comtism: Auguste Comte's positivistic philosophy that metaphysics and theology should be replaced by a hierarchy of sciences from mathematics at the base to sociology at the top
positivism: the form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience (not on intuition or revelation)
chlamydomonas: type genus of the Chlamydomonadaceae; solitary doubly-flagellated plant-like algae common in fresh water and damp soil; multiply freely; often a pest around filtration plants