Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy

Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy is by Sir John F. W. Herschel. The contents list names, among others, Part I, headed Of the General Nature and Advantages of the Study of the Physical Sciences. Among others, a chapter in the contents list is headed Of Man regarded as a Creature of Instinct, of Reason, and Speculation, and carries the topic General Influence of Scientific Pursuits on the Mind.

The text says that M. Arago, having suspended a magnetic needle by a silk thread, and set it in vibration, observed that it came much sooner to a state of rest when suspended over a plate of copper than when no such plate was beneath it. The text speaks of phenomena that appear to require the admission of two distinct fluids antagonist to each other, each attracting the other, and repelling itself. The text describes Hooke as the great contemporary, and almost the worthy rival, of Newton, who carried a keener eye of scrutinizing reason into a range of research even yet more extensive.