AURATIO.)--He divided it into six parts,
bearing a logical relation to each other, and arranged in the proper order
of study.

I. Survey and extension of the sciences, (_De Augmentis Scientiarum_.)
"Gives the substance or general description of the knowledge which mankind
_at present possesses_." That is, let it be observed, not according to the
received system and divisions, but according to his own. It is a new
presentation of the existent state of knowledge, comprehending "not only
the things already invented and known, but also those omitted and wanted,"
for he says the intellectual globe, as well as the terrestrial, has its
broils and deceits.

In the branch "_De Partitione Scientiarum_," he divides all human learning
into _History_, which uses the memory; _Poetry_, which employs the
imagination; and _Philosophy_, which requires the reason: divisions too
vague and too few, and so overlapping each other as to be of little
present use. Later classifications into numerous divisions have been
necessary to the progress of scientific research.

II. Precepts for the interpretation of nature, (_Novum Organum_.) This
sets forth "the doctrine of a more perfect use of the reason, and the true
helps of the intellectual faculties, so as to raise and enlarge the powers
of the mind." "A kind of logic, by us called," he says, "the art of
interpreting nature: differing from the common logic ... in three things,
the end, the order of demonstrating, and the grounds of inquiry."

Here he discusses induction; opposes the syllogism; shows the value and
the faults of the senses--as they fail us, or deceive us--and presents in
his _idola_ the various modes and forms of deception. These _idola_, which
he calls the deepest fallacies of the human mind, are divided into four
classes: Idola Tribus, Idola Specus, Idola Fori, Idola Theatri. The first
are the errors belonging to the whole human race, or _tribe_; the
second--_of the den_--are the peculiarities of individuals; the third--_of
the market-place_--are social and conventional errors; and the
fourth--_those of the theatre_--include Partisanship, Fashion, and
Authority.

III. Phenomena of the Universe, or Natural and Experimental History, on
which to found Philosophy, (_Sylva Sylvarum_.) "Our natural history is
not designed," he says, "so much to please by vanity, or benefit by
gainful experiments, as to afford light to the discovery of causes, and
hold out the breasts of philosophy.