THE
POETRY OF SCIENCE;

OR,

STUDIES

OF THE

PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.

BY

ROBERT HUNT,

AUTHOR OF

“RESEARCHES ON LIGHT;” “ELEMENTARY PHYSICS;”“PANTHEA, OR THE SPIRIT OF NATURE,” ETC.

PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS, METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF SCIENCE, ETC., ETC.

THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.

LONDON:

HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

MDCCCLIV.

From Shakespeare to Plato—from the philosophic poet to the poetic philosopher—thetransition is easy, and the road is crowded with illustrationsof our present subject.

Hast thou ever raised thy mind to the consideration of existence, in andby itself, as the mere act of existing?

Hast thou ever said to thyself, thoughtfully, It is!—heedless, in thatmoment, whether it were a man before thee, or a flower, or a grain ofsand,—without reference, in short, to this or that particular mode orform of existence? If thou hast, indeed, attained to this, thou wilt havefelt the presence of a mystery, which must have fixed thy spirit in aweand wonder.

Coleridge.

London:
Wilson and Ogilvy,
57, Skinner Street.

PREFACE.

Since 1848, when the “Poetry of Science” was firstsubmitted to the public, two editions have been exhausted.This, were proofs required, would of itselfshow that there is a large circle of readers to whomthe deductions of science have an unfailing interest.Beyond this, it conveys an assurance that every truth,however abstract it may appear, has a large popular valueif studied in its relations to those generalities whichembrace great natural phenomena. With this persuasionthe third edition of the “Poetry of Science”has been extended so as to include all the importantdiscoveries which have been made in Natural Philosophyto the end of the year 1853. It is now presentedto the world in a new and cheaper form, in thehope, that, with the extension of its circulation, theremay be awakened, in still larger circles, a deep andhealthful interest in the sciences of which the volumetreats.

R. H.

Edinburgh, March 7, 1854.

CONTENTS.