Abstract
THIS work belongs to a series of small manuals which the publisher calls the “Science and Art Department Series of Text Books.” It is designed for students who possess but little mathematical knowledge, and each of the theorems discussed is explained in very simple language. In some respects the work keeps pace with modern text-books, in others it lags behind them. Thus while we have chapters on Kinetics and Kinematics, and on Actual and Potential Energy, we find some of the units as primitive as possible, and the Metric system is ignored. The unit of length is given as the yard, and the unit of weight as the grain. The definitions leave much to be desired: thus Mechanics is defined as “the Science which treats of the laws of motion and force, especially as applied to the construction of Machines;” Hydrostatics “the science treating of the pressure of water.” Again we find the following very loose definition of the force of gravity: “Every particle of matter has a tendency to draw to itself every other particle, and this tendency is called the force of gravity.” The other attractive forces are here ignored, the student is left quite in ignorance as to whether the force acts through a sensible or insensible space, whether it acts between particles or masses, whether such particles or masses are necessarily of similar or dissimilar substances. A screw is defined as “an inclined plane revolving round a centre.” “Any body capable of moving freely about a fixed axis is a pendulum.” The chapter relating to Energy requires to be carefully revised, as, indeed, does much of the work so far as accurate and logical definition is concerned. The examples are useful, and the questions at the end of the book will be found of service in teaching elementary Science, but the book can scarcely be recommended until the definitions are more precise and absolute.
Natural Philosophy.
Part I. Mechanics. By J. Alfred Skertchley. Pp. 168. (London: Thomas Murby, 1873.)
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Natural Philosophy . Nature 9, 61 (1873). https://doi.org/10.1038/009061a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/009061a0