They were supposed by him to be percipient, self-acting beings, not under arbitrary control of the deity, and yet God himself was the original monad from which all the rest are generated.

With this conception as a basis, Leibnitz deduced his doctrine of pre-established harmony, whereby the numerous independent substances composing the world are made to form one universe.

He believed that by virtue of an inward energy monads develop themselves spontaneously, each being independent of every other.

In short, each monad is a kind of deity in itself--a microcosm representing all the great features of the macrocosm.
It would be impossible clearly to estimate the precise value of the stimulative influence of these philosophers upon the scientific thought of their time.

There was one way, however, in which their influence was made very tangible--namely, in the incentive they gave to the foundation of scientific societies.
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES At the present time, when the elements of time and distance are practically eliminated in the propagation of news, and when cheap printing has minimized the difficulties of publishing scientific discoveries, it is difficult to understand the isolated position of the scientific investigation of the ages that preceded steam and electricity.