Book Description

Excerpt from Molecules and the Molecular Theory of Matter In the multiplication of popular books on scientific subjects, the molecular theory of matter appears to have been strangely neglected. None of the works available to American readers pretend to give a complete, connected account of what is known of the constitution of matter, and the student who wishes to learn the present state of the molecular theory has to seek his information in the occasional articles that are scattered through the scientific journals. Dr. Watson's Kinetic Theory of Oases (a new edition of which has been recently published) is far too difficult for the undergraduates in our scientific schools and colleges j Clausius'B Kinetitche Theorie der Qase (1889-91) has not yet been translated, nor has Meyer's Kinetitche Theorie der Gate, so far as I am aware. Meyer's book is also out of print at present, although a new edition is in preparation. Lord Kelvin's delightful lecture on The Size of Atoms should be read by all students of physics,-and it is now readily available, in the first volume of his Popular Lectures and Addresses. Crookes's classical papers on radiant matter should also be read; they are in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, beginning with the year 1874. The present volume is an attempt to elucidate the elements of the molecular theory of matter as it is held to-day. It is based on a lecture delivered on the 12th of last February, before the Washburn Engineering Society, of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In preparing the manuscript for the printer a considerable number of alterations liavo been made, and much new material has been added, though the form of presentation has been preserved. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This 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.