The Preface.

...observations and inductions original: "inductions"; the process of drawing general conclusions from specific observations, a core part of the scientific method continued = for several ages. Yet I saw, nevertheless, that my hopes were not left completely in suspense: because I perceived my mind so enlightened by the light it received from those various sparks—which have now grown almost into a torch—that some great secrets of Nature and very obscure passages of Scripture (the meaning of which I did not understand before) were now clear, as if by their own accord, to the great satisfaction of my mind. For now, along with those who have discovered a more solid method of philosophy in this age, I saw and rested in these principles:

- I. That the only true, natural, and clear way of philosophy is to derive all things from the senses, reason, and Scripture.

- II. That the Peripatetic original: "Peripatetick"; referring to the traditional school of philosophy following the teachings of Aristotle philosophy is not only deficient in many areas and complicated in many ways—full of twists and turns—but also partly incorrect, so that it is not only useless for Chris-