Misplaced Pages

#895104

32-403: The English Mechanic and World of Science , commonly referred to as English Mechanic , was a popular-science magazine , published weekly from 1865 to 1926, generally consisting of 24 pages. It was aimed at people interested in inventions and gadgets and new discoveries in science, technology, and mathematics. A regular chess column was also included, written by James Pierce . The magazine

64-607: A 1.75 hp De Dion-Bouton . Following this and starting in January 1900 there appeared a series of 56 further articles entitled "A small car and how to build it", containing the plans for what was probably the UK's first kit car . The design was based on the Benz Velo , and it was suggested that a Benz engine should be used and to keep down costs various secondhand parts should be used, although some new castings were made available with

96-614: A commentary upon the Phenomenas of Eudoxus and Aratus, accompanied by the discrepancies which he had noticed between his own observations and their descriptions. The Diosemeia consists of forecasts of the weather from astronomical phenomena, with an account of its effects upon animals. It appears to be an imitation of Hesiod , and to have been imitated by Virgil in some parts of the Georgics . The materials are said to be taken almost wholly from Aristotle 's Meteorologica , from

128-515: A letter to philosopher William Whewell , he wrote that the general public needed "digests of what is actually known in each particular branch of science... to give a connected view of what has been done, and what remains to be accomplished." Indeed, as the British population became not just increasingly literate but also well-educated, there was growing demand for science titles. Mary Somerville became an early and highly successful science writer of

160-416: A machining service if required. Further series of articles appeared with more designs including in 1901 a steam car, in 1902 a steam-3 wheeler, in 1904 a 5 hp twin-cylinder car, in 1909 a single-cylinder engined runabout and finally in 1913 a cyclecar . It is not known how many cars were built following the plans but at least four survive. They are collectively known today as "English Mechanics" but it

192-450: A motion of their own, without any attempt to define their periods; nor is anything said about the Moon's orbit. The opening of the poem asserts the dependence of all things upon Zeus . From the lack of precision in the descriptions, it would seem that Aratus was neither a mathematician nor observer or, at any rate, that in this work he did not aim at scientific accuracy. He not only represents

224-405: A quarter of its pages, each week headed by a quote from Montaigne . I would have everyone write what he knows, and as much as he knows but no more . . . for such a person may have some particular knowledge and experience of the nature of such a river or such a fountain, [but] as to other things knows no more than everybody does . . . The size and content grew rapidly in size and quality, and as of

256-438: Is also said to have been his profession), grammar , and philosophy . Several poetical works on various subjects, as well as a number of prose epistles, are attributed to Aratus, but none of them have come down to us, except his two astronomical poems in hexameter . These have generally been joined as parts of the same work; but they seem to be distinct poems, the first, called Phenomena ("Appearances"), consists of 732 verses;

288-604: Is full of god. Even the sea and the harbour are full of this deity . Everywhere everyone is indebted to god. For we are indeed his offspring ... Authors of twenty-seven commentaries are known; ones by Theon of Alexandria , Achilles Tatius and Hipparchus of Nicaea survive. An Arabic translation was commissioned in the ninth century by the Caliph Al-Ma'mun . He is cited by Vitruvius , Stephanus of Byzantium and Stobaeus . Several accounts of his life are extant, by anonymous Greek writers. The crater Aratus on

320-419: Is presented in many forms, including books, film and television documentaries, magazine articles, and web pages. Before the modern specialization and professionalization of science, there was often little distinction between "science" and "popular science", and works intended to share scientific knowledge with a general reader existed as far back as Greek and Roman antiquity. Without these popular works, much of

352-405: Is probable that a variety of names was used at the time. Popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci ) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience . While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written by professional science journalists or by scientists themselves. It

SECTION 10

#1732781052896

384-768: The Suda and Eudocia also mention him. From these it appears that he was a native of Soli in Cilicia , (although one authority says Tarsus ). He is known to have studied with Menecrates in Ephesus and Philitas in Cos . As a disciple of the Peripatetic philosopher Praxiphanes , in Athens , he met the Stoic philosopher Zeno , as well as Callimachus of Cyrene and Menedemus ,

416-521: The ecliptic , are described by reference to the principal groups surrounding the north pole ( Ursa Major , Ursa Minor , Draco , and Cepheus ), whilst Orion serves as a point of departure for those to the south. The immobility of the Earth , and the revolution of the sky about a fixed axis are maintained; the path of the Sun in the zodiac is described; but the planets are introduced merely as bodies having

448-756: The Evangelist ), in Acts 17:28 , where he relates Saint Paul 's address on the Areopagus . Paul, speaking of God , quotes the fifth line of Aratus's Phenomena ( Epimenides seems to be the source of the first part of Acts 17:28 , although this is less clear): Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, τὸν οὐδέποτ' ἄνδρες ἐῶμεν ἄρρητον· μεσταὶ δὲ Διὸς πᾶσαι μὲν ἀγυιαί, πᾶσαι δ' ἀνθρώπων ἀγοραί, μεστὴ δὲ θάλασσα καὶ λιμένες· πάντη δὲ Διὸς κεχρήμεθα πάντες. τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος εἰμέν . κτλ. Let us begin with Zeus, whom we mortals never leave unspoken. For every street, every market-place

480-497: The Origin of Species (1859) by Charles Darwin . Popular science is a bridge between scientific literature as a professional medium of scientific research, and the realms of popular political and cultural discourse. The goal of the genre is often to capture the methods and accuracy of science while making the language more accessible. Many science-related controversies are discussed in popular science books and publications, such as

512-796: The UK and later in the United States after the Reverend William Frederick Archdall Ellison 's articles on the subject were reprinted in the Scientific American . A letter by William H. S. Monck published in the magazine on 12 July 1890 led to the formation of the British Astronomical Association . In the May 1899 issue there was an article by T Hyler-White (1871–1920) on a motor tricycle that could be powered by

544-436: The configurations of particular groups incorrectly, but describes some phenomena which are inconsistent with any one supposed latitude of the spectator, and others which could not coexist at any one epoch. These errors are partly to be attributed to Eudoxus himself, and partly to the way in which Aratus has used the materials supplied by him. Hipparchus (about a century later), who was a scientific astronomer and observer, has left

576-734: The founder of the Eretrian school . He was the son of Athenodoros, and also had a brother with this name. About 276 BC Aratus was invited to the court of the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas , whose victory over the Gauls in 277 Aratus set to verse. Here he wrote his most famous poem, Phenomena . He then spent some time at the court of Antiochus I Soter of Syria , but subsequently returned to Pella in Macedon, where he died sometime before 240/239. His chief pursuits were medicine (which

608-519: The fragments of them preserved by Hipparchus , that Aratus has in fact versified, or closely imitated parts of them both, but especially of the first. The purpose of the Phenomena is to give an introduction to the constellations , with the rules for their risings and settings; and of the circles of the sphere, amongst which the Milky Way is reckoned. The positions of the constellations, north of

640-566: The issue of 12 January 1866 its price was increased to 2d. and had new, rather elegant, banner art, with its title shortened to English Mechanic , subtitled and Mirror of Science and Art , but pages titled English Mechanic and Mirror of Science . Some time before 1876 it became English Mechanic subtitled and World of Science , with which is incorporated The Mechanic , Scientific Opinion , and The British & Foreign Mechanic . Pages were titled English Mechanic and World of Science The magazine popularized amateur telescope construction in

672-542: The lay audience, and this "handbook" tradition continued right through to the invention of the printing press, with much later examples including books of secrets such as Giambattista Della Porta 's 1558 " Magia Naturalis " and Isabella Cortese 's 1561 " Secreti ". The 17th century saw the beginnings of the modern scientific revolution and the consequent need for explicit popular science writing. Although works such as Galileo 's 1632 " Il Saggiatore " and Robert Hooke 's 1665 " Micrographia " were read by both scientists and

SECTION 20

#1732781052896

704-473: The long-running debates over biological determinism and the biological components of intelligence, stirred by popular books such as The Mismeasure of Man and The Bell Curve . The purpose of scientific literature is to inform and persuade peers regarding the validity of observations and conclusions and the forensic efficacy of methods. Popular science attempts to inform and convince scientific outsiders (sometimes along with scientists in other fields) of

736-542: The nineteenth century. Her On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (1834), intended for the mass audience, sold quite well. Arguably one of the first books in modern popular science, it contained few diagrams and very little mathematics. Ten editions of the book were published, and it was translated into multiple languages. It was the most popular science title from the publisher John Murray until On

768-461: The public, Newton's 1687 Principia was incomprehensible for most readers, so popularizations of Newton's ideas soon followed. Popular science writing surged in countries such as France, where books such as Fontenelle 's 1686 Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds were best-sellers. By 1830, astronomer John Herschel had recognized the need for the specific genre of popular science. In

800-694: The results. Statements in the scientific literature are often qualified and tentative, emphasizing that new observations and results are consistent with and similar to established knowledge wherein qualified scientists are assumed to recognize the relevance. By contrast, popular science often emphasizes uniqueness and generality and may have a tone of factual authority absent from the scientific literature. Comparisons between original scientific reports, derivative science journalism, and popular science typically reveals at least some level of distortion and oversimplification . Aratus#Phenomena There are several accounts of Aratus's life by anonymous Greek writers, and

832-553: The scientific knowledge of the era might have been lost. For example, none of the original works of the 4th century BC Greek astronomer Eudoxus have survived, but his contributions were largely preserved due to the didactic poem " Phenomena " written a century later and commented on by Hipparchus . Explaining science in poetic form was not uncommon, and as recently as 1791, Erasmus Darwin wrote The Botanic Garden , two long poems intended to interest and educate readers in botany. Many Greek and Roman scientific handbooks were written for

864-434: The scientific literature. Some usual features of popular science productions include: The purpose of scientific literature is to inform and persuade peers regarding the validity of observations and conclusions and the forensic efficacy of methods. Popular science attempts to inform and convince scientific outsiders (sometimes along with scientists in other fields) of the significance of data and conclusions and to celebrate

896-444: The second, Diosemeia ("On Weather Signs"), of 422 verses. The Phenomena appears to be based on two prose works— Phenomena and Enoptron (Ἔνοπτρον, "Mirror", presumably a descriptive image of the heavens)—by Eudoxus of Cnidus , written about a century earlier. We are told by the biographers of Aratus that it was the desire of Antigonus to have them turned into verse, which gave rise to the Phenomena of Aratus; and it appears from

928-431: The significance of data and conclusions and to celebrate the results. Statements in the scientific literature are often qualified and tentative, emphasizing that new observations and results are consistent with and similar to established knowledge wherein qualified scientists are assumed to recognize the relevance. By contrast, popular science emphasizes uniqueness and generality, taking a tone of factual authority absent from

960-452: The work of Theophrastus , On Weather Signs , and from Hesiod. Nothing is said in either poem about Hellenistic astrology . The two poems were very popular both in the Greek and Roman world, as is proved by the number of commentaries and Latin translations. He enjoyed immense prestige among Hellenistic poets, including Theocritus , Callimachus and Leonidas of Tarentum . This assessment

992-413: Was founded as a 1d weekly The English Mechanic subtitled A Record of Mechanical Invention, Scientific and Industrial Progress, Building, Engineering, Manufactures, Arts &c. in 1865, and purchased in its first year of publication by John Passmore Edwards . Ebeneezer J. Kibblewhite was a regular contributor, then became editor. The publication featured a lively correspondence section, which occupied

The English Mechanic and World of Science - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-413: Was picked up by Latin poets, including Ovid and Virgil . Latin versions were made by none other than Cicero (mostly extant), Ovid (only two short fragments remain), the member of the imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty Germanicus (extant, with scholia ), and the less-famous Avienius (extant). Quintilian was less enthusiastic. Aratus was also cited by the author of Acts (believed to be Luke

#895104