Description
Excerpt from Atoms
Each of these principles has been reached by noting analogies and generalising the results of experience, and our lines -of reasoning and statements of results have related only to objects that can be observed and to experiments that can be performed. Ostwald could therefore justly say that in the doctrine of energy there are no hypotheses. Certainly when a new machine is invented we at once assert that it cannot create work but we can at once verify our statement, and we cannot call an assertion a hypothesis if, as soon as it is made, it can be checked by experiment.
Now, there are cases where hypothesis is, on the contrary, both necessary and fruitful. In studying a machine, we do not confine ourselves only to the consideration of its visible parts, which have objective reality for us only as far as we can dismount the machine. We certainly observe these visible pieces as closely as we can, but at the same time we seek to divine the hidden gears and parts that explain its apparent motions.
To divine in this way the existence and properties of objects that still lie outside our ken, to explain the complica tions of the visible in terms of invisible simplicity, is the function of the intuitive intelligence which, thanks to men such as Dalton and Boltzmann, has given us the doctrine of Atoms. This book aims at giving an exposition of that doctrine.
The use of the intuitive method has not, of course, been used only in the study of atoms, any more than the inductive method has found its sole application in energetics. A time may perhaps come when atoms, directly perceptible at last, will be as easy to observe as are microbes to-day. The true spirit of the atomists will then be found in those who have inherited the power to divine another universal structure lying hidden behind a vaster experimental reality than ours.
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.
Each of these principles has been reached by noting analogies and generalising the results of experience, and our lines -of reasoning and statements of results have related only to objects that can be observed and to experiments that can be performed. Ostwald could therefore justly say that in the doctrine of energy there are no hypotheses. Certainly when a new machine is invented we at once assert that it cannot create work but we can at once verify our statement, and we cannot call an assertion a hypothesis if, as soon as it is made, it can be checked by experiment.
Now, there are cases where hypothesis is, on the contrary, both necessary and fruitful. In studying a machine, we do not confine ourselves only to the consideration of its visible parts, which have objective reality for us only as far as we can dismount the machine. We certainly observe these visible pieces as closely as we can, but at the same time we seek to divine the hidden gears and parts that explain its apparent motions.
To divine in this way the existence and properties of objects that still lie outside our ken, to explain the complica tions of the visible in terms of invisible simplicity, is the function of the intuitive intelligence which, thanks to men such as Dalton and Boltzmann, has given us the doctrine of Atoms. This book aims at giving an exposition of that doctrine.
The use of the intuitive method has not, of course, been used only in the study of atoms, any more than the inductive method has found its sole application in energetics. A time may perhaps come when atoms, directly perceptible at last, will be as easy to observe as are microbes to-day. The true spirit of the atomists will then be found in those who have inherited the power to divine another universal structure lying hidden behind a vaster experimental reality than ours.
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.
Details
Publisher - Forgotten Books
Author(s) - Jean Perrin
Hardback
Published Date -
ISBN - 9780265386514
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm
Page Count - 260
Paperback
Published Date -
ISBN - 9781330686591
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm
Page Count - 262
Payment & Security
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.