Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects

The philosophy of science as it is known today emerged out of a combination of three traditional concerns: the classification of the sciences, methodology and the philosophy of nature. Included in the series "Works in the Philosophy of Science 1830-1914" are all three of these interrelated areas. The titles should be of interest to both the philosopher of science and to the historian of ideas. The former will be able to trace present-day concerns back to their origins; the latter should find it a useful source for the study of Victorian conceptions of science. This work was first translated into English in 1873. It includes a non-technical account of the conservation of energy, an anti-Kantian view of space and geometry, a discussion of the scientific work of Goethe, and reflections on the scientific basis of our enjoyment of music and painting.