Discoveries and Inventions of the 19th Century

Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century

Only by knowledge of Natures laws can man subjugate her powers and appropriate her materials for his own purposes. The whole history of arts and inventions is a continued comment on this text; and since the knowledge can be obtained only by observation of Nature, it follows that Science, which is the exact and orderly summing-up of the results of such observation, must powerfully contribute to the well-being and progress of mankind. Some of the services which have been rendered by science in promoting human welfare are thus enumerated by an eloquent writer: It has lengthened life; it has mitigated pain; it has extinguished diseases; it has increased the fertility of the soil; it has given new securities to the mariner; it has furnished new arms to the warrior; it has spanned great rivers and estuaries with bridges of form unknown to our fathers; it has guided the thunderbolt innocuously from heaven to earth; it has lighted up the night with the splendour of the day; it has extended the range of the human vision; it has multiplied the power of the human muscles; it has accelerated motion; it has annihilated distance; it has facilitated intercourse, correspondence, all friendly offices, all dispatch of business; it has enabled man to descend to the depths of the sea, to soar into the air, to penetrate securely into the noxious recesses of the earth, to traverse the land in cars which whirl along without horses, to cross the ocean in ships which run ten knots an hour against the wind. These are but a part of its fruits, and of its first-fruits; for it is a philosophy which never rests, which has never attained, which is never perfect. Its law is progress. A point which yesterday was invisible is its goal to-day, and will be its starting-point tomorrow.(Macaulay). 2Thus every new invention, every triumph of engineering skill, is the embodiment of some scientific idea; and experience has proved that discoveries in science, however remote from the interests of every-day life they may at first appear, ultimately confer unforeseen and incalculable benefits on mankind. There is also a reciprocal action between science and its application to the useful purposes of life; for while no advance is ever made in any branch of science which does not sooner or later give rise to a corresponding improvement in practical art, so on the other hand every advance made in practical art furnishes the best illustration of scientific principles. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 54475
Author: Routledge, Robert
Release Date: Apr 2, 2017
Format: eBook
Language: English