The Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century

by Thomas Henry Huxley

Overview

Explore the sweeping scientific advancements of the 19th century in "Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century" by Thomas Henry Huxley. This collection of essays offers a fascinating glimpse into the rapid progress and transformative discoveries that shaped our understanding of the natural world.

Huxley, a prominent voice in the scientific community, chronicles the key breakthroughs and evolving methodologies that defined an era of unprecedented scientific innovation. From physics and chemistry to biology and geology, these essays provide a historical perspective on the development of scientific thought.

A valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of science, this volume illuminates the intellectual landscape of the 1800s. Discover the ideas and individuals that propelled scientific progress and laid the foundation for modern science. A classic work, meticulously prepared for print republication, ensuring the enduring accessibility of these insightful essays.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781023032070
Publisher:	Anson Street Press
Publication date:	03/28/2025
Pages:	56
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.12(d)

Read an Excerpt

. copy. It has not only thrown wonderful light upon the physical and chemical constitution of the sun, fixed stars, and nebulae, and comets, but it holds out a prospect of obtaining definite evidence as to the nature of our so-called elementary bodies. The application of the generalisations its reia- of thermotics to the problem of the dura- geology. tion of the earth, and of deductions from tidal phenomena to the determination of the length of the day and of the time of revolution of the moon, in past epochs of the history of the universe ; and the demonstration of the competency of the great secular changes, known under the general name of the precession of the equinoxes, to cause corresponding modifications in the climate of the two hemispheres of our globe, have brought astronomy into intimate relation with geology. Geology, in fact, proves that, in the course of the past history of the earth, the climatic condi- tions of the same region have been widely different, and seeks the explanation of this important truth from the sister sciences. The facts that, in the middle of the Tertiary epoch, evergreen trees abounded within the arctic circle; and that, in the long subsequent Quaternary epoch, an arctic climate, with its accompaniment of gigantic glaciers, obtained in the northern hemisphere, as far south as Switzerland and Central France, are as well established as any truths of science. But, whether the explanation of these extreme variations in the mean temperature of a great part of the northern hemisphere is to be sought in the concomitant changes in the distribution of land and water surfaces of which geology affords evidence, or in astronomical conditions, such as those towhich I have referred, is a question which must await its answer from the science of the f...