Natura non facit saltus
Latin axiom in natural philosophy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Discontinuous variation" redirects here. For discontinuous variation in statistics, see categorical variable.
Natura non facit saltus[1][2] (Latin for "nature does not make jumps") has been an important principle of natural philosophy. It appears as an axiom in the works of Gottfried Leibniz (New Essays, IV, 16:[2] "la nature ne fait jamais des sauts", "nature never makes jumps"), one of the inventors of the infinitesimal calculus (see Law of Continuity). It is also an essential element of Charles Darwin's treatment of natural selection in his Origin of Species.[3] The Latin translation comes from Linnaeus' Philosophia Botanica.[4]