"The geometrical spirit is not so tied to geometry that it cannot be detached from it and transported to other branches of knowledge. A work of morals or politics or criticism, perhaps even of eloquence, would be better (other things being equal) if it were done in the style of a geometer. The order, clarity, precision and exactitude which have been apparent in good books for some time might well have their source in this geometric spirit. ...Sometimes one great man gives the tone to a whole century; Descartes], to whom one might legitimately be accorded the glory of having established a new art of reasoning, was an excellent geometer."
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"The Utility of Mathematics," i.e. "Préface sur l'utitlité des mathématiques et de la physique et sur les travaux de le Académie des Sciences," Œuvres de Monsieur de Fontenelle (1753) Vol. 6, pp.37-50, as quoted by Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science 1300-1800 (1949).
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Le_Bovier_de_Fontenelle
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Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle
1657 – 1757
französischer Schriftsteller
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