10 quotes
When I was a boy, I thought myself a man. Now that I am a man, I find myself a boy.
The historical part of the work can scarcely be called new, but several of the circumstances, which are related, have escaped the notice of former writers on the history of the sciences.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)
With respect to the mathematical part of optics, the curvature of the images, formed by lenses and mirrors, has been correctly investigated, and the inaccuracy of some former estimations has been demonstrated.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)
The theory of the tides has been reduced into an extremely simple form, which appears to agree better with all the phenomena, than the more intricate calculations which they have commonly been supposed to require.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)
A permanent alteration of form limits the strength of materials with regard to practical purposes, almost as much as fracture; since, in general, the force which is capable of producing this effect is sufficient, with a small addition, to increase it till fracture takes place.
The fundamental doctrines of motion have [herein]... been more immediately referred to axioms simply mathematical than has hitherto been usual; and the application of these doctrines to practical purposes has [herein]... been facilitated.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)
With respect to the cohesion and capillary action of liquids, I have had the good fortune to anticipate Mr. Laplace in his late researches, and I have endeavoured to show, that my assumptions are more universally applicable to the facts, than those which that justly celebrated mathematician has employed.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)
In the hydraulic and optical part, may be enumerated an over flowing lamp; a simplification of the rules for finding the velocity of running water; remarks on the application of force to hydraulic machines; a mode of letting out air from water pipes; an analysis of the human voice; and some arrangements for solar microscopes, and for other optical instruments of a similar nature.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)
It may hereafter be considered how far the excellent experiments of Count Rumford, which tend very greatly to weaken the evidence of the modern doctrine of heat, may be more or less favourable to one or the other system of light and colours.
Outlines of Experiments and Inquiries Respecting Sound and Light (1800)
I have... begun to collect materials for a work... relating to every department of medical knowledge: ...it will be comparatively more concise than these lectures, in proportion to what has been said and written respecting physic, but, I hope, much more complete, with regard to all that is known with certainty, and can be applied with utility.
A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts (1807)