Popular Scientific Recreations in Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry (eBook)

CHAPTER I.—INTRODUCTORY.

SCIENCE AND RECREATION—THE BOOK OF NATURE—THE SENSES—NATURAL HISTORY—NATURAL PHILOSOPHY—MATTER—OBJECTS—PROPERTIES OF MATTER.

It may at the first glance appear paradoxical to combine Science and Recreation, but we hope to show that true scientific recreation is anything but the dry bones of learning. To those who study science with us, we will point out first how easy and pleasant it is to watch the sky and the plants and Nature generally in the open air. Then we will carry our readers along with us, and by means of illustrations and diagrams instruct them pleasantly in the reasons for things. “How?” and “Why?” will be questions fully answered. Not only will the usual scientific courses be touched upon, but we will show how Science is applied to Domestic Economy. We will have Chemistry put before us without needing a laboratory, and we will experiment in Physics without elaborate apparatus. We will have, in short, a complete Encyclopædia of Science free from dryness and technicalities—an amusing volume suited to old and young who wish to find out what is going on around them in their daily life in earth and sea and sky.

Bernard Palissy used to say that he wished “no other book than the earth and the sky,” and that “it was given to all to read this wonderful book.”

It is indeed by the study of the material world that discoveries are accomplished. Let an attentive observer watch a ray of light passing from the air into water, and he will see it deviate from the straight line by refraction; let him seek the origin of a sound, and he will discover that it results from a shock or a vibration. This is physical science in its infancy. It is said that Newton was led to discover the laws of universal gravitation by beholding an apple fall to the ground, and that Montgolfier first dreamt of air-balloons while watching fogs floating in the atmosphere. The idea of the inner chamber of the eye may, in like manner, be developed in the mind of any observer, who, seated beneath the shade of a tree, looks fixedly at the round form of the sun through the openings in the leaves.

Luminous Cross seen at Havre, May 7th, 1877. Sketched from Nature.

Every one, of course, may not possess the ambition to make such discoveries, but there is no one who cannot compel himself to learn to enjoy the pleasure that can be derived from the observation of Nature.

It must not be imagined that in order to cultivate science it is absolutely necessary to have laboratories and scientific work-rooms. The book of which Palissy spoke is ever present; its pages are always open, wherever we turn our eyes or direct our steps. So we may hope to introduce all our friends to a pleasant and lasting acquaintance with Dame Nature.

“But what is Nature?” We are fond of admiring Nature, and the effects of certain causes in the world, and we want to know why things are so. Very well—so you shall; and as to the question “What is Nature?” we will endeavour to answer you at once.

Nature is the united totality of all that the various Senses can perceive. In fact, all that cannot be made by man is termed “Nature”; i.e., God’s creation.

From the earliest ages man has sought to read the open leaves of the Book of Nature, and even now, with all our attainments, we cannot grasp all, or nearly all. One discovery only leads up to another. Cause and Effect are followed up step by step till we lose ourselves in the search. Every effect must have a cause. One thing depends upon another in the world, and it does not need Divine revelation to tell us that. Nothing happens by “mere chance.” “Chance!” said a Professor to us at the University, “Chance!—Remember, there is no such thing in the world as chance.”

Between our minds or consciousness and Nature are our Senses. We feel, we see, we hear, we taste, we smell,—so it is only through the Senses that we can come to any knowledge of the outer world. These attributes, or Senses, act directly upon a certain “primary faculty” called Consciousness, and thus we are enabled to understand what is going on around us. The more this great existing faculty is educated and trained, the more useful it will become. So if we accustom our minds to observation of Nature, we shall find out certain causes and effects, and discover Objects. Now an Object is a thing perceptible both to feeling and sight, and an Object occupies space. Therefore there are objects Artificial as well as Natural. The former are created by man from one or more Natural products. Natural Objects are those such as trees, rocks, plants, and animals. We may also class the heavenly bodies, etc., as Objects, though we cannot touch them, but we can feel their effects, and see them. The Phenomena of Nature include those results which are perceptible by only one sense, as thunder; light and sound may also be classed as Phenomena.

Take a familiar instance. A stone is a Natural Object. We take it up, open our fingers, and it falls. The motion of that object is a Phenomenon. We know it falls because we see it fall, and it possesses what we term weight; but we cannot tell why it possesses weight.

[Professor Huxley says: “Stones do not fall to the ground in consequence of a law of nature,” for a law is not a cause. “A law of nature merely tells us what we may expect natural objects will do under certain circumstances.”]

A cause of a Phenomenon being independent of human will is called a Force, and the stone falls by the force of Gravitation, or that natural law which compels every material object to approach every other material object.

A single Force may produce a great number of Phenomena.

Nature being revealed to us by Objects, and by means of Phenomena, we have got already two Branches of Science extending from such Roots; viz., Natural History, the Science of Objects; and Natural Philosophy, the Science of Phenomena.

Both of these Branches have been subdivided thus:

These two great divisions comprehend, in their extended senses, all that is known respecting the material world.

We have spoken of Objects. Objects occupy Space. What is Space? Space is magnitude which can be conceived as extending in three directions—Length, Breadth, and Depth. Matter occupies portions of Space, which is infinite. Matter, when finite, is termed a body or object. The general properties of Matter are Magnitude, Form, Impenetrability, Inertia, Divisibility, Porosity, Elasticity, Compressibility, Expansibility.

Matter is present in Nature in three conditions. We find it as a Solid, a Liquid, and a Gas. We shall explain the various properties of Solids, Liquids, and Gases in their proper places (in Physics). To test the actual existence of Matter in one or other of these forms our Senses help us. We can touch a Solid, or taste it and see it. But touch is the test. We have said that Matter possesses certain properties. We will examine these briefly. The two which belong to all material bodies are Impenetrability and Magnitude. You cannot, strictly speaking, penetrate Matter. You can find the form of an object by touch or sight, but you cannot penetrate it. You will think you can drive a nail or a screw into a board, but you cannot; you only displace the fibres of the wood by the screw. Take water as a very common instance. Water is Matter, for it occupies a certain space. Water is impenetrable, for if you put your hand or foot into a basin full of it, it will overflow, thus proving that you displace, and do not penetrate it. It is almost impossible to compress water.

Divisibility is another quality of Matter; and when we attempt to show how far Matter can be divided, the brain refuses to grasp the infinity. A pin’s head is a small object, but it is gigantic compared to some animals, of which millions would occupy a space no larger than the head of a pin. These tiny animals must contain organs and veins, etc., and those veins are full of blood globules. Professor Tyndall informs us that a drop of blood contains three millions of red globules. So these infinitesimally small animals must have millions of globules in their blood also. Thus we see to what an extent, far beyond our Senses’ power to grasp, Matter can be divided.

But there is something even more astonishing than this. It is stated that there are more animals in the milt of a single codfish than there are men in the world; and that one grain of sand is larger than four millions of these...