ERRATA. Page 37, line 33, for may read might. Page 48, line 35, before the word propose, read do not. Page 48, line 42, for divisions, read divisors. Page 58, line 43, before the word will, read when equated. Page 60, line 19, before the word constantly, read when equated, will. space, read spaces. Page 100, line 37, erase the word same commencing the line. Page 107, line 14, for form, read force. Page 116, line 33, erase the words the square root of. Page 117, line 3, for minutes, read seconds, Page 131, line 25, read the word we after the word it, at the end of the line. Page 131, line 27, erase the word we commencing the line. Page 210, line 6, for or, read is. Page 216, line 10, for time, read line. Page 224, line 30, for distance, read diameter. Page 264, line 16, for sutor, read sector. Page 286, line 17, for doctrines, read dictums. INTRODUCTION. THE object of this work as declared in the title page, is to elicit inquiry into, or reëxamination of certain matters which the world at large now receive implicitly, at the hands of others, as scientific truths; but which, perhaps, upon a more rigid and scrupulous examination, divested of a too easy faith in matters purely scientific, may be found to be but popular errors, which should be eradicated for the benefit of physical science; and should the fact be disclosed that many matters which are now almost universally esteemed sublime scientific truths, are but dark and occult errors, the inquiry will naturally suggest itself, whether it may not have been found necessary to clothe them in a mathematical dress so wholly incomprehensible to the mass of mankind, as to make it a hopeless task from want of leisure and other facilities, to investigate the truth or falsehood promulgated by the learned through the medium of what is so triumphantly termed the higher branches of mathematics; and hence, whether mankind in general, have not been compelled to remain ignorant of those supposed physical truths, except by a confidential faith in those who profess to teach those things. And should my labors in anywise serve to induce the learned to stoop a little more to the necessities of the multitude, who lack leisure and opportunity to acquaint themselves with all the modern devices of mathematical science, my object will be fully accomplished. I am aware that many will consider the subject matters of which I treat, (namely, the cold, material laws of nature,) as altogether grovelling in comparison with those flights of human imagination, which flood the world in such profusion, and which so liberally dispense to mankind the benefits of modern literature by means of novels and tales of fiction; and which are conceived by many to be paramount to every thing intellectual beside: but to fulfil a task so desirable to many, I confess I was never properly fitted and prepared; the preparation for it must, in general, come through the medium of a collegiate education and discipline. Besides, I have ever looked upon the universe as a reality, and not as a fiction; nor am I without hope, that eternal truths may yet become as pleasing to a great portion of mankind as is human error. Such is certainly the case to a very great extent in the moral world, and it is certainly too manifest to be overlooked or disregarded, that if a proper regard were had to that unity of purpose in which the Christian religion is founded, the world of mankind might be much more readily or easily squared and quadrated into what is befitting a moral world, than they could be equated to the same by means of Jewish rites and ceremonies, or by heathen philosophy. It would seem then to be but following out the principles of Christian philsosophy, to take example from that great dispensation of Divine truth in other departments of science, or in the natural world, by endeavoring to adopt that unity of purpose which alone seems calculated to lead to those truths which are to benefit mankind. If such, then, were our foundation, - whatever errors and mistakes might occur in our attempts to extend its benefits, we should not be left without a land-mark, a witness, contained in such unity of purpose, whereby to correct those errors. Shall we not, then, in our researches for truth, endeavor to follow out the true principles of Christian philosophy, with a view to some unity of purpose, as being the most probable condition upon which we may hope for success? In my pursuit after truth, I shall no more be satisfied with taking a middle flight, than Milton was in the sublimation of fiction; and as this must often bring me in contact with those who have attempted the most daring flights in the scientific world, (especially in the departments of mathematics and astronomy,) I shall speak of them and their doings, with a freedom. and boldness which I suppose to be justly due to the subject, and to mankind; nor will I, in this respect, ask from the world other mercy than such as I show to others. It may surprise the admiration which many have been taught to entertain of Sir Isaac Newton, who by his flattering biog. raphers, has been styled the creator of natural philosophy,that I should place Kepler on far higher ground as a philosopher, so far, at least, as science has been benefited by their researches or hypotheses. It may surprise many that I should esteem Kepler as the father of physical astronomy; and assert that he has done more in laying the foundation of that sublime science in those eternal truths upon which its superstructure should be erected, than all others; and that, had a like sagacity succeeded him in those who attempted its superstructure, its strength and beauty would have been grand indeed in comparison with its present deformity. And although I shall treat of Kepler's elliptical hypothesis with something more than doubts, nevertheless, if it were an error in him, it could not have been the cause of errors committed by others in respect to the laws of force and motion, by which the phenomena of the heavenly bodies can only be explained. Sir Isaac Newton lived in a day of problems, -in a time of great anxiety in respect to the science of astronomy, which had recently been ushered forth to the world, and somewhat advanced by the labors and researches of Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler and Galileo; and hence, the world then required some master spirit to collect the disjointed parts, and to raise the superstructure to their implicit admiration and content. Newton also lived in a country where science and the arts were better patronized by national pride than in any other country at the time; and he seems to have been fully able to avail himself of all advantages which came in his way; for, if we are to believe his admiring biographers, he was often enabled to keep his own discoveries a profound secret until they were disclosed to the world by others, although he never failed to assert his claim as the discoverer, and to have his claim allowed by his country; as in the case of Kepler, Liebnitz and Flamstead; although modern disclosures in respect to the treatment of Flamstead, have caused even high toned Englishmen to declare, that the name of Newton was no longer to be revered. And whether the doubt expressed in respect to Sir Richard Arkwright, may not with equal propriety be applied to Sir Isaac Newton, is for a candid world to determine, namely, some esteem this remarkable man as a genius of the first order, gifted with an extraordinary power of invention; others, as an artful contriver, who understood how to appropriate to himself the discoveries of others." But the biographer of Newton was certainly acquainted with what would induce implicit faith, and flatter a nation's vanity, when he saw fit to insert the pitiful story about the fall of the apple from the apple-tree, when Newton was sitting alone under the tree; and what Sir Isaac Newton asked himself on that occasion; and also what he said to his pet dog Diamond, on a certain occasion;-how the fall of the apple suggested to the mind of Sir Isaac, the hypothesis of the universal gravity of inert matter;how Sir Isaac Newton devised a method for ascertaining whether gravity extended from the earth to the moon, and what would be the law of gravity in respect to distance; and how his ecstatic agony, on supposing his conjecture about to be realized by proof, became so great as to deprive him of the power to finish out the problem and final result, which was thenceforth to become the great physical law of the universe; and was therefore compelled to submit the finishing stroke to another person. But such stuff cannot well be accounted for upon any other principle than that of a design to clothe Sir Isaac Newton with something superhuman in the eyes of the world, and make him an object of adoration; and thereby to induce a belief, that such wonders could have been performed by no other. And such efforts have had their effect; Newton has been immortalized, and national pride has been gratified, however true science may have been retarded in consequence. The world has generally supposed that Newton first disclosed the idea of attraction among the heavenly bodies; and that such attraction was the cause of the tides; notwithstanding, Kepler, some forty years previous to the advent of Newton's apple, had not only fully declared the principle to the world, but had done it in such a way and manner, as not to lead mankind into those atheistical and abhorrent notions, which are taught in the Newtonian philosophy in respect to the hypothesis. Kepler had declared that the tides were caused by the attraction of the moon; that the earth and moon mutually attract each other; and that, in consequence, they would come together, and that too, at a point as much nearer the earth, as the earth is greater than the moon, were they not prevented by the motion of the moon in its orbit. And a better development or declaration for the future progress of science, could not have been made. It was in nowise calculated to lead into error; it did not assume any particular hypothesis in respect to universal gravity, or attempt to declare its laws in respect to distance, but left them for future investigation, which long ere this, should have been both rational and conclusive. It is said of Newton, that, after receiving the hint from the falling apple, setting out with the law of Kepler, namely, "that the squares of the times of revolution of the different planets, are proportioned to the cubes of their distances from the sun," he found by calculation, that the force of solar attraction or gravity, decreases proportionally to the square of the distance. But propose to show that if he set out with Kepler's said law, he very soon lost sight of it; as he did also of the whole spirit and meaning of Kepler's other law, which teaches that the motion of a planet in an eccentric orbit, varies as the distance of the planet from the sun varies; which last great law of Kepler, |
