Popular scientific lectures - Ernst Mach

These examples will suffice. In all these and in all similar cases the recognition and likeness cannot depend upon the qualities of the percepts, for these are different. On the other hand recognition, conformably to the principles of psychology, is possible only with percepts which are the same in quality. Consequently there is no other escape than to imagine the qualitatively unlike percepts of the two series as necessarily connected with other percepts which are qualitatively alike.

Since in differently colored figures of like form, like muscular feelings are necessarily induced if the figures are recognised as alike, so there must necessarily lie at the basis of all forms also, and we might even say at the basis of all abstractions, percepts of a peculiar quality. And this holds true for space and form as well as for time, rhythm, pitch, the form of melodies, intensity, etc. But whence is psychology to derive all these qualities? Have no fear, they will all be found, as were the sensations of muscles for the theory of space. The organism is at present still rich enough to meet all the requirements of psychology in this direction, and it is even time to give serious ear to the question of "corporeal resonance" which psychology so loves to dwell on.

Different psychical qualities appear to bear a very intimate mutual relation to one another. Special research on the subject, as well also as the demonstration that this remark may be generally employed in physics, will follow later.[150]

[INDEX.]

Absolute, temperature, [162];
time, [204];
forecasts, have no signification in science, [206].
Abstract, meaning of the term, [240].
Abstraction, [180], [200], [208], [231].
Acceleration, organ for forward, [299] et seq.
Accelerations, [204], [216], footnote, [225]-[226], [253].
Accident, logical and historical, in science, [160], [168], [170], [213];
in inventions and discoveries, [262] et seq.
Accord, the pure triple, [46].
Accumulators, electrical, [125] et seq.;
[132], footnote.
Acoustic color, [36].
Acoustics, Sauveur on, [375] et seq.
Action and reaction, importance of the principle of, [191].
Adaptation, in organic and inorganic matter, [216], [229];
in scientific thought, [214]-[235].
Æsthetics, computation as a principle of, [34];
researches in, [89], footnote;
repetition, a principle of, [91].
Africa, [186], [234], [237].
Agreeable effects, due to repetition of sensations, [92], [97] et seq.
Agriculture, transition to, [265].
Air-gun, [135].
Alcohol and water, mixture of oil and, in Plateau's experiments, [4].
Algebra, economy of, [196].
Alien thoughts in science, [196].
All, the, [88].
Amontons, [174], [346].
Ampère, the word, [314].
Ampère's swimmer, [207].
Analogies, mechanical, [157], [160];
generally, [236]-[258].
Analogy, defined, [250].
Analysis, [188].
Analytical geometry, not necessary to physicians, [370], footnote.
Anatomic structures, transparent stereoscopic views of, [74].
Anatomy, character of research in, [255].
Andrieu, Jules, [49], footnote.
Animals, the psychical activity of, [190], [231];
the language of, [238];
their capacity for experience, [266] et seq.
Animism, [186], [187], [243], [254].
Anisotropic optical fields, [227].
Apparatus for producing movements of rotation, [287] et seq.
Arabesque, an inverted, [95].
Arabian Nights, [219].
Arago, [270].
Aral, the Sea of, [239].
Archæopteryx, [257].
Archimedes, [4], [237].
Arcimboldo, Giuseppe, [36].
Area, principle of least superficial, [10] et seq.
Ares, the bellowing of the wounded, [272].
Aristotelians, [283].
Aristotle, [348], [296].
Art, development of, [28] et seq.
Artillery, practical, [334]-[335].
Artistic value of scientific descriptions, [254].
Arts, practical, [108].
Ascent, heights of, [143]-[151].
Asia, 234.
Assyrians, the art of, [79].
Astronomer, measures celestial by terrestrial distances, [136].
Astronomy, antecedent to psychology, [90];
rigidity of its truths, [221].
Atomic theories, [104].
Atoms, [207].
Attention, the rôle of, in sensuous perception, [35] et seq.
Attraction, generally, [226];
of liquid particles, [13]-[14];
in electricity, [109] et seq.
Aubert, [298].
Audition. See Ear.
Austrian gymnasiums, [370], footnote.
Axioms, instinctive knowledge, [190].

Babbage, on the economy of machinery, [196].
Bach, [20].
Backwards, prophesying, [253].
Bacon, Lord, [48], [280].
Baer, C. E. von, [235].
Balance, electrical, [127], footnote;
torsion, [109], [168].
Balloon, a hydrogen, [199].
Barbarism and civilisation, [335] et seq.
Bass-clef, [101].
Bass, fundamental, [44].
Beats, [40]-[45], [377] et seq.
Beautiful, our notions of, variable, [99].
Beauty, objects of, in nature, [91].
Becker, J. K., [364], [369].
Beethoven, [39], [44].
Beginnings of science, [189], [191].
Belvedere Gallery at Vienna, [36].
Bernoulli, Daniel, on the conservation of living force, [149];
on the vibrations of strings, [249].
Bernoulli, James, on the centre of oscillation, [149].
Bernoulli, John, on the conservation of living force, [149];
on the principle of virtual velocities, [151].
Bible, parallel passages from, for language study, [356].
Binocular vision, [66] et seq.
Black, his theory of caloric, [138], [162];
on quantity of heat, [166], [174];
on latent heat, [167], [178];
researches in heat generally, [244].
Blind cat, [303].
Bodies, heavy, seek their places, [224] et seq.;
rotating, [285].
Body, a mental symbol for groups of sensations, [200]-[203];
the human, our knowledge of, [90].
Boltzmann, [236].
Booth, Mr., [77].
Borelli, [217].
Boulder, a granite, [233].
Bow-wave of ships and moving projectiles, [323] et seq.
Boys, [317].
Bradley, [273].
Brahman, the, [63].
Brain, localisation of functions in, [210].
Breuer, [272], [282] et seq., [293], [298], [300], [301], [303], [306].
Brewster, his stereoscope, [73].
Bridge, invention of the, [264], [268].
British Association, [108].
Brooklyn Bridge, [75], footnote.
Brown, Crum, [293], [301].
Building, our concepts directions for, [253];
facts the result of, [253];
science compared to, [257].
Building-stones, metrical units are, [253].
Busch, [328].
Business of a merchant, science compared to the, [16].
Butterfly, a, [22].

Calculating machines, their economical character, [196].
Caloric, theory of, stood in the way of scientific advancement, [138], [167].
Calypso, the island of, [351].
Canterbury, Archbishop of, [39].
Cantor, M., [361], footnote.
Capacity, electrical, [116] et seq., [123];
thermal, [123];
specific inductive, [117].
Capulets and Montagues, [87].
Cards, difficult games of, [357].
Carnot, S., excludes perpetual motion in heat, [156], [162];
his mechanical view of physics, [156];
on thermodynamics, [160] et seq.;
his principle, [162];
also, [191].
Carus, Dr. Paul, [265], footnote.
Casselli's telegraph, [26].
Cassini, [51].
Cauchy, character of the intellectual activity of a, [195].
Causal insight, awakened by science, [357].
Causality, [157]-[159], [190], [198] et seq., [221] et seq., [237], [253], [254].
Cause and effect, [198] et seq. See also Causality.
Centimetre-gramme-second system, [111].
Centre of gravity, must lie as low as possible for equilibrium to subsist, [15];
Torricelli's principle of, [150] et seq.
Centre of oscillation, [149].
Change, method of, in science, [230].
Changeable character of bodies, [202].
Changes, physical, how they occur, [205].
Character, a Universal Real, [192].
Character, like the forms of liquids, [3];
persons of, [24].
Charles the Fifth, [369].
Chemical, elements, [202];
symbols, [192];
current, [118].
Chemistry, character of research in, [255];
the method of thermodynamics in, [257].
Child, a, modes of thought of, [223];
looking into a moat, [208].
Child of the forest, his interpretation of new events, [218]-[219].
Childish questions, [199]-[200].
Children, the drawings of, [201]-[202].
Chinese language, economy of, [192];
study of, [354].
Chinese philosopher, an old, [186].
Chinese, speak with unwillingness of politics, [374];
the art of, [79]-[80].
Chosen, many are called but few are, [65].
Christ, saying of, [65].
Christianity, Latin introduced with, [311].
Christians and Jews, monotheism of the, [187].
Church and State, [88].
Cicero, [318].
Circe, [372].
Circle, the figure of least area with given periphery, [12].
Circular polarisation, [242].
Civilisation and barbarism, [335] et seq.
Civilisation, some phenomena of, explained by binocular vision, [74].
Civilised man, his modes of conception and interpretation, [219].
Clapeyron, [162].
Class-characters of animals, [255].
Classical, culture, the good and bad effects of, [347];
scholars, not the only educated people, [345].
Classics, on instruction in, [338]-[374];
the scientific, [368].
Classification in science, [255].
Clausius, on thermodynamics, [165];
on reversible cycles, [176].
Claviatur, Mach's, [42]-[43].
Club-law, [335].
Cochlea, the, a species of piano-forte, [19].
Cockchafer, [86].
Coefficient of self-induction, [250], [252].
Colophonium, solution of, [7].
Color, acoustic, [36].
Color-sensation, [210].
Color-signs, their economy, [192].
Colors, origin of the names of, [239].
Column, body moving behind a, [202].
Communication, its functions, import and fruits, [197], [238] et seq.;
by language, [237];
high importance of, [191] et seq.
Comparative physics, [239].
Comparison in science, [231], [238] et seq.
Computation, a principle of æsthetics, [34].
Concepts, abstract, defined, [250]-[252];
metrical, in electricity, [107] et seq.
Conceptual, meaning of the term, [240].
Conceptual thought, [192].
Concha, [18].
Condensers, electrical, [125] et seq. [132], footnote.
Conductors and non-conductors. See Electrical, etc.
Conformity in the deportment of the energies, [171]-[175].
Confusion of objects, cause of, [95].
Conic sections, [257].
Conical refraction, [29], [242].
Conservation of energy, [137] et seq. See Energy.
Conservation of weight or mass, [203].
Consonance, connexion of the simple natural numbers with, [33];
Euclid's definition of, [33];
explanation of, [42];
scientific definition of, [44];
and dissonance reduced to beats, [376], [370], [383].
Consonant intervals, [43].
Constancy of matter, [203].
Constant, the dielectric, [117].
Constants, the natural, [193].
Continuum of facts, [256] et seq.
Cornelius, [388], footnote.
Corti, the Marchese, his discovery of minute rods in the labyrinth of the ear, [19].
Coulomb, his electrical researches, [108], [109], [113];
his notion of quantity of electricity, [173];
his torsion-balance, [168].
Crew, Prof. Henry, [317], footnote.
Criticism, Socrates the father of scientific, [1], [16].
Critique of Pure Reason, Kant's, [188].
Crucible, derivation of the word, [49], footnote.
Crustacea, auditory filaments of, [29], [272], [302].
Cube of oil, [5].
Culture, ancient and modern, [344].
Currents, chemical, [118];
electrical, [118];
galvanic, [132];
measurement of electrical, [135]-[136];
of heat, [244], [249]-[250];
strength of, [250].
Curtius, [356].
Curved lines, their asymmetry, [98].
Curves, how their laws are investigated, [206].
Cycles, reversible, Clausius on, [176].
Cyclical processes, closed, [175].
Cyclops, [67].
Cyclostat, [298].
Cylinder, of oil, [6];
mass of gas enclosed in a, [179].

D'Alembert, on the causes of harmony, [34];
his principle, [142], [149], [154];
also [234], [279].
Danish schools, [338], footnote.
Darwin, his study of organic nature, [215] et seq.;
his methods of research, [216].
Deaf and dumb, not subject to giddiness, [299].
Deaf person, with a piano, analyses sounds, [27].
Death and life, [186].
Definition, compendious, [197].
Deiters, [19].
Delage, [298], [301], [302].
Democritus, his mechanical conception of the world, [155], [187].
Demonstration, character of, [362].
Deportment of the energies, conformity in the, [171]-[175].
Derivation, laws only methods of, [256].
Descent, Galileo's laws of, [193];
generally, [143] et seq., [204], [215].
Description, [108], [191], [236], [237];
a condition of scientific knowledge, [193];
direct and indirect, [240];
in physics, [197], [199].
Descriptive sciences, their resemblance to the abstract, [248].
Determinants, [195].
Diderot, [234].
Dielectric constant, the, [117].
Difference-engine, the, [196].
Differential coefficients, their relation to symmetry, [98].
Differential laws, [204].
Differential method, for detecting optical imperfections, [317].
Diffraction, [91], [194].
Diffusion, Fick's theory of, [249].
Discharge of Leyden jars, [114] et seq.
Discoveries, the gist of, [270], [375].
Discovery and invention, distinction between, [269].
Dissonance, explanation of, [42];
definition of, [33], [44]. See Consonance.
Distances, estimation of, by the eye, [68] et seq.
Dogs, like tuning-forks, [23];
their mentality, [190].
Domenech, Abbé, [92].
Dramatic element in science, [243].
Drop of water, on a greased plate, [8];
on the end of a stick, [8];
in free descent, [8].
Dubois, [218].
Dubois-Reymond, [370], footnote.
Dufay, [271].
Dynamics, foundations of, [153] et seq.

Ear, researches in the theory of, [17] et seq.;
diagram of, [18];
its analysis of sounds, [20] et seq.;
a puzzle-lock, [28];
reflected in a mirror, [93];
no symmetry in its sensation, [103].
Earth, its oblateness not due to its original fluid condition, [2];
rotation of, [204];
internal disturbances of, [285].
Economical, nature of physical inquiry, [186];
procedure of the human mind, [186];
order of physics, [197];
schematism of science, [206];
tools of science, [207];
coefficient of dynamos, [133].
Economy, of the actions of nature, [15];
the purpose of science, [16];
of language, [191] et seq.;
of the industrial arts, [192];
of mathematics, [195]-[196];
of machinery, [196];
of self-preservation, our first knowledge derived from, [197];
generally, [186] et seq., [269].
Education, higher, [86];
liberal, [341] et seq., [371].
Efflux, liquid, [150].
Ego, its nature, [234]-[235].
Egypt, [234].
Egyptians, art of, [78] et seq., [201].
Eighteenth century, the scientific achievements of, [187], [188].
Eleatics, on motion, [158].
Electrical, attraction and repulsion, [109] et seq., [168];
capacity, [116] et seq.;
force, [110], [119], [168];
spark, [117], [127], [132], [133], [190];
energy, measurement of, [128] et seq., [169];
currents, conceptions of, [118], [132], [135]-[136], [226]-[227], [249], [250];
fluids, [112] et seq., [228];
pendulums, [110];
levels, [173];
potential, [121] et seq.;
quantity, [111], [118], [119].
Electricity, as a substance and as a motion, [170];
difference between the conceptions of heat and, [168] et seq.,
rôle of work in, [120] et seq.;
galvanic, [134].
See Electrical.
Electrometer, W. Thomson's absolute, [127], footnote.
Electrometers, [122], [127].
Electrostatic unit, [111].
Electrostatics, concepts of, [107] et seq.
Elements, interdependence of the sensuous, [179];
of bodies, [202];
of phenomena, equations between, [205];
of sensations, [200];
used instead of sensations, [208]-[209].
Ellipse, equation of, [205];
the word, [342].
Embryology, possible future state of, [257].
Energies, conformity in the deportment of, [171]-[175];
differences of, [175].
Energy, a metrical notion, [178];
conservation of, [137] et seq.;
defined, [139];
metaphysical establishment of the doctrine of, [183];
kinetic, [177];
potential, [128] et seq.;
substantial conception of, [164], [185], [244] et seq.;
conservation of, in electrical phenomena, [131] et seq.;
limits of principle of, [175];
principle of, in physics, [160]-[166];
sources of principle of, [179], [181];
thermal, [177];
Thomas Young on, [173].
Energy-value of heat, [178], footnote.
Enlightenment, the, [188].
Entropy, a metrical notion, [178].
Environment, stability of our, [206].
Equations for obtaining facts, [180];
between the elements of phenomena, [205].
Equilibrium, conditions of, in simple machines, [151];
figures of liquid, [4] et seq.;
general condition of, [15];
in the State, [15].
Etymology, the word, misused for entomology, [316].
Euclid, on consonance and dissonance, [33];
his geometry, [364].
Euler, on the causes of harmony, [34];
impression of the mathematical processes on, [196];
on the vibrations of strings, [249], [285], [376].
Euler and Hermann's principle, [149].
Euthyphron, questioned by Socrates, [1].
Evolute, the word, [342].
Evolution, theory of, as applied to ideas, [216] et seq.
Ewald, [298], [304].
Excluded perpetual motion, logical root of the principle of, [182].
Exner, S., [302], [305].
Experience, communication of, [191];
our ready, [199];
the principle of energy derived from, [179];
the wellspring of all knowledge of nature, [181];
incongruence between thought and, [206].
Experimental research, function of, [181].
Explanation, nature of, [194], [237], [362].
Eye, cannot analyse colors, [20];
researches in the theory of the, [18] et seq.;
loss of, as affecting vision, [98].
Eyes, purpose of, [66] et seq.;
their structure symmetrical not identical, [96].