﻿202 
  Notices 
  respecting 
  New 
  Books, 
  

  

  namesake. 
  With 
  this 
  agrees 
  Hallam's 
  remark, 
  " 
  the 
  mind 
  of 
  

   Roger 
  Bacon 
  was 
  strangely 
  compounded 
  of 
  almost 
  prophetic 
  

   gleams 
  of 
  the 
  future 
  course 
  of 
  science, 
  and 
  the 
  best 
  principles 
  of 
  

   the 
  inductive 
  philosophy, 
  with 
  a 
  more 
  than 
  usual 
  credulity 
  in 
  the 
  

   superstitions 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  time 
  "(' 
  Literary 
  History,' 
  pt. 
  i. 
  cap. 
  ii.). 
  

   The 
  present 
  editor 
  adduces 
  the 
  extreme 
  rarity 
  of 
  Jebbs's 
  edition 
  

   (1733) 
  — 
  which 
  was 
  reprinted 
  seventeen 
  years 
  subsequently 
  in 
  

   Venice 
  — 
  as 
  a 
  sufficient 
  reason 
  for 
  this 
  new 
  edition. 
  The 
  Introduc- 
  

   tion 
  contains 
  a 
  life 
  of 
  Bacon 
  (pp. 
  xxi-xxxvi), 
  a 
  discussion 
  of 
  Bacon's 
  

   position 
  in 
  the 
  metaphysical 
  controversies 
  of 
  the 
  13th 
  century 
  

   (pp. 
  xxxvi-xliii), 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  his 
  "Scriptum 
  principale" 
  (pp. 
  xliii- 
  

   xlviii), 
  of 
  his 
  Philology 
  (pp. 
  xlviii-liv), 
  and 
  of 
  his 
  Mathematics 
  

   (pp. 
  lv-lix). 
  " 
  It 
  would 
  seem 
  that 
  Bacon 
  had 
  made 
  himself 
  

   acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  highest 
  mathematics 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  ; 
  though 
  no 
  

   evidence 
  is 
  forthcoming 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  he 
  contributed 
  personally 
  to 
  

   the 
  advance 
  of 
  the 
  science, 
  otherwise 
  than 
  by 
  strongly 
  insisting 
  on 
  its 
  

   culture, 
  and 
  by 
  pointing 
  out 
  new 
  T 
  fields 
  for 
  its 
  practical 
  application, 
  

   in 
  the 
  better 
  government 
  of 
  the 
  Church, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  

   industry. 
  His 
  interest, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  Galileo, 
  lay 
  in 
  applied 
  rather 
  

   than 
  in 
  abstract 
  mathematics." 
  Bacon 
  says 
  " 
  Scientiarum 
  porta 
  et 
  

   clavis 
  est 
  Mathematica." 
  The 
  introduction 
  further 
  gives 
  an 
  account 
  

   of 
  Bacon's 
  Astrology 
  (pp. 
  lix-lxv), 
  of 
  his 
  views 
  of 
  the 
  Propagation 
  

   of 
  Force 
  (pp. 
  lxv-lxiA), 
  of 
  his 
  Optics 
  (pp. 
  Ixix-lxxiv), 
  of 
  his 
  

   Alchemy, 
  of 
  his 
  views 
  on 
  experimental 
  science 
  and 
  on 
  Moral 
  Phi- 
  

   losophy 
  (pp. 
  Ixxix-lxxxviii), 
  concluding 
  with 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   general 
  characteristics 
  of 
  the 
  Opus 
  Majus 
  (pp. 
  Ixxxviii-xcii). 
  " 
  It 
  

   appears 
  on 
  the 
  surface 
  that 
  Bacon 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  thinkers, 
  

   typified 
  by 
  Pythagoras 
  rather 
  than 
  by 
  Aristotle, 
  who 
  engage 
  in 
  

   speculation, 
  not 
  for 
  its 
  own 
  sake 
  alone, 
  but 
  for 
  social 
  or 
  ethical 
  

   results, 
  that 
  are 
  to 
  follow. 
  . 
  . 
  .In 
  wealth 
  of 
  words, 
  in 
  brilliancy 
  of 
  

   imagination, 
  Francis 
  Bacon 
  was 
  immeasurably 
  superior. 
  But 
  

   ."Roger 
  Bacon 
  had 
  the 
  sounder 
  estimate 
  and 
  the 
  firmer 
  grasp 
  of 
  that 
  

   combination 
  of 
  deductive 
  with 
  inductive 
  method 
  which 
  mark 
  the 
  

   scientific 
  discoverer. 
  Finally, 
  Francis 
  Bacon 
  was 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  ; 
  with 
  

   Soger 
  Bacon 
  it 
  was 
  far 
  otherwise." 
  — 
  Before 
  the 
  text, 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  

   which 
  is 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  preface 
  (pp. 
  vii-xix), 
  comes 
  an 
  excellent 
  

   analysis 
  of 
  the 
  Opus 
  Majus 
  (pp. 
  xciii-elxxxvii.) 
  This 
  is 
  of 
  great 
  

   utility 
  for 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  work. 
  The 
  editor's 
  sufficient 
  reason 
  

   is 
  stated 
  above, 
  he 
  adduces 
  as 
  a 
  more 
  cogent 
  reason 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   Jebbs's 
  edition 
  is 
  incomplete. 
  Here 
  we 
  regret 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  re- 
  

   viewers 
  who 
  have 
  had 
  access 
  to 
  the 
  MSS., 
  some 
  additional 
  to 
  those 
  

   consulted 
  by 
  our 
  author, 
  join 
  issue 
  with 
  him, 
  and 
  so 
  far 
  from 
  

   pronouncing 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  definitive 
  edition 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  looked 
  

   for, 
  pronounce 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  " 
  full 
  of 
  gross 
  errors." 
  We 
  close 
  with 
  

   stating 
  another 
  good 
  point, 
  viz., 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  Index 
  at 
  the 
  end. 
  

  

  Applied 
  Mechanics. 
  By 
  John 
  Peery, 
  M.E., 
  D.Sc, 
  F.R.S., 
  

  

  Professor 
  of 
  Mechanics 
  and 
  Mathematics 
  in 
  the 
  Royal 
  College 
  

   of 
  Science, 
  London. 
  London: 
  Cassell 
  & 
  Co., 
  1897. 
  

   It 
  may 
  safely 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  no 
  teacher 
  of 
  engineering 
  is 
  more 
  

   anxious 
  that 
  the 
  subject 
  should 
  be 
  properly 
  taught, 
  and 
  has 
  given 
  

  

  