PHYSICS. BY BALFOUR STEWART, PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER, D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 1878. PREFACE. IN publishing the Science Primers on Physics and Chemistry, the object of the Authors has been to state the fundamental principles of their respective sciences in a manner suited to pupils of an early age. They feel that the thing to be aimed at is not so much to give information, as to endeavour to discipline the mind in a way which has not hitherto been customary, by bringing it into immediate contact with Nature herself. For this purpose a series of simple experiments has been devised, leading up to the chief truths of each science. These experiments must be performed by the teacher in regular order before the class. The power of observation in the pupils will thus be awakened and strengthened; and the amount and accuracy of the knowledge gained must be tested and increased by a thorough system of questioning. The study of the Introductory Primer will, in most cases, naturally precede that of either of the abovenamed subjects; and then it will probably be found best to take Chemistry as the second and Physics as the third stage. At the end of the volume will be found a list of the apparatus and materials required with prices attached. |