368 EEVIEWS — MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 



works enable the adept at once to say, " this man does not understand 

 what he is writing :" all is exact, full, and genial as if the author en- 

 joyed what he is describing ; everywhere the subject is treated up to 

 its very latest stage, nor have we noted a single omission of impor- 

 tance. On debatable points, whether of principle or history, its almost- 

 judicial clearness and impartiality are admirable, and even where we 

 sometimes dissent from our author's opinion or decision, we have no 

 fault to find with the manner of stating the case. In a literary point 

 of view also, the work is excellently performed ; the style is at once 

 vigorous and elegant, reminding us of Herschel and Arago in their best 

 efforts, and sometimes rising into eloquence as welcome as unexpected ; 

 while for deep and exhaustive reflection, and acute and happy generali- 

 sation, it abounds in passages which make it on the whole one of the 

 most instructive as well as delightful books we have ever read. We 

 suppose we ought to feel shame in confessing to the hope that 

 some dishonest publisher on this side the Atlantic will reproduce it as 

 soon as possible, for although it is " supplied to subscribers gratis,'' 

 that is small comfort to those whose pockets are not deep enough for 

 that whole Encyclopaedia Britannica, and whose inclinations are decided 

 for having the pennyworth of bread without the sack. 



The range of period over which this dissertation extends, is some- 

 what limited, including only the last preceding three quarters of a 

 century ; this selection having been determined, as Professor Forbes 

 informs vis, by the fact of the previous ground having been already 

 occupied in the Encyclopaedia by the dissertations of Playfair and Sir 

 J. Leslie. We think this is a matter to be regretted, for we cannot 

 endorse the laudation which Professor Forbes somewhat ostentatiously 

 bestows on his predecessors' productions. That of Sir John Leslie is 

 often inaccurate, not seldom unjust, and, viewed by the light of modern 

 science, altogether incomplete : and if the same objections cannot be 

 urged against that of Playfair, still it is encumbered by masses of 

 heavy technicalities which he has attempted to popularise, but has only 

 succeeded in rendering tedious for the savan and mostly unintelligible 

 to the general reader. We sincerely wish that the publishers had can- 

 celled these ineffective essays and induced Professor Forbes to re-write 

 the history of that most important epoch which includes Galileo, Kep- 

 ler and Newton. The following is the programme which Professor 

 Forbes has set out to be performed, so condensed and yet so lucid that 

 we have not the heart to abridge it, long as it is for our space. 



I Lave adopted the period from about the year 1*775 to 1850 as the general 

 limit of my review. We may imagine this period, of three quarters of a century 



