xiv Preface 



It was not intended to write a complete history of 

 British science, but to lay stress mainly on its salient 

 features, without overburdening our account with work 

 which, though meritorious and perhaps precursory to a 

 real advance, did not deal with fundamental matters. 

 Our judgment probably was at fault in some cases, and 

 accidental omissions have, no doubt, also occurred. It 

 is to be expected that these will be most numerous in 

 the chapter on technical applications, where it was 

 found difficult to select from the extensive material 

 those special instances which most clearly show the 

 part that pure science has taken in the economic life 

 of the country. 



The subject naturally divides itself into two great 

 groups, one dealing with the physical, the other with 

 the biological sciences, and we are respectively respon- 

 sible for the one and the other. Our thanks are due 

 to Professor Seward, Master of Downing College, Cam- 

 bridge, for kindly helping in the chapter on Botany ; 

 to Mr. H. H. Brindley, of St. John's College, Cambridge, 

 for his assistance in the chapter on Zoology ; and to 

 Professor F. G. Hopkins for help in that on Physiology. 

 The chapter on Geology was partly re-written and much 

 increased in value by the late Professor McKenny 

 Hughes, while Dr. Marr and Mr. R. E. Priestley have 

 also assisted us with advice. Extensive use has been 

 made of the " Dictionary of National Biography," and 

 of some articles in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." 



