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Professor of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution between 1853 and 1887, the physicist and mountaineer John Tyndall (1820–93) passionately sought to share scientific understanding with the Victorian public. A lucid and highly regarded communicator, he lectured on such topics as heat, light, magnetism and electricity. In this collection of twelve lectures, first published in 1863, Tyndall discusses the general properties of heat and its associated physical processes, such as convection, conduction and radiation. He presents concepts so that they are intelligible to non-specialists, and helpful illustrations of laboratory equipment accompany his descriptions of experiments and phenomena. Throughout, he explains the research and discoveries of renowned scientists, including Sir Humphry Davy, Julius von Mayer, James Prescott Joule, and Hermann von Helmholtz. Several of Tyndall's other publications, from his lectures on sound to his exploration of alpine glaciers, are also reissued in this series.
Thomas Bewick (1753–1828) is synonymous with finely crafted wood engravings of the natural world, and his instantly recognisable style influenced book illustration well into the nineteenth century. During his childhood in the Tyne valley, his two obsessions were art and nature. At fourteen, he was apprenticed to the engraver and businessman Ralph Beilby (1743–1817) with whom he later published A General History of Quadrupeds (also reissued in this series). The present work, with its text compiled from various sources, was the first practical field guide for the amateur ornithologist, inspiring also artists and writers. Each of the two volumes contains hundreds of illustrations of breathtaking beauty and precision: one for each species, neatly capturing its character in exquisite detail, interspersed with charming vignettes of country life. Volume 1, first published in 1797, covers land birds, including eagles, owls, sparrows and finches.
The Alchemy Reader is a collection of primary source readings on alchemy and hermeticism, which offers readers an informed introduction and background to a complex field through the works of important ancient, medieval and early modern alchemical authors. Including selections from the legendary Hermes Trimegistus to Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton, the book illustrates basic definitions, conceptions, and varied interests and emphases; and it also illustrates the highly interdisciplinary character of alchemical thought and its links with science and medicine, philosophical and religious currents, the visual arts and iconography and, especially, literary discourse. Like the notable anthologies of alchemical writings published in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it seeks to counter the problem of an acute lack of reliable primary texts and to provide a convenient and accessible point of entry to the field.