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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 5 of 7

Reprint of Papers on Electrostatics and Magnetism
  • William Thomson
  • Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    07 July 2011
    First published in:
    1884
  • William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), born with a great talent for mathematics and physics, was educated at Glasgow and Cambridge. While only in his twenties, he was appointed to the University of Glasgow's Chair in Natural Philosophy, which he was to hold for over fifty years. He is best known for lending his name to the Kelvinunit of measurement for temperature, after his development of an absolute scale of temperature. This book is a corrected 1884 edition of Kelvin's 1872 collection of papers on electrostatics and magnetism. It includes all his work on these subjects previously published as articles in journals including the Cambridge Mathematical Journal and the Transactions of the Royal Society. Kelvin also wrote several new items to fill gaps in this collection, so that its coverage of the state of electromagnetic research in the late nineteenth century is comprehensive.

Conversations on Chemistry
  • In which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experiments
  • Volume 2, On Compound Bodies
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1817
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet (1769–1858) was a pioneer in the field of education who wrote accessible introductory books on science and economics. Noting that women's education 'is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas', she resolved to write books that would inform, entertain and improve a generation of female readers. First published anonymously in 1805, her two-volume Conversations on Chemistry swiftly became a standard primer going through sixteen editions in England alone, and is credited with having influenced the young Michael Faraday. Presented as a series of discussions between a fictional tutor, Mrs. Bryan, and her two female students, the flighty Caroline and earnest Emily, Conversations combines entertaining banter with a clear and concise explanation of scientific theories of the day. Volume 2 contains spirited exchanges on topics including 'shells and chalk', borax, decomposing vegetables and 'animal economy', which will interest historians of both science and education.

The Theory of Sound
  • Volume 2
  • John William Strutt
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1877
  • John William Strutt, third Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919), was an English physicist best known as the co-discoverer of the element argon, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904. Rayleigh graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1865 and after conducting private research was appointed Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics in 1879, a post which he held until 1884. These highly influential volumes, first published between 1877 and 1878, contain Rayleigh's classic account of acoustic theory. Bringing together contemporary research and his own experiments, Rayleigh clearly describes the origins and transmission of sound waves through different media. This textbook was considered the standard work on the subject for many years and provided the foundations of modern acoustic theory. Volume 2 discusses theories of aerial vibrations, with discussions of experimental procedures of aerial vibrations in tubes and rectangular chambers, and the theory of resonators.

Theory of Heat
  • James Clerk Maxwell
  • Published online:
    25 October 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1871
  • Best known for his theory of electromagnetism, James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) was Cambridge University's first Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics. Albert Einstein described his work as 'the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton'. He carried out brilliant work in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, laying the foundation for the kinetic theory of gases. This book, published originally in 1871, summarises his work in this field. It includes the 'Maxwell relations' that still feature in every standard text on thermodynamics. It also outlines his famous thought experiment, later named Maxwell's 'demon'. This idea, which appeared to contradict the second law of thermodynamics, would inspire scientific debate well into the twentieth century. More recently, it has sparked developments in the new sciences of nanotechnology and quantum computing.

The Theory of Sound
  • Volume 1
  • John William Strutt
  • Published online:
    25 October 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1877
  • John William Strutt, third Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919), was an English physicist best known as the co-discoverer of the element argon, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904. Rayleigh graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1865 and after conducting private research was appointed Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics in 1879, a post which he held until 1884. These highly influential volumes, first published between 1877 and 1878, contain Rayleigh's classic account of acoustic theory. Bringing together contemporary research and his own experiments, Rayleigh clearly describes the origins and transmission of sound waves through different media. This textbook was considered the standard work on the subject for many years and provided the foundations of modern acoustic theory. Volume 1 discusses the origin and transmission of sound waves in harmonic vibrations, the vibrations of bars, stretched strings, plates and membranes, through mathematical models and experimental discussions.

Life and Letters of James David Forbes
  • John Campbell Shairp, Peter Guthrie Tait
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1873
  • First published in 1873, this co-authored biography of the Scottish physicist, Alpine explorer, and university leader James David Forbes (1809–1868) includes extracts from Forbes' letters. John Campbell Shairp, Forbes' successor as principal of the United College of the University of St Andrews, writes of Forbes' personal, family, and professional life, including his years at St Andrews. Forbes' student and his successor in the Natural Philosophy chair at the University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait, himself an accomplished mathematical physicist who co-wrote, with Lord Kelvin, Treatise on Natural Philosophy (1867), discusses Forbes' scientific achievements and contributions. A. Adams-Reilly, a celebrated Irish mountaineer, cartographer, and friend of Forbes, writes of the latter's Alpine travels and his work and interest in glaciers. In Shairp's words, in addition to all of his academic accomplishments, Forbes was also Britain's 'father of Alpine adventure'.

Narrative of an Excursion to the Lake Amsanctus and to Mount Vultur in Apulia in 1834
  • Charles Daubeny
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1835
  • This short but distinctive paper was published in 1835 by Charles Daubeny (1795–1867), who began his career as a physician but soon found his passion to be volcanos. At this time, Daubeny held chairs in chemistry and botany at Oxford. He had made many field trips to European volcanic regions between 1819 and 1825, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1822, and in 1826 published the first edition of his famous Description of Active and Extinct Volcanos, of which a later version also appears in this series. Here Daubeny describes a winter trip to the Apulia (Puglia) region in the south-east of Italy, rarely described by travel writers of his time, to visit Lake Amsanctus, famously mentioned by Virgil, and the extinct volcano Mount Vultur. Although Daubeny's overall focus is scientific, his account also includes lively descriptions of classical remains and rural society in southern Italy.

The Works of John Playfair
  • Volume 4
  • John Playfair
  • Edited by James G. Playfair
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    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 4 contains his biographies of his colleagues, and review articles on mathematical and astronomical works, both in English and French.

The Works of John Playfair
  • Volume 2
  • John Playfair
  • Edited by James G. Playfair
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    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 2 contains the incomplete Dissertation exhibiting a general view of the progress of mathematical and physical science, which was included as a supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The Life of Sir Humphry Davy
  • Volume 2
  • John Ayrton Paris
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1831
  • Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was a hugely influential chemist, inventor, and public lecturer who is recognised as one of the first professional scientists. He was apprenticed to an apothecary in 1795, which formed 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. These volumes, first published in 1831, contain Davy's official biography. Researched and written by John Ayrton Paris, the work describes in detail Davy's life and his scientific studies. Organised chronologically with excerpts from his private correspondence, Davy's early life and his experiments and lectures at the Royal Institution and his Presidency of the Royal Society between 1820 and 1827 are explored in vivid detail. Volume 2 describes his life and work between 1812 and 1829.

The Life of Sir Humphry Davy
  • Volume 1
  • John Ayrton Paris
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1831
  • Sir Humphry Davy (1778–1829) was a hugely influential chemist, inventor, and public lecturer who is recognised as one of the first professional scientists. He was apprenticed to an apothecary in 1795, which formed 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. These volumes, first published in 1831, contain Davy's official biography. Researched and written by John Ayrton Paris, the work describes in detail Davy's life and his scientific studies. Organised chronologically with excerpts from his private correspondence, Davy's early life and his experiments and lectures at the Royal Institution and his Presidency of the Royal Society between 1820 and 1827 are explored in vivid detail. Volume 1 describes his life and work until 1812.

Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton
  • Volume 1
  • David Brewster
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    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 1 covers the period up to about 1700, and includes disputes with Leibniz over the development of calculus.

The Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs
  • Volume 2
  • Silvanus Phillips Thompson
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    20 January 2011
    First published in:
    1910
  • The mathematician and physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (1824–1907) was one of Britain's most influential scientists, famous for his work on the first and second laws of thermodynamics and for devising the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature. Silvanus P. Thompson (1851–1916) began this biography with the co-operation of Kelvin in 1906, but the project was interrupted by Kelvin's death the following year. Thompson, himself a respected physics lecturer and scientific writer, decided that a more comprehensive biography would be needed and spent several years reading through Kelvin's papers in order to complete these two volumes, published in 1910. Volume 2, beginning in 1871, covers not only Kelvin's mature research, but also more personal aspects of his life, including his love of music and sailing, his experiments with compasses and navigation, and the relationship between his scientific discoveries and his religious beliefs.

A New System of Chemical Philosophy
  • Volume 1
  • John Dalton
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    16 September 2010
    First published in:
    1808
  • The chemist and meteorologist John Dalton (1766–1844) published A New System of Chemical Philosophy in two volumes, between 1808 and 1827. Dalton's discovery of the importance of the relative weight and structure of particles of a compound for explaining chemical reactions transformed atomic theory and laid the basis for much of what is modern chemistry. Volume 1 was published in two parts, in 1808 and 1810. Part 1 offers an account of Dalton's atomic theory. It contains chapters on temperature, the constitution of bodies, chemical synthesis and a number of plates including his famous table of symbols for the atoms of various elements. Part 2 contains a chapter on elementary principles and twelve sections on different groups of two-element compounds. Dalton's work is a monument of nineteenth-century chemistry. It will continue to be read and enjoyed by anybody interested in the history and development of science.

The Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs
  • Volume 1
  • Silvanus Phillips Thompson
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    20 January 2011
    First published in:
    1910
  • The mathematician and physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (1824–1907) was one of Britain's most influential scientists, famous for his work on the first and second laws of thermodynamics and for devising the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature. Silvanus P. Thompson (1851–1916) began this biography with the co-operation of Kelvin in 1906, but the project was interrupted by Kelvin's death the following year. Thompson, himself a respected physics lecturer and scientific writer, decided that a more comprehensive biography would be needed and spent several years reading through Kelvin's papers in order to complete these two volumes, published in 1910. Volume 1 covers Kelvin's life to 1871, including his student days, his election (aged 22) as professor in Glasgow, his ground-breaking theoretical research on thermodynamics, his applied work on telegraphs including the Atlantic cable, and his involvement in a geological controversy about the age of the earth.

Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley
  • Volume 1
  • Joseph Priestley, Thomas Cooper
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1806
  • Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was an eighteenth-century English polymath with accomplishments in the fields of science, pedagogy, philosophy and theology. Among his more notable achievements were the discovery of oxygen and his work in establishing Unitarianism. Often a controversialist, Priestley's efforts to develop a 'rational' Christianity and support for the French Revolution eventually made him unwelcome in his native land. His 1807 Memoirs relate the story of his life until the time of his 1794 emigration to America and include other biographical materials written by his son. This first volume also contains five appendices discussing his philosophy, scientific work and religious opinions. Priestley's memoirs are an important source for anyone interested in the state of epistemology, rationalism, and religious belief in the age of the Enlightenment, and in a man who, in the words of his son, 'gave unremitting exertions in the cause of truth'.

The Opus Majus of Roger Bacon
  • Volume 2
  • Edited by John Henry Bridges
  • Roger Bacon
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    01 July 2010
    First published in:
    1897
  • Roger Bacon, the medieval natural philosopher who broke new ground in promoting scientific method, produced the encyclopedic Opus Majus or 'Greater Work' in the mid-thirteenth century. This 1897 publication in two volumes was the first complete edition of the work to appear in print. Written at the request of Pope Clement IV, the Opus Majus is the most significant and most influential of Bacon's works, containing his observations of the natural world and theories on knowledge acquisition. Bacon's text appears in the original Latin, and Bridges includes a substantial introduction and brief analysis of each chapter in English, as well as extensive footnotes and an analytical table to aid the reader. Volume 2 contains the last three parts of Bacon's treatise, on Optics, Experimental Science, and Moral Philosophy. This volume also incorporates a later supplement containing additional material and corrections.

Cosmos
  • Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe
  • Volume 1
  • Alexander von Humboldt
  • Edited by Edward Sabine
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1846
  • Polymath Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), a self-described 'scientific traveller', was one of the most respected scientists of his time. Humboldt's wanderlust led him across Europe and to South America, Mexico, the U.S., and Russia, and his voyages and observations resulted in the discovery of many species previously unknown to Europeans. Originating as lectures delivered in Berlin and Paris (1827–1828), his multi-volume Cosmos: Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe (1845–1860) represented the culmination of his lifelong interest in understanding the physical world. As Humboldt writes, 'I ever desired to discern physical phenomena in their widest mutual connection, and to comprehend Nature as a whole, animated and moved by inward forces.' Volume 1 (1846) investigates celestial and terrestrial phenomena, from nebulae to the temperature of the earth, as well as 'organic life'. Throughout, he stresses the method of, and limits to, describing the universe's physical nature.

Conversations on Chemistry
  • In which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experiments
  • Volume 1, On Simple Bodies
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1817
  • Jane Haldimand Marcet (1769–1858) was a pioneer in the field of education who wrote accessible introductory books on science and economics. Noting that women's education 'is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas', she resolved to write books that would inform, entertain and improve a generation of female readers. First published anonymously in 1805, her two-volume work Conversations on Chemistry swiftly became a standard primer going through sixteen editions in England alone, and is credited with having influenced the young Michael Faraday. Presented as a series of discussions between a fictional tutor, Mrs. Bryan, and her two female students, the flighty Caroline and earnest Emily, Conversations combines entertaining banter with a clear and concise explanation of scientific theories of the day. In Volume 1 the girls are introduced to 'Simple Bodies' through such colourful examples as hot air balloons and the spa waters of Harrogate.

Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism
  • 5th edition
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1908
  • Sir James Jeans' well-known treatise covers the topics in electromagnetic theory required by every non-specialist physicist. It provides the relevant mathematical analysis and is therefore useful to those whose mathematical knowledge is limited, as well as to the more advanced physicists, engineers and applied mathematicians. A large number of examples are given.

Page 5 of 7