Lectures on Some Recent Advances in Physical Science with a Special Lecture on Force (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1876. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... LECTURE XIV. FORCE. Evening Lecture before the British Association, Glasgow, September 8, 1876. It was not to be expected that I could, at short notice, produce a Lecture which should commend itself to the Association by its novelty or originality. But in Science there are things of greater value than even these--namely, definiteness and accuracy. In fact, without them there could not be any science except the very peculiar smattering which is usually (but I hope erroneously) called 'popular.' It is vain to expect that more than the elements of science can ever be made in the true sense of the word popular; but it is the people's right to demand of their teachers that the information given them shall be at least definite and accurate so far as it goes. And as I think that a teacher of science cannot do a greater wrong to his audience than to mystify or confuse them about fundamental principles, so I conceive that wherever there appears to be such confusion, it is the duty of a scientific man to endeavour by all means in his power to remove it. Recent criticisms of works in which I have had at least a share, have shown me that, even among the particularly well educated class who write for the higher literary and scientific Journals, there is wide-spread ignorance as to some of the most important elementary principles of Physics. I have therefore chosen, as the subject of my lecture to-night, a very elementary but much abused and misunderstood term, which meets us at every turn in our study of Natural Philosophy. I may at once admit that I have nothing new to tell you, nothing which (had you all been properly taught, whether by books or by lectures) would not have been familiar to all of you. But if one has a right to judge of the general standard of popular scien...