Conferences Held in Connection with the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, 1876: Physics and MechanicsLords of the Committee of Council on Education, 1876 - 420 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
Accademia del Cimento apparatus arrangement Astronomer Astronomer Royal axis balance spring blast body boiler burned called carbonic acid centimetres chronometer coal combustion compass condensing constructed curve cylinder diameter direction distance effect electric electrometer employed engine equal temperament error exhibited experiments feet flame force fuel furnace Galileo gases give glass heat hundredweight inch instrument invented iron length light lines liquid machine magnet means measurement mechanical ment mercury Messrs metal moon motion needle observations obtained ordinary oscillation pass pendulum perfect perfectly pipe plane position practical PRESIDENT pressure prime-mover prisms produced Professor puddling furnaces quadrantal quantity resistance Royal screw ship Siemens Sir Charles Wheatstone Sir Joseph Whitworth solid sound spectrum speed spring steam steel surface telegraph telegraphy telescope temperature thermometer thermopiles tion transit of Venus tube velocity vessel vibrations weight wheel
Popular passages
Page 343 - ... the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man, as the means of production and of traffic in states.
Page 206 - Accurate and minute measurement seems to the non-scientific imagination a less lofty and dignified work than looking for something new. But nearly all the grandest discoveries of science have been but the rewards of accurate measurement and patient long-continued labour in the minute sifting of numerical results.
Page 147 - For the equilibrium of any isolated system it is necessary and sufficient that in all possible variations of the state of the system which do not alter its entropy, the variation of its energy shall either vanish or be positive.
Page 207 - ... and accurate measurement of electric forces. " Joule's discovery of thermo-dynamic law, through the regions of electro-chemistry, electro-magnetism, and elasticity of gases, was based on a delicacy of thermometry which seemed impossible to some of the most distinguished chemists of the day.
Page 63 - I hold it as near as is safe to the ears of the animals, and when they are quite accustomed to its presence and heedless of it, I make it sound; then if they prick their ears it shows that they hear the whistle; if they do not, it is probably inaudible to them. Still, it is very possible that in some cases they hear but do not heed the sound. Of all creatures, I have found none superior to cats in the power of hearing shrill sounds; it is perfectly remarkable what a faculty they have in this way.
Page 336 - Le ipauvre en sa cabane, ou le chaume le couvre, Est sujet a ses lois ; Et la garde qui veille aux barrieres du Louvre N'en defend point nos rois.
Page 206 - Newton first demonstrated the forces urging the planets towards the sun, determined the' magnitude of those forces, and discovered that a force following the same law of variation with distance urges the moon towards the earth. Then first, we may suppose, came to him the idea of the universality of gravitation; but when he attempted to compare the magnitude of the force...
Page 152 - It consists in saturating the leather with grease by heating it in vacua under melted lard. In this way the air enclosed within the pores of the leather is removed without the use of water, and a packing is obtained so perfect that it appears, as far as my experience goes, never to fail, provided it is used in a vessel filled with water. It is remarkable, however, that the same packing...
Page 207 - Society, he heard a paper read, describing geodesic measurement by Picard, which led to a serious correction of the previously accepted estimate of the earth's radius. This was what Newton required. He went home with the result, and commenced his calculations, but felt so much agitated that he handed over the arithmetical work to a friend ; then (and not when, sitting in a garden, he saw an apple fall) did he ascertain that gravitation keeps the moon in her orbit.
Page 214 - ... not dissimilar in appearance to an ordinary wet gas-meter. The revolutions of this drum produce a record of the total volume of passing liquid. The liquid on its way to the measuring-drum passes through a receiver containing a float of thin metal filled with proof-spirit, which float is partially supported by means of a carefully-adjusted spring, and its position determines that of a lever, the angular position of which causes the alcohol-counter to rotate more or less for every revolution of...