Abstract
IN the days when a priori reasoning reigned supreme, when all observations which were not found in the works of early writers were regarded with suspicion, and all facts had to stand or fall according to their relation to metaphysics, there was no demand for scientific instruments and apparatus. A cause or a principle was then stated like a proposition in mathematics, and the effects which follow upon it were deduced; nowadays the scientific method is to observe the effects, and afterwards formulate a law which embraces them. To carry out this method of experiment and induction, apparatus is needed, and hence the state of physical science at any epoch can be estimated by the character of the instruments at the disposal of investigators. Judged by this criterion, physics and astronomy must have attained a marvellous degree of accuracy. The intricate nature of some physical instruments, and the complicated accessories with which all large astronomical telescopes are now equipped, not only testify to the skill of the instrument-maker, but also represent engines of research whereby new fields are explored. These instruments thus afford tangible evidence of advance, and it is for this reason that their exhibition is to be commended. Such an exhibition of physical instruments was lately held at Paris by the Société Française de Physique, and it is well worthy of imitation on this side of the Channel.
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G., R. Exhibitions of Physical Apparatus. Nature 50, 151–152 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/050151b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/050151b0