Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 76.djvu/173

Rh by the names of Roberval, Descartes, Desargues, Fermat and Pascal, who in brief founded modern analytic and projective geometry, and laid the foundations for the calculus.

The latitude of England made it later in development than either France or Germany, while its insular position also introduced an important modification. Extensive commercial relations were developed, which, as in the case of the Phoenicians, forced arithmetic into prominence. The first advance consisted in substituting for the old Boethian arithmetic, inherited from the Romans, the more powerful algorism of the Arabs, introduced by way of the trade routes between England and Italy. In the hands of the English, however, arithmetic was soon transformed into the practical art demanded by their commerce and characteristic of their genius, the most notable addition being the invention of logarithms. So rapidly was this transformation effected that within a decade after the invention of logarithms they had come into general use.

With the growing mastery of man over nature the effect of environment in modifying history becomes somewhat less apparent. Sufficient has been said, however, to suggest the dynamic influence of geography upon culture, and indicate the new light thrown upon intellectual development when studied from the standpoint of physiography.