The Scientific Aspects of Positivism
After wading through pages of the long-winded confusion and second-hand information of the “Philosophic Positive,” at the risk of a crise cérébrale–it is as good as a shower-bath to turn to the “Classification of the Sciences,” and refresh oneself with Mr. Spencer’s profound thought, precise knowledge, and clear language.
There’s a fabulous site devoted to Thomas Henry Huxley and his writings, where you can get the scoop on Huxley vs. Comte. But no matter their philosophic antagonism: on one item Comte was right.
[Comte] never misses an opportunity of casting scorn upon the hypothesis of an ether–the fundamental basis not only of the undulatory theory of light, but of so much else in modern physics–and whose contempt for the intellects of some of the strongest men of his generation was such, that he puts forward the mere existence of night as a refutation of the undulatory theory
You can read the whole essay here, or wait until the volume is posted to PG.