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History of the inductive sciences, from the earliest to the present time cover

History of the inductive sciences, from the earliest to the present time

Chapter 169: BOOK VIII.
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About This Book

This study traces the development of observational and experimental sciences from ancient times to the author's present, organizing each field into epochs marked by major discoveries and treating subordinate advances as preludes and sequels. It surveys the progress of astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, and the life sciences, emphasizing the role of induction and the interplay between experiment and theory. Biographical and bibliographical notices accompany accounts of discoveries, and methodological reflections are offered as groundwork for a philosophy of science. Related debates about ideas such as matter, force, and organization are acknowledged and deferred to a companion philosophical treatment.

HISTORY
OF THE
INDUCTIVE SCIENCES.


VOLUME II.

BOOK VIII.


THE SECONDARY MECHANICAL SCIENCES.


HISTORY OF ACOUSTICS.

. . . . . . Go, demand
Of mighty Nature, if ’twas ever meant
That we should pry far off and be unraised,
That we should pore, and dwindle as we pore,
Viewing all objects unremittingly
In disconnexion dead and spiritless;
And still dividing, and dividing still,
Break down all grandeur, still unsatisfied
With the perverse attempt, while littleness
May yet become more little; waging thus
An impious warfare ’gainst the very life
Of our own souls. Worsdworth, Excursion.    

 . . . . . .  Ἐσσυμένη δὲ
Ἠερίην ἀψῖδα διεῤῥοίζησε πεδίλῳ
Εἰς δόμον ἉΡΜΟΝIΗΣ παμμητόρος, ὁππόθι νύμφη
Ἴκελον οἶκον ἐναίε τύπῳ τετράζυγι κόσμου
Αὐτοπαγῆ Nonnus. Dionysiac. xli. 275.    
Along the skiey arch the goddess trode,
And sought Harmonia’s august abode;
The universal plan, the mystic Four,
Defines the figure of the palace-floor.
Solid and square the ancient fabric stands,
Raised by the labors of unnumbered hands.