William Smellie, Encyclopædia Britannica, First Edition (1771)
“ It is well if a man be capable of comprehending the principles and relations of the different parts of science, when laid before him in one uninterrupted chain. But where is the man who can learn the principles of any science from a Dictionary compiled upon the plan hitherto adopted? We will, however, venture to affirm, that any man of ordinary parts, may, if he chuses, learn the principles of Agriculture, of Astronomy, of Botany, of Chemistry, &c. ”
