author - "Henry Smith Williams"
f making a wrong deduction from the phenomenonof the calcination of the metals, because of a very importantfactor, the action of the air, which was generally overlooked.And he urged his colleagues of the laboratories to give greaterheed to certain other phenomena that might pass unnoticed in theordinary calcinating process. In his work, The Sceptical Chemist,he showed the reasons for doubting the threefold constitution ofmatter; and in his General History of the Air advanced some noveland
833- -Confirmation of Chladni's hypothesis of 1794--The aurora borealis--Franklin's suggestion that it is of electrical origin--Its close association with terrestrial magnetism--Evaporation, cloud-formation, and dew--Dalton's demonstration that water exists in the air as an independent gas--Hutton's theory of rain--Luke Howard's paper on clouds--Observations on dew, by Professor Wilson and Mr. Six--Dr. Wells's essay on dew--His observations on several appearances connected with dew--Isotherms
was any sudden change in the level of mentality of the Roman world at the close of the classical period. We must assume, then, that the direction in which the great minds turned was for some reason changed. Newton is said to have alleged that he made his discoveries by "intending" his mind in a certain direction continuously. It is probable that the same explanation may be given of almost every great scientific discovery. Anaxagoras could not have thought out the theory of the moon's
ation ofgeneral ideas or principles. In the familiar definition ofHerbert Spencer, science is organized knowledge.Now it is patent enough, at first glance, that the veriest savagemust have been an observer of the phenomena of nature. But it maynot be so obvious that he must also have been a classifier of hisobservations--an organizer of knowledge. Yet the more we considerthe case, the more clear it will become that the two methods aretoo closely linked together to be dissevered. To observe
f making a wrong deduction from the phenomenonof the calcination of the metals, because of a very importantfactor, the action of the air, which was generally overlooked.And he urged his colleagues of the laboratories to give greaterheed to certain other phenomena that might pass unnoticed in theordinary calcinating process. In his work, The Sceptical Chemist,he showed the reasons for doubting the threefold constitution ofmatter; and in his General History of the Air advanced some noveland
833- -Confirmation of Chladni's hypothesis of 1794--The aurora borealis--Franklin's suggestion that it is of electrical origin--Its close association with terrestrial magnetism--Evaporation, cloud-formation, and dew--Dalton's demonstration that water exists in the air as an independent gas--Hutton's theory of rain--Luke Howard's paper on clouds--Observations on dew, by Professor Wilson and Mr. Six--Dr. Wells's essay on dew--His observations on several appearances connected with dew--Isotherms
was any sudden change in the level of mentality of the Roman world at the close of the classical period. We must assume, then, that the direction in which the great minds turned was for some reason changed. Newton is said to have alleged that he made his discoveries by "intending" his mind in a certain direction continuously. It is probable that the same explanation may be given of almost every great scientific discovery. Anaxagoras could not have thought out the theory of the moon's
ation ofgeneral ideas or principles. In the familiar definition ofHerbert Spencer, science is organized knowledge.Now it is patent enough, at first glance, that the veriest savagemust have been an observer of the phenomena of nature. But it maynot be so obvious that he must also have been a classifier of hisobservations--an organizer of knowledge. Yet the more we considerthe case, the more clear it will become that the two methods aretoo closely linked together to be dissevered. To observe