Nature and Evolution The book begins with the statement: "It is nature that I wish to describe [
ecrire]; nature is the only book for the philosopher." On the question of
evolution, Diderot writes:
Mathematics and Experimental Science The book extolls the
natural sciences and the role played by
experience in developing the natural sciences. It denounces mathematics, more specifically it criticizes the kind of mathematics which yields no new knowledge and is "useless". It is critical of "useless experiments" and mathematical assumptions that are contrary to the
laws of nature; and the approach of treating mathematics as a game that has nothing to do with nature. Mathematicians like to criticize other thinkers for being
metaphysicians, writes Diderot, but increasingly chemists, physicists, and naturalists are directing the same criticism at them. In his book, Diderot focuses on the role of
conjecture in the natural sciences. By
conjecture Diderot means the ability of an experimental philosopher to "sniff out" new methods and processes; he examines the question of whether this ability can be passed on from one person to another. ==References==