on, are the basis for the successful conduct
of war. The need of such a basis has been felt from very early times.
It was not, however, until the early part of the Nineteenth Century
that students of warfare appear to have recorded the view that the
conduct of war is susceptible of reduction to scientific analysis, and
that only through a reasoned theory can the true causes of success and
failure be explained.

Such a scientific analysis of any subject has for its chief practical
aim the improvement of the art, or practice, of that subject. Forming
an important part of the science of war are those new developments in
weapons and in other technological fields which, with the passage of
time, have brought about great changes in methods of waging war. It is
only through founding the art of war--the application of the science
of war to actual military situations--on the fundamental truths
discovered through the science of war, that changes in method, due to
technological evolution, can be made most effective.

In preparing for war, the only practicable peacetime tests are usually
restricted to those afforded by examples of the past, by problems such
as chart (map) and board maneuvers, and by fleet and field exercises.
While the military profession can afford to neglect none of them,
such tests can never be conclusive. This fact, however, far from
justifying resort to any other procedure, emphasizes the necessity for
utilization of the scientific method in order to arrive at conclusions
which are as exact as possible.

An exact result is, of course, the aim of all scientific research, but
exactitude necessarily depends on the establishment of correct
relationships among facts which have so far come to light.
Consequently, there is great variation in the degree of accuracy which
actually characterizes the several sciences. If it be maintained that
only those studies which have resulted in exact conclusions may
properly be regarded as sciences, then it can hardly be said that many
sciences, now regarded as such, exist; for the findings of medicine,
biology, chemistry, and even physics are continually being revised in
the light of new data.

The science of war necessarily includes knowledge gained in other
fields. In war, as in medicine or any other practical activity, the
more inclusive and dependable the body of knowledge available as a
basis for action, the more probable it is that the application of this
knowledge, the