"[[Mathematical analysis|[M]athematical analysis]] is as extensive as nature... it defines all perceptible relations, measures times, spaces, forces, temperatures; this... science is formed slowly, but it preserves every principle... acquired; it grows and strengthens... incessantly in the midst of... variations and errors of... mind. Its chief attribute is clearness; it has no marks to express confused notions. It brings together phenomena the most diverse, and discovers the hidden analogies which unite them."