First Lessons on Natural Philosophy for Children
Dublin Core
Title
First Lessons on Natural Philosophy for Children
Subject
Natural Philosophy, Physics
Description
Collection of images relating to the way Mary Swift teaches children physics topics in her book. The book was published in 1851, and therefore showcases both early physics writing and topics as well as how people thought to describe it to kids.
Creator
Mary Swift
Source
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00031637/00001/1j
Publisher
W.M. JAS. HAMERSLEY
Date
1851
Format
Images
Type
Book
Collection Items
Depiction of Circular Motion
In this section of the book the author is describing the different classes of motion that we are generally concerned with. This diagram is a depiction of the classification of circular motion. This is a small simple diagram, showing that while in…
Curvilinear Motion
This is diagram utilized in describing what the author terms "curvilinear motion". If you're wondering what that is, you're not alone. It is described as motion along a "curved line", which sounds potentially oxymoronic to the modern physics student.…
Elasticity Example, the Drawn Bow
As one can see this image depicts an archer pulling back on a bowstring. The diagram here serves two major purposes. Firstly, it allows those readers who might not know what a bow and arrow is follow along. And secondly, it allows the reader to…
Lever Example, the Ladder
The section from which this image is drawn dealt with categorizing the types of levers. One might easily confused by the description of one lever category: "a lever which has the power between the weight and the fulcrum". This diagram gives a very…
Lever Example, the Scale
When the author uses the featured diagram, she is in the midst of driving home the point of the parts and uses of the simple lever. To achieve this she uses several examples, of which one is a Scale. This type of scale hasn't been in use for a long…
Lever Example, the Scissors
This is yet another diagram that the author uses to visualize what a lever is. Swift spends quite a time hammering home the idea of levers. This is possibly because in her experience they might be a somewhat confounding topic for young children.…
Pendulum Diagram
When you explain things to children, complex terms and ideas are digestible only when they are described in a non-complex manner. The author is clearly going for the simplistic approach throughout this book, both with her simplistic sentence…
Pendulum, cont.
The showcased diagram of the child on the slope comes close after the introduction of the pendulum and serves as a counter example to everything discussed in the description of the pendulum diagram. It is overly complex and artistic where it doesn't…
Pump Diagram
This is a cut and dry example of what this book excels at, especially in regards to its diagrams. This depiction of a pump is clear, concise, and simple. It does little to overcomplicate anything and any young reader should have little to no…
Religion and Early Science
This image does not showcase a diagram, rather just a piece of the text. However, this does not diminish the importance of this excerpt. Here the author clearly states that the power given to animals is given by God, as if that is an indisputable,…