Abstract
THIS little text-book is issued by Messrs. Collins as one of their Elementary Science Series, and will prove useful to beginners, by rendering them familiar, at an early stage of their studies, with the more precise definitions and nomenclature which have been introduced by modern writers on dynamics. The distinction, for instance, between the centre of gravity and the centre of inertia is much more clearly pointed out than is usual in elementary works, and the statement that “there is only a limited number of classes of bodies that possess a centre of gravity” will probably be read by many with surprise. The measurement, composition, and resolution of velocities are treated of in the chapter preceding that on force, and the methods of measuring forces in terms either of gravitation units or absolute units are well and fully discussed. The definition of work given in the last chapter might, we think, be amended. As it stands at present it might lead the student to suppose that no work is done by an agent moving a body, unless the motion is created in opposition to a resisting force, though the language employed in some of the examples would be sufficient to correct such a supposition. Throughout the work the author assists the student to obtain “clear physical conceptions regarding the first principles of dynamics,” by frequently directing his attention to the experimental proofs of the various laws he enunciates, and by hinting at the physical, rather than the mathematical, developments of his subject.
Dynamics; or, Theoretical Mechanics, in Accordance with the Syllabus of the Science and Art Department.
By J. T. Bottomley, M.A., F.R.S.E., F.C.S. (London and Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, and Co., 1877.)
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R., A. Dynamics; or, Theoretical Mechanics, in Accordance with the Syllabus of the Science and Art Department . Nature 15, 467 (1877). https://doi.org/10.1038/015467a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015467a0