On Series XII: Nature

"Further we believe that GOD Himself is present everywhere throughout the whole of the undoubtedly divisible space that all bodies occupy; & yet He is onefold in the highest degree & admits not of any composite nature whatever. Moreover, the same idea seems to depend on an analogy between space & time. For, just as rest is a conjunction with a continuous series of all the instants In the interval of time during which the rest endures; so also this virtual extension is a conjunction of one instant of time with a continuous series of all the points of space throughout which this one-fold entity extends virtually. Hence, just as rest is believed to exist in Nature, so also are we bound to admit virtual extension; & if this is admitted, then it will be possible for the primary elements of matter to be simple, & yet not absolutely non-extended." (Roger J Boscovich, "Philosophiae Naturalis Theoria Redacta Ad Unicam Legera Virium in Natura Existentium, 1758)

"Nature, displayed in its full extent, presents us with an immense tableau, in which all the order of beings are each represented by a chain which sustains a continuous series of objects, so close and so similar that their difference would be difficult to define. This chain is not a simple thread which is only extended in length, it is a large web or rather a network, which, from interval to interval, casts branches to the side in order to unite with the networks of another order." (Comte Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, "Les Oiseaux Qui Ne Peuvent Voler", Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux Vol. I, 1770)

"[…] without the theory of evolution all the big general series of phenomena of organic nature remain completely incomprehensible and inexplicable riddles, while by means of this theory they can be explained simply and consistently. This holds especially true for two complexes of biological phenomena which we now in conclusion wish to single out in a few words. These form the subject of two special branches of physiology which so far have been largely neglected, namely, the ecology and chorology of organisms." (Ernst Häckel, "Generelle Morphologie der Organismen", 1866)

"Nature's action is complex: and nothing is gained in the long run by pretending that it is simple, and trying to describe it in a series of elementary propositions." (Alfred Marshall, "Principles of Economics", 1890)

"We define law, using the word in the philosophic sense, as the constant relation discoverable in a series of phenomena." (Michel Bréal, "Essai de semantique", 1897)

"Nature is an infinitely complex series of facts; it is not an object lesson, and it is not a ready-made sermon on conduct or morality." (Hal Borland, "The Enduring Pattern, A Place to Live: Time", 1959)