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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 7 of 7

Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Bart.
  • Selected and Arranged by Joseph Larmor
  • Volume 2
  • George Gabriel Stokes
  • Edited by Joseph Larmor
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    24 June 2010
    First published in:
    1907
  • Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge and President of the Royal Society, Sir George Gabriel Stokes (1819–1904) made substantial contributions to the fields of fluid dynamics, optics, physics, and geodesy, in which numerous discoveries still bear his name. The Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Bart., edited by Joseph Larmor, offers rare insight into this capacious scientific mind, with letters attesting to the careful, engaged experimentation that earned him international acclaim. Volume 2 (1907) includes important professional correspondence with James Clerk Maxwell, James Prescott Joule, and many others, with particular attention given to Stokes' activities with the British Meteorological Society. Many of his foundational innovations in optics are also explicated in these letters, serving in place of the authoritative volume he unfortunately never had the opportunity to complete.

Radiations from Radioactive Substances
  • Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Charles Drummond Ellis
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1930
  • Sir Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937) was a New Zealand-born physicist who has become known as the 'father of nuclear physics' for his discovery of the so-called planetary structure of atoms. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. His co-authors, James Chadwick and Charles D. Ellis also made significant discoveries in the field of nuclear physics, with Chadwick discovering the neutron particle in 1932. Research in nuclear physics in the 1930s had become focused on investigating the natures of alpha, beta and gamma radiation and their effects on matter and atomic structure. This volume provides a definitive account of the state of research into these types of radiation in 1930, explaining the theory and process behind inferring the structure of the atom and the structure of the nucleus. The text of this volume is taken from a 1951 reissue of the 1930 edition.

The Mysterious Universe
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1930
  • Originating from the Rede Lecture delivered at the University of Cambridge in November 1930, this book is based upon the conviction that the teachings and findings of astronomy and physical science are destined to produce an immense change on our outlook on the universe as a whole, and on views about the significance of human life. The author contends that the questions at issue are ultimately one for philosophical discussion, but that before philosophers can speak, science should present ascertained facts and provisional hypotheses. The book is therefore written with these thoughts in mind while broadly presenting the fundamental physical ideas and findings relevant for a wider philosophical inquiry.

Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Bart.
  • Selected and Arranged by Joseph Larmor
  • Volume 1
  • George Gabriel Stokes
  • Edited by Joseph Larmor
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    24 June 2010
    First published in:
    1907
  • Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge and President of the Royal Society, Sir George Gabriel Stokes (1819–1904) made substantial contributions to the fields of fluid dynamics, optics, physics, and geodesy, in which numerous discoveries still bear his name. The Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Bart., edited by Joseph Larmor, offers rare insight into this capacious scientific mind, with letters attesting to the careful, engaged experimentation that earned him international acclaim. Volume 1 (1907) includes a memoir - culled from the reminiscences of family, friends, and colleagues - and letters, including early correspondence with Lady Stokes during the time of their engagement and early marriage. Professional correspondence covers Stokes' discoveries in the areas of spectroscopy, fluorescence, and colour vision. The result is an intimate portrait of a brilliant mathematician - both in the early stages of his career and at the height of his intellectual powers.

Physics and Philosophy
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1942
  • Originally published in 1942, this book discusses an emerging physical science that brought with it a fresh message as to the fundamental nature of the world, and of the possibilities of human free will in particular. The aim of the book is to explore that territory, which forms a borderland between physics and philosophy. The author seeks to estimate the philosophical significance of physical developments, and the interest of his enquiry extends far beyond technical physics and philosophy. Some of the questions raised touch everyday human life closely: can we have knowledge of the world outside us other than that what we can gain by observation and experiment? Is the world spiritual and psychological or material in its ultimate essence; is it better likened to a thought or to a machine? Are we endowed with free will, or are we part of a vast machine that must follow its course until it finally runs down?

The New Background of Science
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1931
  • Published in 1934 as a second edition to James Jeans' popular work on the general understanding of the physical universe, The New Background of Science took advantage of a comparatively 'quiescent' period in physical investigation when fundamental theories and findings gained wide acceptance. Jeans' aim in writing this book was to depict this 'situation in broad outline and in the simplest possible terms. I have drawn my picture against a roughly sketched background of rudimentary philosophy... because I believe, in common with most scientific workers, that without a background of this kind we can neither see our fresh knowledge as a consistent whole, nor appreciate its significance to the full.'

An Introduction to the Kinetic Theory of Gases
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1940
  • This book can be described as a student's edition of the author's Dynamical Theory of Gases. It is written, however, with the needs of the student of physics and physical chemistry in mind, and those parts of which the interest was mainly mathematical have been discarded. This does not mean that the book contains no serious mathematical discussion; the discussion in particular of the distribution law is quite detailed; but in the main the mathematics is concerned with the discussion of particular phenomena rather than with the discussion of fundamentals.

The Growth of Physical Science
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1947
  • The Growth of Physical Science is a detailed but very accessible survey of what began as natural philosophy and culminated in the mid-twentieth century as quantum physical science. From the earliest physical investigations of nature made by the various civilisations of Babylonia, Phoenicia and Egypt (a period covering 5000–600 BC), through the remarkable mathematical and philosophical achievements of the ancient Greeks, to the ages of Newton and then Einstein, Rutherford and Bohr, Jeans has written a comprehensive history of this tremendous advancement in our understanding of the universe, one that will appeal to a broad range of readers interested in this subject.

Atomicity and Quanta
  • James Jeans
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1926
  • This is the full text of James Jeans's Rouse Ball Lecture given in 1925 at Cambridge University, and surveys the field of atomic and subatomic physics in the early days of quantum mechanics, with a brief historical perspective on measurement.

The Scientific Papers of Sir George Darwin
  • Figures of Equilibrium of Rotating Liquid and Geophysical Investigations
  • Volume 3
  • George Howard Darwin
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1910
  • Sir George Darwin (1845–1912) was the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin. After studying mathematics at Cambridge he read for the Bar, but soon returned to science and to Cambridge, where in 1883 he was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy. His family home is now the location of Darwin College. His work was concerned primarily with the effect of the sun and moon on tidal forces on Earth, and with the theoretical cosmogony which evolved from practical observation: he formulated the fission theory of the formation of the moon (that the moon was formed from still-molten matter pulled away from the Earth by solar tides). He also developed a theory of evolution for the Sun–Earth–Moon system based on mathematical analysis in geophysical theory. This volume of his collected papers covers figures of equilibrium of rotating liquid and geophysical investigations.

The Scientific Papers of Sir George Darwin
  • Oceanic Tides and Lunar Disturbance of Gravity
  • Volume 1
  • George Howard Darwin
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1907
  • Sir George Darwin (1845–1912) was the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin. After studying mathematics at Cambridge he read for the Bar, but soon returned to science and to Cambridge, where in 1883 he was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy. His family home is now the location of Darwin College. His work was concerned primarily with the effect of the sun and moon on tidal forces on Earth, and with the theoretical cosmogony which evolved from practical observation: he formulated the fission theory of the formation of the moon (that the moon was formed from still-molten matter pulled away from the Earth by solar tides). He also developed a theory of evolution for the Sun–Earth–Moon system based on mathematical analysis in geophysical theory. This volume of his collected papers covers oceanic tides and lunar disturbances of gravity.

The Scientific Papers of Sir George Darwin
  • Tidal Friction and Cosmogony
  • Volume 2
  • George Howard Darwin
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1908
  • Sir George Darwin (1845–1912) was the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin. After studying mathematics at Cambridge he read for the Bar, but soon returned to science and to Cambridge, where in 1883 he was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy. His family home is now the location of Darwin College. His work was concerned primarily with the effect of the sun and moon on tidal forces on Earth, and with the theoretical cosmogony which evolved from practical observation: he formulated the fission theory of the formation of the moon (that the moon was formed from still-molten matter pulled away from the Earth by solar tides). He also developed a theory of evolution for the Sun–Earth–Moon system based on mathematical analysis in geophysical theory. This volume of his collected papers covers tidal friction and cosmogony.

The Scientific Papers of Sir George Darwin
  • Periodic Orbits and Miscellaneous Papers
  • Volume 4
  • George Howard Darwin
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1911
  • Sir George Darwin (1845–1912) was the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin. After studying mathematics at Cambridge he read for the Bar, but soon returned to science and to Cambridge, where in 1883 he was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy. His family home is now the location of Darwin College. His work was concerned primarily with the effect of the sun and moon on tidal forces on Earth, and with the theoretical cosmogony which evolved from practical observation: he formulated the fission theory of the formation of the moon (that the moon was formed from still-molten matter pulled away from the Earth by solar tides). This volume of his collected papers covers periodic orbits and some miscellaneous papers, including two investigating the health statistics of the marriage of first cousins – of interest to a member of a dynasty in which such marriages were common.

Mechanism of the Heavens
  • Translated by Mary Somerville
  • Pierre-Simon Laplace
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1831
  • Published in 1831, this work forms part of a collection of introductory volumes suggested by Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux, the Lord Chancellor, for the Society of the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Due to the exceptional mathematical ability of its author, however, it outgrew its original plan and has since been seen as a rather more ambitious project. Praised by Somerville's contemporary Sir John Herschel for its presentation of general astronomical theories and the mechanical principles employed in their derivation, the work was a tour de force of scientific and technical exposition. It is especially remarkable both for its author's firm grasp of the subject, especially given her lack of formal mathematical training, and for its clear outline of Newtonian philosophy for a popular audience.

A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy
  • John Frederick William Herschel
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1830
  • Astronomer and philosopher J. F. W. Herschel's A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, originally published in 1830, can be regarded as the first modern work on the philosophy of science. In this book, Herschel carefully sets out what he regards as the principles and methods of scientific investigation, both at a theoretical level and at the level of experiment or observation. He describes nature as being governed by laws which are difficult to discern by mere observation and so deduces that theoretical science requires analogical reasoning. In the Discourses, written as the first in a series called Cabinet Cyclopaedia, he covers a wide range of methodological, scientific and philosophical subjects that include discussions of contemporary astronomy, atomism and chemistry. His writing on light is heavily influenced by Newton. Herschel also ponders the differences between human beings and animals and the relationship between religious faith and scientific enquiry.

On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences
  • Mary Somerville
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1834
  • Mary Somerville (1780–1872) would have been a remarkable woman in any age, but as an acknowledged leading mathematician and astronomer at a time when the education of most women was extremely restricted, her achievement was extraordinary. Laplace famously told her that 'There have been only three women who have understood me. These are yourself, Mrs Somerville, Caroline Herschel and a Mrs Greig of whom I know nothing.' Mary Somerville was in fact Mrs Greig. After (as she herself said) translating Laplace's work 'from algebra into common language', she wrote On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (1834). Her intention was to demonstrate the remarkable tendency of modern scientific discoveries 'to simplify the laws of nature, and to unite detached branches by general principles.' This and her next book, the two-volume Physical Geography, also reissued in this series, were enormously influential both within the scientific community and beyond.

Memoir of Augustus De Morgan
  • With Selections from His Letters
  • Sophia Elizabeth De Morgan, Augustus De Morgan
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    29 July 2010
    First published in:
    1882
  • The fame of Augustus De Morgan (1806–1871), a brilliant mathematician and logician, has been eclipsed by that of his son, the celebrated ceramicist William De Morgan. However, as readers of his Memoir will discover, De Morgan senior enjoyed an equally distinguished, if turbulent, career. Collated by his wife, and published in 1882, nine years after his death, the Memoir of Augustus de Morgan chronicles the varied life of an under-appreciated genius. Biographical narrative is interleaved with his own correspondence, revealing a humorous and warm personality as well as an exceptional intellect. As the Pall Mall Gazette told its readers, 'quaint and original to the last, every word of De Morgan's correspondence is well worth reading'. Although rich in detail about his work and publications, Sophia Elizabeth's affectionate account of her husband is also sympathetic and witty, making it an ideal introduction to one of Britain's greatest minds.

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