"Very well stated, Ansel. This is the theory now more commonly received.
The caloric theory, like the crude notions of the old Greek philosophers
about fire, and like the phlogistic hypothesis, has been rejected because
it failed to explain the phenomena of heat. Whether the dynamic theory is
destined to share the same fate remains to be seen. It seems, however, to
have a better foundation than its predecessors. The dynamic theory,
though recently made popular, is by no means a recent conception. It was
advocated by such men as Bacon, Newton, Rumford, Davy, Locke, and others.
Locke, the distinguished intellectual philosopher who lived in the latter
half of the seventeenth century (born 1632, died 1704), said, 'Heat is a
very brisk agitation of the insensible parts of an object, which produces
in us that sensation from which we denominate the object hot, so that what
in our sensations is heat in the object is nothing but motion.' Benjamin
Thompson, an American gentleman who went to Europe in the time of our
revolution, and for his scientific fame was made Count Rumford, and became
the founder of the Royal Institution of England, declared that he could
form no conception of the nature of heat generated by friction unless it
were motion.
"A beautiful generalization has been made to show how well this idea of
heat harmonizes with the entire plan of the universe. In the whole
boundless universe each system of worlds, like our solar system, may be
regarded as a molecule, or complex atom. These cosmical molecules, or
complex atoms of the universe, are in motion through unmeasured space. In
these systems of worlds the planets, with their satellites, are the
molecules, and they are in motion--indeed, they commonly have several
motions. Our earth, for example, rotates upon its axis once each day; it
revolves in its orbit around the sun once each year, and the axis of the
earth has a slow wabbling motion which produces the precession of the
equinoxes, requiring 25,868 years for a complete revolution. The earth
also is made up of parts, and all these are in ceaseless motion. As said
the old Greek philosopher, 'All things flow'--that is, everything is in a
state of change. Solomon has well described this perpetual movement and
change: 'One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh. The
sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place whence
he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the
north. It whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth according to
his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full;
unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither do they return again.
All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it. The eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that
hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which
shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.' Eccles. i. 4-9.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account