What are the motifs in Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey?

Scientific method is a recurring idea. Dragonquest shows a world in which ancient records have been lost or preserved only in ill-understood fragments. Myth replaces knowledge. It takes several chance happenings for a "eureka" to occur (and the finders do not understand the ancient word when they read it). Two playful boys happen upon a long-forgotten chamber in which are found various instruments including a microscope. From looking at a hair under magnification, adults intuit that if small objects can be made large, distant ones ought to be able to be brought close enough for careful study. A systematic search ensues in the most likely repository and an ancient "distance-viewer" (telescope) is found in working order.