The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
BY
WILHELM OSTWALD
TRANSLATED
BY
THOMAS SELTZER
With the author's special revision for the American edition
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1910
Copyright, 1910,
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
Published November, 1910
THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS
RAHWAY N. J.
The original of this book was publishedas volume I in Reclam's Bücher derNaturwissenschaft.
PREFACE
The beginning of the twentieth century is markedby a sudden rise of interest in philosophy. This isespecially manifest in the vast growth of philosophicliterature. The present movement, it is noteworthy,is by no means a revival proceeding from the academicphilosophy traditionally represented at theuniversities, but has rather the original character ofnatural philosophy. It owes its origin to the factthat after the specialization of the last half century,the synthetic factors of science are again vigorouslyasserting themselves. The need finally to considerall the numerous separate sciences from a generalpoint of view and to find the connection betweenone's own activity and the work of mankind in itstotality, must be regarded as the most prolific sourceof the present philosophic movement, just as it wasthe source of the natural philosophic endeavors ahundred years ago.
But while that old natural philosophy soon endedin a boundless sea of speculation, the present movementgives promise of permanent results, because itis built upon an extremely broad basis of experience.The laws of energy in the inorganic worldand the laws of evolution in the organic world furnish[vi]mental instruments for a conceptual elaborationof the material provided by science, instrumentscapable not only of unifying present knowledge,but also of evoking the knowledge of thefuture. If it is not permissible to regard thisunification as exhaustive and sufficient for all time,yet there is still so much left for us to do in workingover the material we have on hand from thegeneral points of view just mentioned, that theneed for systematizing must be satisfied before wecan turn our gaze upon things more remote.
The present work is meant to serve as the firstaid and guide in the acquisition of these comprehensivenotions of the external world and the innerlife. It is not meant to develop or uphold a "systemof philosophy." Through long experience asa teacher the writer has learned that those are thebest pupils who soon go their own way. However,it is meant to uphold a certain method, that is, thescientific (or, if you will, the natural scientific),which takes its problems, and endeavors to solve itsproblems, from experience and for experience. If,as a result, several points of view arise that differfrom those of the present day, and consequentl