In the following work I have endeavoured to give an account of the fundamental principles of the Mathematical theory of Electricity and Magnetism and their more important applications, using only simple mathematics. With the exception of a few paragraphs no more advanced mathematical knowledge is required from the reader than an acquaintance with the Elementary principles of the Differential Calculus.

It is not at all necessary to make use of advanced analysis to establish the existence of some of the most important electromagnetic phenomena. There are always some cases which will yield to very simple mathematical treatment and yet which establish and illustrate the physical phenomena as well as the solution by the most elaborate analysis of the most general cases which could be given.

The study of these simple cases would, I think, often be of advantage even to students whose mathematical attainments are sufficient to enable them to follow the solution of the more general cases. For in these simple cases the absence of analytical difficulties allows attention to be more easily concentrated on the physical aspects of the question, and thus gives the student a more vivid idea and a more manageable grasp of the subject than he would be likely to attain if he merely regarded electrical phenomena through a cloud of analytical symbols.