Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle, though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.
The word is a transcription of the ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (analusis), "a breaking up" (from ana- "up, throughout" + lysis "a loosening").
As a formal concept, the method has variously been ascribed to Ibn al-Haytham, René Descartes (Discourse on the Method) and Galileo Galilei. It has also been ascribed to Isaac Newton, in the form of a practical method of physical discovery (which he did not name or formally describe).
