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Scientific Methodology in Nineteenth Century Britain: Volume IV: Forces, Fields, and Energy: Physical Sciences book cover

1st Edition

Scientific Methodology in Nineteenth Century Britain Volume IV: Forces, Fields, and Energy: Physical Sciences

Edited By Charles H. Pence Copyright 2026
260 Pages
by Routledge

260 Pages
by Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
This collection of primary sources examines scientific methodology in Britain during the long nineteenth century. The nineteenth century begins with what was still a largely Newtonian perspective on the nature of matter and the physical world – Newtonian bodies moving through space, guided by a collection of forces, with gravity foremost among them. By the end of the century, physical science had... Read more

Volume 4: Forces, Fields, and Energy: Physical Sciences

General Introduction

Volume 4 Introduction

 

Part 1: Atoms, Molecules and Forces

1. John Dalton, “On the Constitution of Bodies” and “On Chemical Synthesis” (1808), from Foundations of the Atomic Theory (1893), pp. 27–34

2. John Dalton, “Remarks on the Essay of Dr. Berzelius on the Cause of Chemical Proportions”, Annals of Philosophy, Vol. 3 (1814), pp. 174–180

3. Jacob Berzelius, “An Address to Those Chemists Who Wish to Examine the Laws of Chemical Proportions, and the Theory of Chemistry in General”, Annals of Philosophy, Vol. 10 (1815), pp. 122–131

4. Michael Faraday, “Identity of Electricities Derived from Different Sources”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 123 (1833), pp. 23–30, 43–53

5. Michael Faraday, “A Speculation Touching Electric Conduction and the Nature of Matter”, Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 24 (1844), pp. 136–144

6. Herman von Helmholtz, “On the Aim and Progress of Physical Science”, in Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects (1869 [tr. 1885]), pp. 369–375, 382–394

7. James Clerk Maxwell, “On Physical Lines of Force”, Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 139 (1861), pp. 161–165

8. James Clerk Maxwell, “Molecules”, Nature, Vol. 8 (1873), pp. 437–441

 

Part 2: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

9. Sadi Carnot, “Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat and on Engines Suitable for Developing this Power”, The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Memoirs by Carnot, Clausius, and Thomson (1824 [tr. 1899]), pp. 3–21

10. James Joule, “On Matter, Living Force, and Heat”, in The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule, (1847), pp. 265–276

11. Rudolf Clausius, “On the Moving Force of Heat”, in The Mechanical Theory of Heat, with its Applications to the Steam-Engine and to the Physical Properties of Bodies (1850 [tr. 1867]), pp. 14–21, 43–45.

12. William Thomson, “Kinetic Theory of the Dissipation of Energy”, Nature, Vol. 9 (1874), pp. 441–444

 

Part 3: Models and Reality

13. Heinrich Hertz, Principles of Mechanics (1894 [tr. 1899]), pp. 1–4, 24–41

14. Ludwig Boltzmann, “On the Necessity of Atomic Theories in Physics”, The Monist, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1901), pp. 65–79

15. Ludwig Boltzmann, “Models”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 10th ed., Vol. 30 (1902), pp. 788–791

 

Part 4: Time and Space

16. Mary Somerville, Mechanism of the Heavens (1831), pp. v–xv, 4–6, 145–151

17. Ernst Mach, The Science of Mechanics (1883[tr. 1919]), pp. 222–245

18. Albert Einstein, “Maxwell’s Influence on the Development of the Conception of Physical Reality”, in James Clerk Maxwell: A Commemoration Volume, 1831–1931 (1931), pp. 66–73

 

Bibliography

 

Index

 

Biography

Dr. Charles H. Pence is Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society (CEFISES) at the Université catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

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