Abstract
PROF. EVERETT'S admirable adaptation of “Deschanel's Natural Philosophy” is so well known as a text-book, that it needs no commendation from us. We heartily welcome this sixth and greatly improved edition. Amongst the new items we notice that the chapter on thermodynamics has been amplified and re-written; and other parts of the book devoted to heat have also been improved, particularly those relating to the apparent minimum density of water, and to conduction of heat. We notice also a useful note on the mathematical treatment of the periodical variations of underground temperatures. The section dealing with electricity and magnetism has also been greatly improved. The elements of electric testing by Wheatstone's bridge and resistance coils are now included. The modern dynamo- electric machines and such recent inventions as the electric pen and the induction-balance are described. Rowland's experiments on electric convection-currents, and Planté's secondary battery are also mentioned; though it appears to us that by a slight slip of the pen in the paragraph dealing with Planté's researches his “rheostatic machine,” which is in reality a compound condenser of mica plates, is described as a species of commutator (like that of Müller) for his secondary batteries. There is another slip in the paragraph on the use of the galvanometer for measuring transient currents, for it is stated that the quantity discharged through the galvanometer is proportional to the swing of the needle, whereas by the well-known balistic formula of Maxwell, it is proportional to the sine of half the angle of the first swing. These are however minor points. In the section on Light and Sound little has been changed; the more recent measurements of the velocity of light, and the phonograph, being the most important additions. It is a pity that in the optical formulæ the editor does not use the same notation as in the accepted Cambridge text-books. The problems, which in former editions were lumped together at the end of the book, are in this new edition placed at the ends of the separate volumes, a change which is a great boon to teachers and students who find it most convenient to buy the separate parts. Why the date of 1882 should be put upon a work which appears in October, 1881, is one of the mysteries of publishing which lies beyond the pale of scientific criticism.
Deschanel's Natural Philosophy.
Edited by Prof. J. D. Everett. Sixth edition. (Blackie and Son, 1882.)
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Deschanel's Natural Philosophy . Nature 24, 604 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/024604a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/024604a0