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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 4 of 7

Six Lectures on Light
  • Delivered in America in 1872–1873
  • John Tyndall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1873
  • Born in Leighlinbridge in Ireland, John Tyndall (1820–93) was a brilliant nineteenth-century experimental physicist and gifted science educator. He worked initially as a draughtsman, then spent a year teaching at an English school before attending the University of Marburg to study physics and chemistry. Tyndall carried out important research on magnetism, light and bacteriology. Among his many significant achievements, he demonstrated the greenhouse effect in Earth's atmospheric gases using absorption spectroscopy. He was a skilled and entertaining educator and as Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution he gave many public lectures and demonstrations of science. Published in 1873, this book features six accessible lectures on light. They explore a wide range of ideas in a non-technical way, from basic scientific theories through magnetism and light scattering, to analytical spectroscopy. The book ends with a series of essays on special topics, and includes a detailed index.

Recollections and Reflections
  • Joseph John Thomson
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1936
  • Manchester-born Sir Joseph John Thomson (1858–1940), discoverer of the electron, was one of the most important Cambridge physicists of the later nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. Succeeding Lord Rayleigh as Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics, he directed the research interests of the laboratory, and eight of his students, including Rutherford, went on to win Nobel Prizes, as Thomson himself did in 1906. He was knighted in 1908, received the Order of Merit in 1912, and became Master of Trinity College in 1918. He also served as President of the Royal Society from 1915 from 1920 and was a government advisor on scientific research during World War I. This autobiography, published in 1936, covers all aspects of his career - his student days in Manchester, arrival in Cambridge, and growing international reputation. It gives a fascinating picture of Cambridge life and science at a dynamic period of development.

Memoirs of the Life of Sir Humphry Davy
  • Volume 2
  • John Davy
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1836
  • Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was a hugely influential chemist, inventor, and public lecturer who is recognised as one of the first professional scientists. His apprenticeship to an apothecary in 1795 led to his introduction to chemical experiments. A chance meeting with Davis Giddy in 1798 introduced Davy into the wider scientific community, and in 1800 he was invited to a post at the Royal Institution, where he lectured to great acclaim. This two-volume memoir was published by his brother, Dr John Davy, in 1836, in response to Paris' biography of 1831, authorised by Lady Davy (also reissued in this series). John Davy had additional papers in his possession, and felt that Paris had failed to convey Sir Humphry's character as a man and philosopher. Volume 2 concentrates on his researches (including on the safety lamp) and travels in Europe. It includes poetry, and also memorials of Davy by friends.

The Scientific Papers of William Parsons, Third Earl of Rosse 1800–1867
  • William Parsons
  • Edited by Charles Parsons
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1926
  • William Parsons (1800–67), third Earl of Rosse, was responsible for building in 1845 the largest telescope of his time, nicknamed the 'Leviathan'. It enabled the Earl to make unprecedented astronomical discoveries, including the discovery of the spiral nature of galaxies. Rosse (then Lord Oxmantown) began publishing scientific papers on telescopes in 1828, and for the rest of his life made regular contributions to scientific journals in Ireland, England and Scotland. He served as President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1843, and of the Royal Society from 1848 to 1854, and his addresses to those societies are also included in this collection. Edited by his younger son, the engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854–1931) and published in 1926, these papers show the wide range of the Earl's interests, from astronomy and telescopes to ancient bronze artefacts and the use of iron in shipbuilding.

New Fragments
  • John Tyndall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • Born in Leighlinbridge in Ireland, John Tyndall (1820–93) was a brilliant nineteenth-century experimental physicist and gifted science educator. He worked initially as a draughtsman, then spent a year teaching at an English school before attending the University of Marburg to study physics and chemistry. Tyndall carried out important research on magnetism, light and bacteriology. Among his many significant achievements, he demonstrated the greenhouse effect in Earth's atmospheric gases using absorption spectroscopy. He was a skilled and entertaining educator and as Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution he gave many public lectures and demonstrations of science. In this engaging potpourri of essays published in 1893, Tyndall's prose enlivens subjects as diverse as the life of Louis Pasteur, observing the Sabbath, the prevention of phthisis (tuberculosis), personal experiences of Alpine mountaineering, and the science of rainbows.

The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell
  • Volume 1
  • James Clerk Maxwell
  • Edited by W. D. Niven
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    20 January 2011
    First published in:
    1890
  • The publication in 1890 of the two-volume Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, edited by W. D. Niven, was one of the two objects of a committee formed 'for the purpose of securing a fitting memorial of him' (the other object being the commissioning of a marble bust for the Cavendish Laboratory). Before his death in 1879 at the age of 48, Clerk Maxwell had made major contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and mathematics, not least his discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism and of the kinetic theory of gases, which have been regarded as laying the foundations of all modern physics. He is generally considered the third most important physicist of all time, after Newton and Einstein. These collected shorter works, beginning with a paper written at the age of 15, show the wide range of Clerk Maxwell's interests across mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Memorials
  • Scientific and Literary, of Andrew Crosse, the Electrician
  • Cornelia Crosse
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    26 August 2010
    First published in:
    1857
  • These Memorials of Andrew Crosse (1784–1855), published by his wife after his death, include his experiments, and some of his poetry and prose. After graduating from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1805 (described in this volume as 'a perfect hell on earth'), he returned to his family's manor house where he studied electricity, chemistry, and mineralogy, and installed a mile and a quarter of insulated copper wire in his grounds. A controversial figure, Crosse was thorough in his approach to his scientific work, if somewhat unusual in his practice. In 1836 he famously conducted a series of experiments on electro-crystallization in which he noted an appearance of life forms, named Acarus, seemingly created in the metallic solutions which should have been destructive to organic life. This book recounts these experiments, and the public sensation that they gave rise to by their apparent suggestion of life created by electricity.

Mathematical and Physical Papers
  • Volume 5, Thermodynamics, Cosmical and Geological Physics, Molecular and Crystalline Theory, Electrodynamics
  • William Thomson
  • Edited by Joseph Larmor
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1911
  • 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 5, published in 1911, includes articles from the period 1847–1908. Topics covered include thermodynamic and electrodynamic research, as well as some works on issues of geological physics such as the possible age of the sun's heat.

Popular Lectures and Addresses
  • Volume 3, Navigational Affairs
  • William Thomson
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), was educated at Glasgow and Cambridge. While only in his twenties, he was awarded the University of Glasgow's chair in natural philosophy, which he was to hold for over fifty years. He is best known through the Kelvin, the unit of measurement of temperature named after him in consequence of his development of an absolute scale of temperature. These volumes collect together Kelvin's lectures for a wider audience. In a convivial but never condescending style, he outlines a range of scientific subjects to audiences of his fellow scientists. The range of topics covered reflects Kelvin's broad interests and his stature as one of the most eminent of Victorian scientists. Volume 3, published in 1891, deals with the science of the seas and oceans, particularly as it relates to navigation, tides and magnetic forces.

Mathematical and Physical Papers
  • Volume 4, Hydrodynamics and General Dynamics
  • William Thomson
  • Edited by Sir Joseph Larmor
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1910
  • 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 4, published in 1910, includes articles from the period 1867–1906. Themes covered in this book examine issues relating to water, such as hydrodynamics, tidal theory and deep sea ship waves.

History of the Royal Society
  • From its Institution to the End of the Eighteenth Century
  • Thomas Thomson
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1812
  • The Royal Society has been dedicated to scientific inquiry since the seventeenth century. In 1811, Thomas Thomson (1773–1852), a pioneering chemistry teacher who was elected a fellow of the society in the same year, undertook the project of writing a history of the organisation's illustrious past. In this book, published in 1812, Thomson explains how the group began in 1645, initiated by men who met once a week to discuss natural philosophy and mathematics. They were eventually granted a royal charter by Charles II in 1662. The society grew in number and prestige, and began publishing research in its Philosophical Transactions in 1665. Thomson's work focuses particularly on the development of the group's many scientific areas of interest and summarises various papers it published. He also includes a full list of the fellowship, from the society's foundation to 1812, and a copy of the society's original charter.

Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton
  • Volume 2
  • David Brewster
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    16 December 2010
    First published in:
    1855
  • Sir David Brewster (1781–1868) was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, and writer of international reputation. His biography of Sir Isaac Newton, published in 1855 and reissued in 1860, was the result of over twenty years' research, undertaken while publishing hundreds of scientific papers of his own. Brewster made use of previously unknown correspondence by Newton, and his own scientific interests, particularly in optics, meant that he was able to understand and explain Newton's work. It covered the many facets of Newton's personality and work, remaining the best available study of Newton for over a century. Brewster reveals much about the science of his own time in his handling of earlier centuries, and as a cleric was obviously uncomfortable about the evidence of Newton's unorthodox religious views and alchemical studies. Volume 2 covers the period from the dispute with Leibniz to Newton's death, and considers his posthumous reputation.

Mathematical and Physical Papers
  • Volume 6, Voltaic Theory, Radioactivity, Electrions, Navigation and Tides, Miscellaneous
  • William Thomson
  • Edited by Joseph Larmor
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1911
  • 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 6, published in 1911, includes articles from the period 1867–1907. The chapters in the first part of the work focus on voltaic theory and radioactivity, while later ones examine navigation and tides.

Popular Lectures and Addresses
  • Volume 2, Geology and General Physics
  • William Thomson
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1894
  • William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), was educated at Glasgow and Cambridge. While only in his twenties, he was awarded the University of Glasgow's chair in natural philosophy, which he was to hold for over fifty years. He is best known through the Kelvin, the unit of measurement of temperature named after him in consequence of his development of an absolute scale of temperature. These volumes collect together Kelvin's lectures for a wider audience. In a convivial but never condescending style, he outlines a range of scientific subjects to audiences of his fellow scientists. The range of topics covered reflects Kelvin's broad interests and his stature as one of the most eminent of Victorian scientists. Volume 2 is mainly concerned with geology and was actually published last, in 1894. It includes additional lectures given between 1866 and 1893 that were not included in the other two volumes.

The Works of John Playfair
  • Volume 1
  • John Playfair
  • Edited by James G. Playfair
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1822
  • John Playfair (1748–1819) was a Scottish mathematician and geologist best known for his defence of James Hutton's geological theories. He attended the University of St Andrews, completing his theological studies in 1770. In 1785 he was appointed joint Professor of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1805 he was elected Professor of Natural Philosophy. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was acquainted with continental scientific developments, and was a prolific writer of scientific articles in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Review. This four-volume edition of his works was published in 1822. Volume 1 includes a biography of Playfair, and his Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, which did much to popularise Hutton's ideas.

The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule
  • Volume 1
  • James Prescott Joule
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1884
  • Sir James Prescott Joule (1818–1889) became one of the most significant physicists of the nineteenth century, although his original interest in science was as a hobby and for practical business purposes. The son of a brewer, he began studying heat while investigating how to increase the efficiency of electric motors. His discovery of the relationship between heat and energy contributed to the discovery of the conservation of energy and the first law of thermodynamics. Volume 1 of Joule's scientific papers was published in 1884. It is organised chronologically and reveals the range of Joule's interests and the development of his thought. The topics of the papers include the measurement of heat, voltaic batteries, electromagnets, specific heat, meteorology and thermodynamics. Joule's careful experiments in these areas were fundamental to the development of significant areas of twentieth-century physics, although he was slow to gain recognition from his contemporaries.

Memoir of James Prescott Joule
  • Osborne Reynolds
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • In this first biography of the physicist Sir James Prescott Joule (1818–1889), his friend and collaborator Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912), Professor of Engineering at Owens College, Manchester, is keen to show how Joule, the son of a prosperous Salford brewer, was an 'ordinary' boy, enjoying regular walking trips to Snowdon, the Peaks and the Lakes; at the same time, he was greatly influenced by two years of tuition by John Dalton. His later experiments, observations and published papers are discussed and quoted at length. Reynolds stresses the influence Joule's work on heat and thermodynamics had on his contemporaries, but also that this 'amateur' scientist was often so far ahead of his time that his work was misunderstood or dismissed. Since publication of this book in 1892, only one other biography of Joule has appeared, and so it remains a vital source of first-hand information on his life and work.

The Works of John Playfair
  • Volume 3
  • John Playfair
  • Edited by James G. Playfair
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1822
  • John Playfair (1748–1819) was a Scottish mathematician and geologist best known for his defence of James Hutton's geological theories. He attended the University of St Andrews, completing his theological studies in 1770. In 1785 he was appointed joint Professor of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1805 he was elected Professor of Natural Philosophy. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was acquainted with continental scientific developments, and was a prolific writer of scientific articles in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Review. This four-volume edition of his works was published in 1822 and is prefaced by a biography of Playfair. Volume 3 includes articles on mathematics, physics, astronomy and naval tactics, revealing the range of Playfair's scientific interests.

Baltimore Lectures on Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light
  • William Thomson, Baron Kelvin
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    20 May 2010
    First published in:
    1904
  • The mathematical physicist and engineer William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1904) is best known for devising the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature and for his work on the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The lectures in this collection demonstrate an attempt by Baron Kelvin to formulate a physical model for the existence of ether. This concept of a medium for light propagation became prominent in the late nineteenth century, arising from the combination of Maxwell's equations stating that light is an electromagnetic wave with the demands of Newtonian physics that light must move in a unique reference frame. First published in 1904, Kelvin's lectures describe the difficulties inherent in this model. These problems with the concept of ether are credited for inspiring Einstein to devise the theory of special relativity and the photoelectric effect, both of which are central to modern physics.

Meteorological Observations and Essays
  • John Dalton
  • Published online:
    05 January 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1793
  • Famed for his seminal work in the development of atomic theory, John Dalton (1766–1844) was a chemist and natural philosopher who served for years as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at the New College, Manchester. Dalton was born into a Quaker family in the Lake District; his early interest in weather was inspired by a local instrument-maker and meteorologist. He began keeping a meteorological diary in 1787, and this 1793 book is one of his earliest publications. It contains not only meteorological observations but also speculations about their causes. Beginning with a description of the instruments needed to undertake such investigations, Dalton considers a variety of natural phenomena, finishing by offering various theories on the causes of the Aurora Borealis. This book also contains many of the ideas that would go on to be developed in his future research and publications, for which he is better known.

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