Mechanical Philosophy, Horology, and Astronomy: Being an Exposition of the Properties of Matter and of Their Mode of Action, the Construction of Instruments for the Measurement of Time, and a Description of the Heavenly Bodies |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
acting action amount appear applied arch ascertained astronomers attraction axis axle balance ball beam binary stars body carbonic acid carried cause centre of gravity centrifugal force circle clock comet compressed consequently constructed continually curve degree descend diameter diminished direction distance earth eclipses elasticity equal equator exactly fall feet fixed friction fulcrum globe greater heat Hence inch inclined plane increase Jupiter latter length less lever liquid manner mass mechanical advantage Mercury miles minute mode moon motion move movement nearly observation orbit oscillation pallet particles pass pendulum perihelion perpendicular pinion planets poles portion position pressure principle produced proportion pulley regard resistance rest revolution revolve rotation round Saturn screw seen shown side Sliders solid space stars string substance suppose surface suspended teeth telescope tendency tion turned Uranus velocity vibrations voussoirs weight wheel whilst whole wire
Popular passages
Page 556 - Thou art, of what sort the eternal life of the saints was to be, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive.
Page 112 - Every body must persevere in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it be compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.
Page 413 - ... of worlds That wait as satellites upon their power And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul, And meditate the wonder. Countless suns Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds ! Worlds, in whose bosoms living things rejoice, And drink the bliss of being from the fount Of all-pervading love. What mind can know, What tongue can utter, all their multitudes? Thus numberless in numberless abodes ! Known but to THEE, Blest Father! Thine they are, Thy children and thy care ; and none...
Page 499 - The rings of Saturn must present a magnificent spectacle from those regions of the planet which lie above their enlightened sides, as vast arches spanning the sky from horizon to horizon, and holding an invariable situation among the stars. On the other hand, in the region beneath the dark side, a solar eclipse of fifteen years...
Page 413 - That wait as satellites upon their power, And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul, Aud meditate the wonder ! Countless suns Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds! — Worlds in whose bosoms living things rejoice, And drink the bliss of being from the fount Of all-pervading Love.
Page 361 - Thus, the earth on which he stands, and which has served for ages as the unshaken foundation of the firmest structures, either of art or nature, is divested by the astronomer of its attribute of fixity, and conceived by him as turning swiftly on its centre, and at the same time moving onwards through space with great rapidity.
Page 487 - This may serve as a specimen of the dreams in which astronomers, like other speculators, occasionally and harmlessly indulge.
Page 503 - On it place a globe, two feet in diameter; this will represent the Sun; Mercury will be represented by a grain of mustard seed, on the circumference of a circle 164 feet in diameter for its orbit; Venus a pea, on a circle 284 feet in diameter; the Earth also a pea, on a circle of 430 feet; Mars a rather large pin's head, on a circle of 654 feet; Juno, Ceres, Vesta, and...
Page 471 - ... of the world. But the restoration is in the sequel as complete as the derangement ; and in the meantime the disturbance never attains a sufficient amount seriously to...
Page 499 - On the other hand, in the regions beneath the dark side, a solar eclipse of fifteen years in duration, under their shadow, must afford (to our ideas) an inhospitable asylum to animated beings, ill compensated by the faint light of the satellites. But we shall do wrong to judge of the fitness or unfitness of their condition from what we see around us, when, perhaps, the very combinations which convey to our minds only images of horror, may be in reality theatres of the most striking and glorious displays...