A Course of Six Lectures on the Various Forces of Matter, and Their Relations to Each Other (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from On the Various Forces of Nature and Their Relations to Each Other: A Course of Lectures Delivered Before a Juvenile Audience at the Royal InstitutionWhich was first, Matter or Force? If we think on this question we shall find that we are unable to conceive of matter without force, or force without matter. When God created the elements of which the earth is composed, He created certain wondrous forces, which are set free, and become evident when matter acts on matter. All these forces, with many differences, have much in common, and if one is set free it will immediately endeavour to free its companions. Thus heat will enable us to eliminate light, electricity, magnetism, and chemical action; chemical action will educe light, electricity, and heat; in this way we find that all the forces in nature tend to form mutually dependent systems, and as the motion of one star affects another, so force in action liberates and renders evident forces previously tranquil.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.