Works, with a memoir of the author, Volume 4

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Page 81 - The mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time ; and while we listened with, earnestness and admiration to the philosopher who was now unfolding to us the order and series of these wonderful events, we became sensible how much farther reason may sometimes go than imagination can venture to follow.
Page 522 - An account of experiments for determining the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds in the latitude of London.
Page 337 - ... the three angles of a triangle are together equal to two right angles, although it is not known to all.
Page 303 - ... and change, to their minimum at the first and third quarters, and by which they increase again from the minimum to the maximum, as deduced from the observations at Brest, and as determined by the theory of gravitation, there is an exact coincidence. 2. According to theory, the height of the tides...
Page 311 - ... that the mean longitude of the first satellite, minus three times that of the second, plus twice that of the third, is always equal to two right angles.
Page 127 - The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour — The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Page 327 - In one of these, where the dictates of Aristotle are still listened to as infallible decrees, and where the infancy of science is mistaken for its maturity, the mathematical sciences have never flourished ; and the scholar has no means of advancing beyond the mere elements of geometry.
Page 55 - It is unreasonable, indeed, to suppose that such marks should any where exist. The Author of nature has not given laws to the universe, which, like the institutions of men, carry in themselves the elements of their own destruction ; he has not permitted in his works any symptom of infancy or of old age, or any sign by which we may estimate either their future or their past duration.
Page 460 - Suppose it were required having two sorts of lunar tables ; and, having compared them with observations, to determine which is the best. The common way is to add together the errors of observation, and to take the arithmetical mean ; the tables to which the least mean error belongs, are accounted the best. This, however, is not the way in which the question ought to be decided. The sums of the squares of the differences between the observed and the calculated places should be added together : that...
Page 56 - Author of nature has not given laws to the universe, which, like the institutions of men, carry in themselves the elements of their own destruction. He has not permitted in His works any symptom of infancy or of old age, or any sign by which we may estimate either their future or their past duration. He may put an end, as he no doubt gave a beginning, to the present system at some determinate period of time ; but we may rest assured that this great catastrophe will not be brought about by the laws...

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