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From ancient times, humans have tried to understand the workings of the world around them. The roots of modern physical science go back to the very earliest mechanical devices such as levers and rollers, the mixing of paints and dyes, and the importance of the heavenly bodies in early religious observance and navigation. The physical sciences as we know them today began to emerge as independent academic subjects during the early modern period, in the work of Newton and other 'natural philosophers', and numerous sub-disciplines developed during the centuries that followed. This part of the Cambridge Library Collection is devoted to landmark publications in this area which will be of interest to historians of science concerned with individual scientists, particular discoveries, and advances in scientific method, or with the establishment and development of scientific institutions around the world.

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137 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences

Page 1 of 7

Elastic Stresses in Structures
  • Translated from Castigliano's Théorem de l'equibre des systèmes élastiques et ses applications
  • Alberto Castigliano
  • Translated by Ewart S. Andrews
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
    First published in:
    1919
  • Many of the modern methods of structural analysis based on concepts of virtual work and energy were developed and popularised in Italy in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Building on the work of Luigi Menabrea, the mathematician Carlo Alberto Castigliano (1847–84) provided the first full proof of these methods in his 1873 dissertation while based in Turin. Equally important was his popularisation of the theory in his Théorie de l'équilibre des systèmes élastiques et ses applications (1879), in which he applied his theory to a wide range of important real-world cases. The work is here reissued in its 1919 English translation, by the consulting engineer and lecturer Ewart S. Andrews. Castigliano covers the basic theory of elastic stresses, introducing useful approximations; he then moves on to the analysis of real structures, including roof trusses, arches and bridges in both iron and masonry.

The Common Sense of the Exact Sciences
  • William Kingdon Clifford
  • Prepared for publication by Karl Pearson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
    First published in:
    1885
  • A student of Trinity College and a member of the Cambridge Apostles, William Kingdon Clifford (1845–79) graduated as second wrangler in the mathematical tripos, became a professor of applied mathematics at University College London in 1871, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1874. The present work was begun by Clifford during a remarkably productive period of ill health, yet it remained unfinished at his death. The statistician and philosopher of science Karl Pearson (1857–1936) was invited to edit and complete the work, finally publishing it in 1885. It tackles five of the most fundamental areas of mathematics - number, space, quantity, position and motion - explaining each one in the most basic terms, as well as deriving several original results. Also demonstrating the rationale behind these five concepts, the book particularly pleased a later Cambridge mathematician, Bertrand Russell, who read it as a teenager.

The Scientific Papers of the Honourable Henry Cavendish, F. R. S
  • Volume 2
  • Henry Cavendish
  • Edited by Sir Edward Thorpe
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    02 February 2011
    First published in:
    1921
  • Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) was an English scientist whose published work was mostly concerned with electricity. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1760. Cavendish was a prolific scientific investigator, performing experiments on not only electricity but also magnetism, thermometry, gases, heat potential and the chemical composition of water. Although he published some of his research, including his discovery of hydrogen, the majority of his work remained unpublished until 1879, when James Clerk Maxwell published a collection of Cavendish's electrical experiments. These papers showed that Cavendish had discovered many important electrical concepts which had since been credited to other researchers, including the concept of electric potential. First published in 1921, these volumes are a collection of Cavendish's results from his many experiments. Volume 2 contains previously unpublished papers showing the results of Cavendish's chemical, magnetic and thermometry experiments.

The Scientific Papers of the Honourable Henry Cavendish, F. R. S
  • Volume 1, The Electrical Researches
  • Henry Cavendish
  • Edited by James Clerk Maxwell, Sir Joseph Larmor
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    02 February 2011
    First published in:
    1921
  • Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) was an English scientist whose published work was mostly concerned with electricity. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1760. Cavendish was a prolific scientific investigator, performing experiments on not only electricity but also magnetism, thermometry, gases, heat potential and the chemical composition of water. Although he published some of his research, including his discovery of hydrogen, the majority of his work remained unpublished until 1879, when James Clerk Maxwell published a collection of Cavendish's electrical experiments. These papers showed that Cavendish had discovered many important electrical concepts which had since been credited to other researchers, including the concept of electric potential. First published in 1921, these volumes are a collection of Cavendish's results from his many experiments. Volume 1 is a revised edition of James Clerk Maxwell's 1879 volume Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish, also reissued in this series.

A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary
  • Containing an Explanation of the Terms, and an Account of the Several Subjects, Comprized under the Heads Mathematics, Astronomy, and Philosophy, Both Natural and Experimental
  • Volume 1
  • Charles Hutton
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1796
  • Born into a Newcastle coal mining family, Charles Hutton (1737–1823) displayed mathematical ability from an early age. He rose to become professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy and foreign secretary of the Royal Society. First published in 1795–6, this two-volume illustrated encyclopaedia aimed to supplement the great generalist reference works of the Enlightenment by focusing on philosophical and mathematical subjects; the coverage ranges across mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy and engineering. Almost a century old, the last comparable reference work in English was John Harris' Lexicon Technicum. Hutton's work contains many historical and biographical entries, often with bibliographies, including many for continental analytical mathematicians who would have been relatively unfamiliar to British readers. These features make Hutton's Dictionary a particularly valuable record of eighteenth-century science and mathematics. Volume 1 ranges from abacist (a user of an abacus) to the English physician and Newtonian scientist James Jurin.

Conferences Held in Connection with the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, 1876
  • Physics and Mechanics
  • Volume 1
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    19 March 2015
    First published in:
    1876
  • In 1876 the South Kensington Museum held a major international exhibition of scientific instruments and equipment, both historical and contemporary. Many of the items eventually formed the basis of collections now held at London's Science Museum. In May 1876, organisers arranged a series of conferences at which leading British and European scientists explained and demonstrated some of the items on display. The purpose was to emphasise the exhibition's goal not merely to preserve archaic treasures (such as Galileo's telescopes or Janssen's microscope) but to juxtapose them with current technology and so inspire future scientific developments. Volume 1 of the proceedings is devoted to physics and mechanics. The contributors include William Thomson (Baron Kelvin), John Tyndall, Francis Galton, James Clerk Maxwell, J. A. Froude and Thomas Stevenson, all of whom have other works reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection, which also includes the full catalogue of the exhibition itself.

A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary
  • Containing an Explanation of the Terms, and an Account of the Several Subjects, Comprized under the Heads Mathematics, Astronomy, and Philosophy, Both Natural and Experimental
  • Volume 2
  • Charles Hutton
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1795
  • Born into a Newcastle coal mining family, Charles Hutton (1737–1823) displayed mathematical ability from an early age. He rose to become professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy and foreign secretary of the Royal Society. First published in 1795–6, this two-volume illustrated encyclopaedia aimed to supplement the great generalist reference works of the Enlightenment by focusing on philosophical and mathematical subjects; the coverage ranges across mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy and engineering. Almost a century old, the last comparable reference work in English was John Harris' Lexicon Technicum. Hutton's work contains many historical and biographical entries, often with bibliographies, including many for continental analytical mathematicians who would have been relatively unfamiliar to British readers. These features make Hutton's Dictionary a particularly valuable record of eighteenth-century science and mathematics. Volume 2 ranges from kalendar to zone. Among the other topics covered are knots, Newton, magnets, and the Moon.

Conferences Held in Connection with the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus, 1876
  • Chemistry, Biology, Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Meteorology
  • Volume 2, Chemistry, Biology, Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Meteorology
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    19 March 2015
    First published in:
    1876
  • In 1876 the South Kensington Museum held a major international exhibition of scientific instruments and equipment, both historical and contemporary. Many of the items eventually formed the basis of collections now held at London's Science Museum. In May 1876, organisers arranged a series of conferences at which leading British and European scientists explained and demonstrated some of the items on display. The purpose was to emphasise the exhibition's goal not merely to preserve archaic treasures (such as Galileo's telescopes or Janssen's microscope) but to juxtapose them with current technology and so inspire future scientific developments. Volume 2 of the proceedings covers chemistry, biology, and earth sciences including geology, mining, meteorology and hydrography. The contributors include Joseph Dalton Hooker, William Thiselton-Dyer, Andrew Crombie Ramsay and John Rae, all of whom have other works reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection, which also includes the full catalogue of the exhibition itself.

An Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Propagation of Heat
  • John Leslie
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    18 December 2014
    First published in:
    1804
  • The Scottish mathematician and natural philosopher Sir John Leslie (1766–1832) had set out at the end of the eighteenth century to explore the nature of heat radiation, which he felt was a 'dubious and neglected' area of physics. Leslie's inquiry, published in 1804, details his many experiments, notably the use of two self-devised instruments: Leslie's cube and his differential thermometer. Establishing several basic laws of heat radiation and rejuvenating the debate about the physical composition of heat, Leslie's work gained him the Rumford medal of the Royal Society in 1805. Nevertheless, the same publication jeopardised his chances of obtaining an academic position at Edinburgh. A single, allegedly atheistic endnote, supporting David Hume's views on causation, prompted protests by the local clergymen when his candidature for the chair of mathematics was under consideration. Leslie secured the professorship, however, and remained with the university until his death.

Polarisation of Light
  • William Spottiswoode
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 2015
    First published in:
    1874
  • Before his untimely death from typhoid, William Spottiswoode (1825–83) had served as president of the London Mathematical Society, the British Association, and the Royal Society. In addition to publishing widely in mathematics and the experimental physical sciences, he restored the fortunes of his family printing firm, Eyre and Spottiswoode, the Queen's printers. An enthusiast for the popularisation of science, he lectured to large audiences at the Royal Institution, the South Kensington College of Science, and at British Association meetings. He also gave scientific talks at the school set up for the employees of his family firm. This illustrated 1874 work is based on these talks, and provides an introduction to 'this beautiful branch of optics'. Spottiswoode covers methods of polarisation, and the contemporary theory accounting for these effects. He describes various experiments, and explains how polarisation causes patterns and colours to appear in light.

The Arrangement of Atoms in Space
  • Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
  • Edited and translated by Arnold Eiloart
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    11 December 2014
    First published in:
    1898
  • Awarded the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 for his work on chemical dynamics and on osmotic pressure in solutions, the Dutch scientist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (1852–1911) was also a pioneer in the field of stereochemistry - the three-dimensional analysis of chemical structures. This 1898 publication is based on the revised and expanded German translation of his Dix années dans l'histoire d'une théorie (1887), itself an updated version of his major work La chimie dans l'espace (1875). Translated and edited by the English chemist Arnold Eiloart, it covers the stereochemistry of carbon and nitrogen compounds, and contains an appendix on inorganic compounds by the Swiss chemist Alfred Werner (another future recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry). Using experimental results, van 't Hoff shows how the varying spatial arrangement of similar compounds leads to differing chemical and optical behaviour.

The Cobham Journals
  • Abstracts and Summaries of Meteorological and Phenological Observations Made by Miss Caroline Molesworth, at Cobham, Surrey, in the Years 1825 to 1850
  • Caroline Molesworth
  • Edited by Eleanor A. Ormerod
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1880
  • It is not known why Caroline Molesworth (1794–1872) began to make these detailed observations in the garden of her home in Cobham, Surrey. She was interested in botany, and when she moved with her widowed mother from London to Surrey in 1823, she undertook an almost daily survey of nineteen categories of information, which she maintained (with help in later years, as her health failed) until 1867. This 1880 publication, edited with a biographical introduction by the entomologist Eleanor Ormerod (1828–1901), summarises Molesworth's records for the period 1825–50. Ormerod explains the methods and instruments Molesworth used, and provides a complete record of the phenological detail over a 25-year period: she therefore omits what she considers less relevant meteorological data. The records enable year-on-year comparisons of dates on which flowers bloomed or migratory birds arrived, and this information remains of use to anyone studying long-term changes in climate.

The Grammar of Science
  • Karl Pearson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    18 December 2014
    First published in:
    1892
  • First published in 1892, this important work by the mathematician Karl Pearson (1857–1936) presents a thoroughly positivist account of the nature of science. Pearson claims that 'the scientific method is the sole gateway to the whole region of knowledge', rejecting additional fields of inquiry such as metaphysics. He also emphasises that science can, and should, describe only the 'how' of phenomena and never the 'why'. A scholar of King's College, Cambridge, and later a professor at King's College and University College London, Pearson made significant contributions to the philosophy of science. Including helpful chapter summaries, this book explores in detail a number of scientific concepts, such as matter, energy, space and time. The work influenced such thinkers as Albert Einstein, who considered it to be essential reading when he created his study group, the Olympia Academy, at the age of twenty-three.

Elements of Electricity and Electro-Chemistry
  • George John Singer
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1814
  • The amateur scientist George John Singer (1786–1817) worked in the family business of artificial flower and feather making, but all his spare time was absorbed in the study of electricity and electromagnetism. He invented his own apparatus, including a gold-leaf electrometer, and built a laboratory-cum-lecture room at the back of his house: his public demonstrations were attended by Faraday and Francis Ronalds, and he was also a friend of the pioneering 'electrician' Andrew Crosse. This significant book, published in 1814, demonstrates the breadth of Singer's knowledge of his subject and of other contemporary work in the field. It describes in detail electric phenomena, in nature and in the laboratory, covering a wide range of experiments with and applications of electricity, and discussing the work of Franklin, Volta, Crosse and Dalton, among others. Sadly, Singer's promising scientific career was brought to an early end by tuberculosis: he died aged only thirty-one.

The History and Present State of Electricity
  • With Original Experiments
  • Joseph Priestley
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
    First published in:
    1767
  • When this work first appeared in 1767, electricity was seen as such a minor aspect of natural philosophy that its investigation was not considered a priority for contemporary scientists. The polymath Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was one of the few who devoted serious effort to advancing the field. Here he charts the history of electrical study from experiments with amber in ancient Greece to the most recent discoveries. The book comprises explanations of the principal theories of electricity - both historical and contemporary - in addition to a selection of well-known experiments carried out by previous researchers. Priestley also details his own experiments, covering such topics as the colour of electric light, the effects of temperature, and even the musical tone of electrical discharges. One of his most successful works, testifying to the clarity of his explanations, the book remains an important text in the history of science.

A History of the Royal Society
  • With Memoirs of the Presidents
  • Volume 2
  • Charles Richard Weld
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1848
  • The Royal Society has been dedicated to scientific inquiry since the seventeenth century and has seen a long line of illustrious scientists and thinkers among its fellowship. The society's Assistant Secretary and Librarian, Charles Richard Weld (1813–1869), spent four years writing this two-volume History of the Royal Society, published in 1848, which also includes illustrations by his wife, Anne. Weld's aim was to document the 'rise, progress, and constitution' of the society. He charts how the informal meetings of like-minded men engaged in scientific pursuits in the mid-1600s developed into a prestigious society that by 1830 counted as one of the world's most influential scientific institutions. Volume 2 describes the governance, funding and organisation of the society from the 1770s to 1830, as well as key scientific concerns. It also contains biographies of notable presidents including James Burrow, Humphry Davy and Joseph Banks.

Mathematical and Physical Papers
  • Volume 1
  • William Thomson
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1882
  • William Thomson, first Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), is best known for devising the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature and for his work on the first and second laws of thermodynamics, though throughout his 53-year career as a mathematical physicist and engineer at the University of Glasgow he investigated a wide range of scientific questions in areas ranging from geology to transatlantic telegraph cables. The extent of his work is revealed in the six volumes of his Mathematical and Physical Papers, published from 1882 until 1911, consisting of articles that appeared in scientific periodicals from 1841 onwards. Volume 1, published in 1882, includes articles from the period 1841–1853 and covers issues relating to heat, especially its linear motion and theories about it. Other topics include aspects of electricity, thermodynamics and research relating to magnetism.

Michael Faraday
  • John Hall Gladstone
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    17 July 2014
  • Encouraged to share his memories of Michael Faraday (1791–1867), John Hall Gladstone (1827–1902) published in 1872 this short work about his late friend's life and career. Faraday's successor as Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution, Gladstone discusses how Faraday approached science, and the value of his discoveries. Offering informed insights into Faraday's character, Gladstone includes a number of extracts from personal letters. The work also includes a translation of part of the eulogy given by Jean-Baptiste Dumas at the Académie des Sciences, as well as an anonymous poem honouring Faraday and published in Punch shortly after his death. An appendix lists the numerous learned societies to which Faraday belonged. Also reissued in this series are The Life and Letters of Faraday (1870), compiled by Henry Bence Jones, and John Tyndall's Faraday as a Discoverer (1868).

Meteorological Essays and Observations
  • J. Frederic Daniell
  • Published online:
    05 December 2014
    Print publication:
    21 February 2013
    First published in:
    1827
  • By the early nineteenth century, meteorologists were equipped with plenty of useful devices: barometers, thermometers, hygrometers, and any number of variations thereon. But the nature of these instruments was not wholly understood. While it was possible to take accurate measurements with a barometer, what physical process made the mercury move? What exactly is atmospheric pressure? And how can one measure sunlight? Ranging from wild theories of gravity-resistant air particles to the latest experiments in altitude, chemist and physicist John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845) presents his answers in this collection of essays. First published in 1823, this enlarged second edition of 1827 includes his work on the climate of London, the effect of atmospheric conditions on human health, and suggested improvements for the design of a new hygrometer. Daniell later became the first professor of chemistry at King's College, London, and foreign secretary of the Royal Society.

Popular Scientific Lectures
  • Ernst Mach
  • Translated by Thomas J. McCormack
  • Published online:
    05 December 2014
    Print publication:
    23 January 2014
  • The Austrian scientist Ernst Mach (1838–1916) carried out work of importance in many fields of enquiry, including physics, physiology, psychology and philosophy. Many significant thinkers, such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, benefited from engaging with his ideas. Mach delivered the twelve lectures collected here between 1864 and 1894. This English translation by Thomas J. McCormack (1865–1932) appeared in 1895. Mach tackles a range of topics in an engaging style, demonstrating his abilities as both a researcher and a communicator. In the realm of the physical sciences, he discusses electrostatics, the conservation of energy, and the speed of light. He also addresses physiological matters, seeking to explain aspects of the hearing system and why humans have two eyes. In the final four lectures, he deals with the nature of scientific study. The Science of Mechanics (1893), Mach's historical and philosophical account, is also reissued in this series.

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