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John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856), writer and physician, became a member of the Linnean Society in 1810, and served as president of the Royal College of Physicians from 1844 until his death. Intended for children and originally composed for the author's family, this three-volume work about science was first published in 1827. Dedicated to the writer Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) and with illustrations by George Cruikshank (1792–1878), it aims 'to blend amusement with instruction', since youth, as Paris writes, 'is naturally addicted to amusement'. Topics covered in Volume 2 include the collision of bodies, vacuums, motion in flight, and echoes; the science behind these is demonstrated using marbles, a kite and musical instruments, among various other toys and games. A fascinating and popular text in the history of science education, the engaging narrative seeks to prove 'how profitably, and agreeably, the machinery of fiction may be worked for the dissemination of truth'.
John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856), writer and physician, became a member of the Linnean Society in 1810, and served as president of the Royal College of Physicians from 1844 until his death. Intended for children and originally composed for the author's family, this three-volume work about science was first published in 1827. Dedicated to the writer Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) and with illustrations by George Cruikshank (1792–1878), it aims 'to blend amusement with instruction', since youth, as Paris writes, 'is naturally addicted to amusement'. Topics covered in Volume 1 include momentum, geometry, elasticity and rotatory motion; the science behind these is demonstrated using a yo-yo, a jack-in-the-box and a slingshot, among various other toys and games. A fascinating and popular text in the history of science education, the engaging narrative seeks to prove 'how profitably, and agreeably, the machinery of fiction may be worked for the dissemination of truth'.
John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856), writer and physician, became a member of the Linnean Society in 1810, and served as president of the Royal College of Physicians from 1844 until his death. Intended for children and originally composed for the author's family, this three-volume work about science was first published in 1827. Dedicated to the writer Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) and with illustrations by George Cruikshank (1792–1878), it aims 'to blend amusement with instruction', since youth, as Paris writes, 'is naturally addicted to amusement'. Topics covered in Volume 3 include optical illusions, centrifugal forces and the compound nature of white light; the science behind these is demonstrated using concave mirrors, Catharine wheels and a thaumatrope (which Paris is sometimes credited as having invented). A fascinating and popular text in the history of science education, the engaging narrative seeks to prove 'how profitably, and agreeably, the machinery of fiction may be worked for the dissemination of truth'.
An important mathematician and astronomer in medieval India, Bhascara Acharya (1114–85) wrote treatises on arithmetic, algebra, geometry and astronomy. He is also believed to have been head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, which was the leading centre of mathematical sciences in India. Forming part of his Sanskrit magnum opus Siddhānta Shiromani, the present work is his treatise on algebra. It was first published in English in 1813 after being translated from a Persian text by the East India Company civil servant Edward Strachey (1774–1832). The topics covered include operations involving positive and negative numbers, surds and zero, as well as algebraic, simultaneous and indeterminate equations. Strachey also appends useful notes made by the orientalist Samuel Davis (1760–1819). Of enduring interest in the history of mathematics, this was notably the first work to acknowledge that a positive number has two square roots.
The Dutch physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853–1928) was educated at the University of Leiden, where he later became a Professor of Theoretical Physics. A leading figure in his field, he established the basic mathematical principles that were later used by Albert Einstein for his theory of relativity. Lorentz and his colleague Pieter Zeeman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1902 for their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena (the Zeeman effect). In 1905 Lorentz was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, which awarded him the Rumford and Copley Medals. Contributing to the discussion of the theory of a luminiferous ether - soon to be superseded by special relativity - this work, first published in 1895, looks at electromagnetic phenomena (the propagation of light) in relation to moving bodies and optics.