DR. ARNOTT'S ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS—HEAT AND LIGHT.* THIS is the
first part of the second volume of Dr. ARNOTT'S valuable work ; and it will sustain the reputation he deservedly enjoys as a man of science from the publication of the first and second parts of the first volume. Were we to examine it with the minuteness of detail that it merits, our notice would extend much beyond the space which m our crowded pages we can devote even to such an author as Dr. ARNOTT. We have carefully perused the section on Heat ; and such of our readers as follow our example will, we doubt not, rise with the convictionrthatin,no.fe,rmer publication of the same extent have they met with so valuable and curious a mass of facts, so clearly and sci- entifically detailed, nor with so many profound speculations, set forth with so much simplicity of language and so little of the parade of wis- dom. Indeed, we should not be surprised if the learned and ingenious author, with superficial thinkers, should lose a portion of the fame he would have acquired had his remarks been .conveyed in a less intelli- gible form : the opinion of their profundity may suffer because they are easily understood, as waters to an unpractised eye appear shallow in proportion to their clearness. A good deal of the perspicuity of Dr. ARNOTT'S statements arises from the excellent arrangement of his materials, and the accurate classification of his principal and subordi- nate topics ; but much more of it arises out of the complexion of his own mind. He that comprehends his subject in all its bearings fully and absolutely, and who is at once master of the whole and of each even of its pettiest details, and holds them firmly, will seldom be at a loss in communicating to others the knowledge of which he is in com- plete possession. It is only when men's ideas are misty and indefinite, that their delineations are faintly marked. Of the portions of the es- say on Heat, to which we would specially direct attention, are some remarks on Air-expansion Engines (p. 69), which are exceedingly valuable at the present moment, when experiments on the Steam Car- riage are prosecuting on so extensive a scale. Dr. ARNOTT anticipates a period when the explosive gases may be converted into a calmly- working power. There seems, indeed, when we look to the advances already made in the management and application of steam, no reason for questioning the possibility and the probability of converting even gunpowder into a safe and regulated motive power, and thus working our engines with a little match, as easily as we now do with a large fire.
* Elements of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, General and Medical, explained inde- pendently of Technical Alathematics. In Two Volumes. Vol. 2, Part 2. Comprehend- ing the Subjects of Heat and Light. By Neil Arnott, M.D. of the Royal College of Physicians. London, 1829. Longman and Co.
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