Abstract
DR. LARDNER'S treatise on Natural Philosophy is quite familiar to those who studied Science ten or fifteen years ago. Before Ganot and Privat-Deschanel were translated, Lardner was the book which everyone used. It was originally almost a translation of Pouillet's “Eléments de Physique,” but was added to from time to time, and is still a valuable text-book, especially the new editions of it edited by Prof. G. C. Foster, and (as in the present instance) by Mr. Benjamin Loewy. The value of the book is indeed shown by the fact, that although first published many years ago, it is still deemed worthy of new editions, j and of being edited by well-known men. The volume before us has been carefully edited, augmented to nearly twice the bulk of the former edition, and all the most recent matter has been added. The treatment is essentially experimental and elementary; a slight knowledge of mathematics is needful. It is to be regretted that Mr. Loewy has not introduced metrical weights and measures. A few omissions may be noticed: the action latérale of Venturi is scarcely alluded to; the theory of the trompe is omitted, as are also the hydrodynamic experiments of Plateau and Magnus, and the account of Dr. Guthrie's; experiments on approach caused by vibration. But the j book has in the main been carefully edited and improved.
Handbook of Natural Philosophy.
Dionysius
Lardner
By, formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in University College, London. “Hydrostatics and Pneumatics.” New Edition, edited, and the greater part rewritten by Benjamin Loewy, F.R.A.S. (London: Lockwood and Co., 1874.)
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Handbook of Natural Philosophy . Nature 10, 102 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/010102a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/010102a0