The Correlation and Conservation of Forces: A Series of Expositions, by Prof. Grove, Prof. Helmholtz, Dr. Mayer, Dr. Faraday, Prof. Liebig and Dr. Carpenter. With an Introduction and Brief Biographical Notices of the Chief Promoters of the New ViewsD. Appleton, 1865 - 438 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
acid æther amount of heat animal appear atmosphere attraction become BECQUEREL bismuth bodies carbonic carbonic acid cause chemical action chemical affinity chlorine combination combustion compounds conservation of force correlation definite degree developed direction discharge distance duced dynamic earth elec electric current electricity equal equivalent ether existence expansion experiments fact fall fluid friction gases glass gravity greater hydrogen hypothesis increase instance iron Joule latent heat liquid magnetism mass mechanical force mercury metal mode of force molecular molecules move nature organic original oxygen particles perpetual motion phenomena Phil philosophers physical piston planetary system planets plate platinum polarised portion present quantity of heat question raised rays regard relation rotation solar space specific heat substance supposed surface temperature term theory tion Trans transmitted tricity vapour velocity vis viva voltaic arc voltaic battery weight wire zinc
Popular passages
Page 368 - That gravity should be innate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum, without the mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an. absurdity, that I believe no man who has in philosophical! matters a competent faculty of thinking, can ever fall into it.
Page 101 - I do not here consider. What I call attraction may be performed by impulse, or by some other means unknown to me. I use that Word here to signify only in general any Force by which Bodies tend towards one another, whatsoever be the Cause.
Page xxv - It is hardly necessary to add that anything which any insulated body, or system of bodies, can continue to furnish without limitation, cannot possibly be a material substance; and it appears to me to be extremely difficult, if not quite impossible, to form any distinct idea of anything capable of being excited and communicated in the manner the Heat was excited and communicated in these experiments, except it be MOTION.
Page xxv - By meditating on the results of all these experiments, we are naturally brought to that great question which has so often been the subject of speculation among philosophers, namely, What is heat — is there any such thing as an igneous fluid ? Is there anything that...
Page xlii - Deeper than demonstration — deeper even than definite cognition — deep as the very nature of mind, is the postulate at which we have arrived. Its authority transcends all other whatever ; for not only is it given in the constitution of our own consciousness, but it is impossible to imagine a consciousness so constituted as not to give it.
Page 124 - Venus is nearer to the sun than the earth, that planet is hotter than our globe. The force emitted by the sun may take a different character at the surface of each different planet, and require different organisms or senses for its appreciation. Myriads of organised beings may exist imperceptible to our vision, even if we were among them...
Page xxiv - ACTUALLY BOILED ! It would be difficult to describe the surprise and astonishment expressed in the countenances of the bystanders, on seeing so large a quantity of cold water heated, and actually made to boil, without any fire.
Page 254 - Two classes of causes occur in nature, which, so far as experience goes, never pass one into another. The first class consists of such causes as possess the properties of weight and impenetrability; these are kinds of Matter: the other class is made up of causes which are wanting in the properties just mentioned, namely Forces, called also Imponderables, from the negative property that has been indicated.
Page 234 - ... refer such a rich source of heat and light, that there is no necessity whatever to take refuge in the idea of a store of these forces originally existing. When, through condensation of the masses, their particles came into collision and clung to each other, the vi-s viva of their motion would be thereby annihilated, and must reappear as heat. Already in old theories it has been calculated that cosmical masses must generate heat by their collision, but it was far from anybody's thought to make...
Page 248 - Roman sword awakes in us the conception of grey antiquity. What the museums of Europe show us of the remains of Egypt and Assyria we gaze upon with silent astonishment, and despair of being able to carry our thoughts back to a period so remote.