The reasoning that earns its keep

Inductive reasoning is the process of the objective mind by which we compare a number of separate instances with one another until we see the common factor that gives rise to them all.

Induction proceeds by comparison of facts. It is this method of studying nature which has resulted in the discovery of a reign of law which has marked an epoch in human progress.

It is the dividing line between superstition and intelligence. It has eliminated the elements of uncertainty and caprice from men's lives and substituted law, reason, and certitude.

It is the "Watchman at the Gate" mentioned in a former lesson.

When, by virtue of this principle, the world to which the senses were accustomed had been revolutionized, when the sun had been arrested in his course, the apparently flat earth had been shaped into a ball and set whirling around him. When the inert matter had been resolved into active elements, and the Universe presented itself wherever we directed the telescope and microscope, full of force, motion and life, we are constrained to ask by what possible means the delicate forms of organization in the midst of it are kept in order and repair.

Like poles and like forces repel themselves or remain impenetrable to each other, and this cause seems in general sufficient to assign a proper place and distance to stars, men and forces. As men of different virtues enter into partnership, so do opposite poles attract each other, elements that have no property in common like acids and gases cling to each other in preference and a general exchange is kept up between the surplus and the demand.