Preface To The American Edition
For tlic benefit of those who attended his lectures on Light and Electricity at the Royal Institution, Prof. Tyndall prcjnircd with much care a series of Xotes, summing up briefly and clearly the leading facts and principles of these sciences. The Notes proved so serviceable to those for whom they v.ere designed, tliat they were widely souglit by students and teachers, and Prof. Tyndall accordingly had them repi'inted in two small books. Undev the conviction that they will be equally appi'cciated by instructors and learners in this country, they are here combined and republished in a single volume.
No intelligent teacher or earnest student needs to be reminded of the importance of repetition and recapitulation to give permanence to mental impressions. But it is neither possible nor desirable to retain in the memory the copious details which may be necessary to the first comprehension of a subject. Hence, after listening to a course of lectures, or going through an extended work in which facts, experimental proofs, and speculations, have
4 PREFACE TO THE AMErjCAX EDITION.
been elaborately presented, it is invaluable to vetraversc the field, concentrating attention upon the prominent and established principles of the subject. This is an indispensable condition of all solid acquisition ; and, in thus clearly and sharply stating the fundamental principles ot Electrical and Optical Science, Prof. T5nidall has earned the cordial thanks of all interested in education.
New York, April, 1871.
COI^TEK'TS.
LIGHT.
General Considerations. Rectilinear Propagation of Formation of Images through Small Apertures . Shadows .....
Enfeeblement of Light by Distance : Law of Invers Photometry, or the Measurement of Light . Brightness .....
Light requires Time to pass through Space . Aberration of Light ....
Reflection of Light (Catoptrics) — Plane Mirrors Verification of the Law of Reflection Reflection from Curved Surfaces : Concave Mirrors Caustics by Reflection (Catacaustics) Convex Mirrors ....
Refraction of Light (Dioptrics) .
Opacity of Transparent Mixtures . .
Total Reflection .....
Lenses . . ...
Converging Lenses ....
Diverging Lenses ....
Vision and the Eye ....
Adjustment of the Eye : Use of Spectacles . The Punctum Coecum ....
f Light .
. 11
. 13
e Squares .
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. 19
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". 32
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. 39
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. 44
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. 44
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. 48
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