebrity
An event of great celebrity in the history of astronomy.
Chair
The chair of a philosophical school.
Charge
The charge of confounding very different classes of phenomena.
Circulation
The true doctrines of astronomy appear to have had some popular circulation.
Circumstanced
The proposition is, that two bodies so circumstanced will balance each other.
Clarification
The clarification of men's ideas.
Coexistent
The law of coexistent vibrations.
Commentation
The spirit of commentation.
Commentator
The commentator's professed object is to explain, to enforce, to illustrate doctrines claimed as true.
Comparative
The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.
Complex
When the actual motions of the heavens are calculated in the best possible way, the process is difficult and complex.
Composition
The elementary composition of bodies.
Conception
He [Herodotus] says that the sun draws or attracts the water; a metaphorical term obviously intended to denote some more general and abstract conception than that of the visible operation which the word primarily signifies.
Configuration
They [astrologers] undertook . . . to determine the course of a man's character and life from the configuration of the stars at the moment of his birth.
Conform
A rule to which experience must conform.
Conformable
Conformable to Scripture as well as to philosophy.
Confusion
The confusion of thought to which the Aristotelians were liable.
Conjecture
He [Herodotus] would thus have corrected his first loose conjecture by a real study of nature.
Connection
He [Algazel] denied the possibility of a known connection between cause and effect.
Conscience
As science means knowledge, conscience etymologically means self-knowledge . . . But the English word implies a moral standard of action in the mind as well as a consciousness of our own actions. . . . Conscience is the reason, employed about questions of right and wrong, and accompanied with the sentiments of approbation and condemnation.
Consideration
The consideration with which he was treated.
Consilience
The consilience of inductions takes place when one class of facts coincides with an induction obtained from another different class.
Construction
An astrolabe of peculiar construction.
Consult
Men forgot, or feared, to consult nature . . . ; they were content to consult libraries.
Contrary
The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture.
Contrast
The contrasts and resemblances of the seasons.
Contribution
Aristotle's actual contributions to the physical sciences.
Convex
Drops of water naturally form themselves into figures with a convex surface.
Counterpoint
Counterpoint, an invention equivalent to a new creation of music.
Creative
The creative force exists in the germ.
Crepuscular
Others feed only in the twilight, as bats and owls, and are called crepuscular.
Crystalline
Their crystalline structure.
Deductive
Notions and ideas . . . used in a deductive process.
Deference
Deference to the authority of thoughtful and sagacious men.
Definite
Elements combine in definite proportions.
Delusive
Delusive and unsubstantial ideas.
Designation
The usual designation of the days of the week.
Diffraction
Remarked by Grimaldi (1665), and referred by him to a property of light which he called diffraction.
Diffuse
We find this knowledge diffused among all civilized nations.
Dim
The dim magnificence of poetry.
Displacement
The displacement of the sun by parallax.
Disregard
The disregard of experience.
Dogma
The obscure and loose dogmas of early antiquity.
Effect
The effect is the unfailing index of the amount of the cause.
Evolve
The principles which art involves, science alone evolves.
Excogitate
This evidence . . . thus excogitated out of the general theory.
Fundamental
Some fundamental antithesis in nature.
Futility
The futility of this mode of philosophizing.
Jural
By the adjective jural we shall denote that which has reference to the doctrine of rights and obligations; as by the adjective “moral” we denote that which has reference to the doctrine of duties.
Manipulation
Manipulation is to the chemist like the external senses to the mind.
Material
The material elements of the universe.
Obligation
Every man has obligations which belong to his station. Duties extend beyond obligation, and direct the affections, desires, and intentions, as well as the actions.
Prelude
The cause is more than the prelude, the effect is more than the sequel, of the fact.
Prudence
Prudence supposes the value of the end to be assumed, and refers only to the adaptation of the means. It is the relation of right means for given ends.
Replace
This duty of right intention does not replace or supersede the duty of consideration.
Systematic
A representation of phenomena, in order to answer the purposes of science, must be systematic.
Verbal
Mere verbal refinements, instead of substantial knowledge.