PREFACE. GEOMETRY is the science best adapted to the development of the faculties of the student in deductive reasoning. Among the invaluable results of successful work in this subject are the habit of forming distinct conceptions and the power of continuity in thought and speech. The knowledge, moreover, to be acquired by its study is of the highest importance, not only in the pursuit of allied sciences, but also in many useful arts and industries. A prominent feature of this text-book is its strict adherence to the principle of association. Each book treats of one subject, and each section treats of one subdivision of the subject. The student will thus not only acquire more distinct and more general concepts, but his memory will have the full benefit of the operation of the laws of association of thought. Another and perhaps the leading feature of the book is the system of graded exercises. A body of work is here presented in a form rendered possible only by the grouping of propositions. At the end of each section miscellaneous exercises, thoroughly assorted and graded, are presented in such order that their successive solution causes a constant growth in the power of thought, analytic and synthetic. A synopsis of each book precedes the book itself, to encourage students to work independently of the demonstrations given. 184206 *The main body of the definitions is distributed throughout the Many exercises are found in different sections, in addition to those referred to in the Table of Contents at the end of the respective sections. |