Descartes rules for systematic thinking in the area of science

The first

was never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgment that what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt.

The second

to divide each of the difficulties under examination into as many parts as possible, and as might be necessary for its adequate solution.

The third

to conduct my thoughts in such order that, by commencing with objects the simplest and easiest to know, I might ascend by little and little, and as it were, step by step, to the knowledge of the more complex; assigning in thought a certain order even to those objects which in their own nature do not stand in a relation of antecedence and sequence.

And the last

in every case to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so general that I might be assured that nothing was omitted.

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