--_Edinburgh Literary Journal and Gazette._
* * * * *
SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY.
* * * * *
HYDROSTATICS AND PNEUMATICS.
(_Cabinet Cyclopaedia_, vol. xvii.)
This volume is in every respect worthy of standing beside the luminous
_Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy_, by Mr. Herschel. It is
just in the method that we wish to see all branches of science treated,
and it is the only means of rendering such knowledge familiar; and this
has only to be known to become popular. We understood this to be the aim
of the _Cabinet Cyclopaedia_ at its outset, and the scientific volumes
already published are an earnest of the Editor's zeal and success. The
best method of illustrating this recommendation, is to seize from the
volume a few familiar effects whose causes are imperfectly understood, and
thus to show how closely the spread of science is identified with
civilization and the common comforts of social life:--
_Deceptive appearance of Waves_
If we observe the waves continually approaching the shore, we must be
convinced that this apparent motion is not one in which the water has any
share: for were it so, the waters of the sea would soon be heaped upon the
shores, and would inundate the adjacent country; but so far from the
waters partaking of the apparent motion of the waves in approaching the
shore, this motion of the waves continues, even when the waters are
retiring.
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