Abstract
THIS little work is not without its merits, the descriptions of the simpler phenomena and laws of these branches of physics being for the most part clear, accurate, and couched in easy language. The arrangement adopted in the chapters of the book is a departure, and we think not a very wise one, from the usual order of subjects in elementary text-books of physics. After a preliminary chapter on the atmosphere, its elasticity and its weight, the author plunges into vibratory motion, and under this head treats of acoustics. Chapter III. is on rectilinear motion, under which heading we have the following subjects:—The reflection of sound, the linear propagation of light, reflection of light and its applications, convection, radiation, and conduction of heat, laws of curved mirrors, laws of refraction, lenses, magic lantern, refraction of sound, spherical aberration of lenses, and, lastly, properties of matter. We have quoted these in the order in which they occur, and cannot help thinking that, however clearly the individual subjects are treated of, this heterogeneous lumping together of them must hamper the comprehension of beginners. Chapter IV. deals with the conservation of matter, including expansion by heat; Chapter V. is on thermometers. Chapter VI., on the conservation of energy, is another example of the author's peculiar method. It begins with the correlation of forces, deals with the prismatic spectrum, diathermancy, acoustic resonance, the laws of vibrations of strings, and specific heat. The book concludes with a chapter on sensation, optical and acoustical. Except for these aberrations of arrangement, and for one or two slips, the book would be a satisfactory one for beginners in natural philosophy.
Acoustics, Light, and Heat.
By Thomas W. Piper. (London: George Philip and Son, 1881.)
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Acoustics, Light, and Heat . Nature 25, 51 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/025051a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/025051a0