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POPULAR SCIENTIFIC LECTURES.


BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

The Science of Mechanics. Translated from theSecond German Edition by T. J. McCormack.250 Cuts and Illustrations. 534 Pages. HalfMorocco, Gilt Top. Price, $2.50.

Contributions to the Analysis of the Sensations.Translated by C. M. Williams. With Notes andNew Additions by the Author. 200 Pages. 36Cuts. Price, $1.00.

Popular Scientific Lectures. Translated by T.J. McCormack. Third Revised and EnlargedEdition. 411 Pages. 59 Cuts. Cloth, $1.50;Paper, 50 cents.

THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO.,
324 DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO.

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POPULAR
SCIENTIFIC LECTURES

BY
ERNST MACH

FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE, NOWPROFESSOR OF THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF INDUCTIVESCIENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

TRANSLATED
BY
THOMAS J. McCORMACK

THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED


WITH FIFTY-NINE CUTS AND DIAGRAMS


CHICAGO
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY

FOR SALE BY
Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner & Co., LONDON
1898

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COPYRIGHT

By The Open Court Publishing Co.

Pages 1-258  in 1894.
Pages 338-374  in 1894.
Pages 259-281  in 1896.
Pages 282-308  in 1897.
Pages 309-337  in 1898.

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AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIRSTEDITION.

Popular lectures, owing to the knowledge they presuppose,and the time they occupy, can afford only a modicumof instruction. They must select for this purpose easy subjects,and restrict themselves to the exposition of the simplest and themost essential points. Nevertheless, by an appropriate choice ofthe matter, the charm and the poetry of research can be conveyedby them. It is only necessary to set forth the attractive and thealluring features of a problem, and to show what broad domainsof fact can be illuminated by the light radiating from the solutionof a single and ofttimes unobtrusive point.

Furthermore, such lectures can exercise a favorable influenceby showing the substantial sameness of scientific and every-daythought. The public, in this way, loses its shyness towards scientificquestions, and acquires an interest in scientific work which isa great help to the inquirer. The latter, in his turn, is brought tounderstand that his work is a small part only of the universal processof life, and that the results of his labors must redound to thebenefit not only of himself and a few of his

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