SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGES 



I. THE TEN LANDMARKS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE 1-45 



Roger Bacon Gilbert, the founder of terrestrial mag- 

 netism, his electrical researches Napier's discovery of 

 logarithms Continuity of scientific progress in Great 

 Britain from the seventeenth century onwards New- 

 ton's laws of motion and discovery of gravitation 

 Importance of Newton's work Foundation of modern 

 chemistry by Dalton Foundation of undulatory theory 

 of light by Young Faraday's electrical discoveries 

 Conservation of energy established by Joule and Thom- 

 son Clerk Maxwell's electro -magnetic theory of light 

 His work on kinetic theory of gases Biographical 

 notes on Newton, Dalton, Young, Faraday, Joule, 

 Thomson, and Clerk Maxwell. 



II. PHYSICAL SCIENCE THE HERITAGE OF THE 

 UNIVERSITIES DURING THE SEVENTEENTH AND 

 EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES - - 46-71 



Activity in the Universities during the seventeenth cen- 

 tury Foundation and early history of Gresham College 

 Briggs, tables of logarithms and decimal fractions 

 Edward Wright and Mercator's projection Wallis 

 Lord Brouncker's use of infinite series Wren's mathe- 

 matical and astronomical work The Gregory family, 

 first suggestion of reflecting telescopes Newton's op- 

 tical discoveries Robert Hooke, " Micrographia " 

 Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal Halley's mag- 

 netical and astronomical work Bradley's discovery of 

 aberration and nutation Bliss Maskelyne, founder 

 of the "Nautical Almanac" Density of earth The 

 Scottish Universities William Cullen, founder of the 

 Scottish school of Chemistry Black's chemical dis- 

 coveries Latent heat Use of hydrogen for filling 

 balloons Rutherford's isolation of nitrogen Robison 

 Playfair Desaguliers Robert Smith. 



