Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  • Cited by 4
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
June 2015
Print publication year:
2014
First published in:
1804
Online ISBN:
9781316105887

Book description

The Scottish mathematician and natural philosopher Sir John Leslie (1766–1832) had set out at the end of the eighteenth century to explore the nature of heat radiation, which he felt was a 'dubious and neglected' area of physics. Leslie's inquiry, published in 1804, details his many experiments, notably the use of two self-devised instruments: Leslie's cube and his differential thermometer. Establishing several basic laws of heat radiation and rejuvenating the debate about the physical composition of heat, Leslie's work gained him the Rumford medal of the Royal Society in 1805. Nevertheless, the same publication jeopardised his chances of obtaining an academic position at Edinburgh. A single, allegedly atheistic endnote, supporting David Hume's views on causation, prompted protests by the local clergymen when his candidature for the chair of mathematics was under consideration. Leslie secured the professorship, however, and remained with the university until his death.

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
×

Contents

Metrics

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.