Auguste Comte (1798-1857) suggested that we apply the scientific method to the social world, a process known as positivism. With the bloody upheavals of the French Revolution fresh in his mind-and he knew that the crowds had cheered at the public execution of the king and queen of France-Comte started to wonder what holds society together. Why do we have social order instead of anarchy or chaos? And when society becomes set on a particular course, what causes it to change? These were pressing questions, and Comte decided that the scientific method held the key to answering them. Just as the scientific method had revealed the law of gravity, so, too, it would uncover the laws that underlie society. Comte called this new science sociology-"the study of society" (from the Greek logos, "study of," and the Latin socius, "companion," or "being with others"). The purpose of this new science, he said, would not only be to discover social principles but also to apply them to social reform. Comte developed a grandiose view: Sociologists would reform society, making it a better place to live. Applying the scientific method to social life meant something quite different to Comte than it does to sociologists today. To Comte, it meant a kind of "armchair philosophy"-drawing conclusions from informal observations of social life. Comte did not do what we today call research, and his conclusions have been abandoned. But because he proposed that we observe and classify human activities to uncover society's fundamental laws and coined the term sociology to describe this process, Comte often is credited with being the founder of sociology.