hife and Character of Nathaniel Bowditch. 19 



abridged manner, in which the analytical calculations have been 

 made, it has been found difficult to be understood by many per- 

 sons, who have a strong and decided taste for mathematical stud- 

 ies, on account of the time and labor required to insert the inter- 

 mediate steps of the demonstrations, necessary to enable them 

 easily to follow the author in his reasoning. To remedy in some 

 measure, this defect, has been the chief object of the translator 

 in the Notes." 



. It was in the year 1815, at Salem, that he began this herculean , 

 task, and finished it in two years. The Commentary, which ex- 

 ceeds the original in extent, kept pace with the Translation ; but 

 whilst the publication was in hand, his alterations and additions 

 were so numerous that it might almost be considered a new draft 

 of the work. 



Let it not be said, in disparagement of the labors of Dr. Bow- 

 ditch, that this was not an original work, but merely a translation. 

 Suppose that it had been so. What then ? Was it not still a ben- 

 efaction to this country and to Great Britain, thus to bring it with- 

 in the reach and compass of the American and English mind?* 

 It is truly said by an old writer, " So well is he worthy of per- 

 petual fame that bringeth a good work to light, as is he that first 

 did make it, and ought always to be reckoned the second father 

 thereof" But the fact is, it is more than half an original com- 

 mentary and exposition, simplifying and elucidating what was be- 

 fore complex and obscure, supplying omissions and deficiencies, 

 fortifying the positions with new proofs and giving additional 



* The only attempts that have been made in England to grapple with the great 

 work of La Place are, 1, " An Elementary Treatise upon Analytical Mechanics, 

 being the First Book of the Mecanique Celeste of La Place ; translated and eluci- 

 dated with Explanatory Notes, by the Rev. John Toplis, B. D., London. 1814." 

 8vo. — 2. " Elementary Illustrations of the Celestial Mechanics of La Place, [by 

 Thomas Young, M. D.] London. 1821." 8vo.— 3. " A Treatise on Celestial Me- 

 chanics, by P. S. La Place ; translated from the French, and elucidated with Ex- 

 planatory Notes, by Rev. Henry H. Harte, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. Part 

 First, Book First, 1822. Book Second, 1827. Dublin." 4to. 



It is highly honorable to the sex, that the best, may I not say the only Exposition 

 of La Place's work that has appeared in England, is from the pen of a female, the 

 accomplished Mary Somerville, wife of Dr. Somerville, of Chelsea Hospital. 

 The Edinburgh Review said of her work, entitled " The Mechanism of the Heav- 

 ens," " This unquestionably is one of the most remarkable works that female in- 

 tellect ever produced, in any age or country ; and with respect to the present day, 

 we hazard little in saying that Mrs. Somerville is the only individual of her sex in 

 the world who could have written it." 



