Essays From the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews


Book Description

John Herschel was a 19th-century astronomer and scientist, best known for his work in developing photography and his contributions to lunar cartography. In this volume, Herschel presents a diverse collection of essays and speeches on subjects ranging from science and technology to literature and social criticism. With its erudite wit and lively style, this book showcases Herschel's remarkable versatility as a writer and thinker. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.




Essays from the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews


Book Description

First published in 1857, this work comprises assorted noteworthy writings by the mathematician and astronomer Sir John Herschel (1792-1871), reflecting his diverse scientific and literary interests. It includes a piece on terrestrial magnetism, a review of William Whewell's writings on the history and philosophy of science, and several addresses to the Royal Astronomical Society. Of particular interest is Herschel's commentary on Adolphe Quetelet's work on probability, which advocated applying statistics and probability calculus to social and political questions. Herschel's article not only influenced the growth of social science in Britain, but also played an important role in James Clerk Maxwell's development of a statistical treatment of heat phenomena. Also included in this collection are Herschel's translations of poems by Schiller (accompanied by the original German) as well as examples of his own verse. In an intriguing appendix, Herschel outlines a method for compiling vocabularies of indigenous peoples.
















The Lancet London


Book Description