The acquisition of the most elementary truth does not devolve upon the individual alone: it is pre-effected in the development of the race.
The history of the development of mechanics is quite indispensable to a full comprehension of the science in its present condition. It also affords a simple and instructive example of the processes by which natural science generally is developed. The Science of Mechanics: A Critical and Historical Account of Its Development (1893)
Within the short span of a human life and with man's limited powers of memory, any stock of knowledge worthy of the name is unattainable except by the greatest mental economy. Science itself, therefore, may be regarded as a minimal problem, consisting of the completest possible presentment of facts with the least possible expenditure of thought.