Record Number: 12967
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'For the rest - I continued reading Newton's "Principia" with considerable perseverance & little success - till on arriving a short way into the third book - I discovered that I had too little knowledge of Astronomy, to understand his reasoning rightly. And I forthwith sent to Edinr for De Lambre's "abr?g? d'Astronomie"; and in the mean time, betook myself to reading Wood's "optics". I cannot say much about this book. Its author intermeddles not with the abstruse parts of the science - such as the causes of reflection & refraction?the reason why transparent bodies, at given angles of incidence, reflect their light almost entirely (concerning which, I meet with many learned details, in the Encyclopedia Britan) - but contents himself with demonstrating, in a plain enough manner, the ordinary effects of plane & spherical mirrors - and of lenses of various kinds - applying his doctrines, to the explanation of various optical instruments & remarkable phenomena. But in truth, I know little about it, I read it with too great velocity. - I also read Keil's "introductio ad veram Physicam"; but I shall let it pass till next time I write. In fine De Lambre arrived; & I have read into his fourth Le?on -and like it greatly.I intended to have told you some of his observations - but I would not overwhelm you with ennui all at once - and therefore, I shall be silent at present. - [italics]ne quid nimis[end italics] [moderation in all things - editor's note] ? as the proverb saith'.
Century:1800-1849
Date:Between 1 Jul 1816 and 15 Jul 1816
Country:Scotland
Timen/a
Place:city: Annan
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:4 Dec 1795
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Teacher, later man of letters
Religion:Christian
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:Scotland
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Introductio ad veram physicam
Genre:Science, Mathematics
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:12967
Source:n/a
Editor:Charles Richard Sanders
Title:The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle
Place of Publication:Durham, NC
Date of Publication:1970
Vol:I
Page:79
Additional Comments:
Letter to Robert Mitchell
Citation:
Charles Richard Sanders (ed.), The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, (Durham, NC, 1970), I, p. 79, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=12967, accessed: 17 August 2024
Additional Comments:
None