CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Intelleetnal character of this age — The rejection of authority is inherited from 

 the last century — Importance of this to scientific progress — Idea of the unity 

 and universality of natural law — Newton's law of gravitation has shown the 

 uniformity of natural law through space — Geology has shown the constancy of 

 natxiral law through time — The thermo-dynamic theory has shown the laws of 

 force to be tnie on all scales — Summary — The same tendency is discernible in 

 the sciences of life and mind — The question of the origin of species — Habit of 

 regarding no subject as isolated — Connexion of mental science with the science 

 of life — This is contrasted with the scholastic tendency to isolate every science 

 — Wider meaning given to the word science than formerly — Sciences of history 

 and of language — Benefit of this widened view of science — Summary of pre- 

 ceding paragraphs — AVhat is most characteristic of the scientific conceptions of 

 this age, is the importance attached to historical methods — Gibbon's " Decline 

 and Fall of the Roman Empire" — How the same subject would be attempted 

 now — History has become scientific, and science historical — Geology — The 

 nebular theory — The origin of species — The problems of vital development are 

 genetic — Explanation of this word — History of vital development — Contrasted 

 with geological history — Genetic studies and methods are characteristic of this 

 age — Science of life — History — History of law — Science of language^Develop- 

 ment is the criterion of morphology — To know what a thing is, we must know 

 its origin — "Wide a|)plicability of this axiom — Artistic criticism — Political insti- 

 tutions — The recognition of this principle is what is most characteristic of this 

 age — Conservatism — Bentham and Stuart Mill — Liberalism — Toleration of all 

 opinions — Conclusion Fp. 1 — 15 



CHAPTER I. 



MATTEK AND ENERGY. 



Four laws of conservation — Conservation of matter — Conservation of momentum — 

 Conservation of rotation — Amount of rotation, how estimated — Conservation 

 of areas, a synonymous term with conservation of rotation — Conservation of 

 energy — Transformation of energy — Definitions of Momentum, Force, Energy, 

 and Work — Measure of energy — Potential and actual energy — Their mutual 

 transformation in the motion of a pendulum — Energy may be stored : instance 



