Notes of Lectures on Natural Philosophy

Mss.504.W95

Date: 1857-1858 | Size: 1 volume(s), 323 p.

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Abstract

As a junior and senior at Princeton in 1857-1858, John Howard Wurts was enrolled in the two semester sequence of courses on natural philosophy taught by the astronomer Stephen Alexander. The polished version of Wurts' lecture notes provide a detailed record of Alexander's presentation of both statics and the applications of statics, including thebasic principles of natural philosophy, the physical properties of matter, forces, and methodology. The notes are illustrated throughout with finely rendered pencil and ink drawings of physical apparatus and experiments.

Background note

The son of William Wurts and his second wife, Elizabeth (Tate) of Flanders, N.J. , John Howard Wurts was born May 22, 1838. After preparatory work at the Edgehill School in Philadelphia, he entered Princeton as a sophomore for the fall term 1855, and went on to receive his A.B. in 1858 with First Honors and giving the Latin Salutory, followed by his A.M. in 1861. Although he entered into the study of law with George W. Biddle in Philadelphia, Wurts's intentions were cut short by illness. He died in Havana, Cuba, on May 4, 1862.

A cousin and brother-in-law of Joseph Henry, Stephen Alexander followed Henry to Princeton, rising from tutor in mathematics in 1833 to Professor of Astronomy in 1840, and retaining a connection with the university until the end of his life in 1883. Alexander gave Princeton's first course in astronomy and was the prime mover behind the construction of the university's first observatory. A founding member of the National Academy of Sciences and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Alexander's .

Scope and content

The John Howard Wurts lecture notes record two terms of lectures on natural philosophy given by the astronomer Stephen Alexander at Princeton in 1857. The course breaks into two parts, lectures on statics, delivered in the second term, 1857, when Wurts was a junior, and lectures on the applications of statics, delivered during Wurts' first term as a senior in the fall 1857. A note indicates that the lectures were recopied by Wurts in January 1858, and were presumably submitted for Alexander's approval.

Wurts' lecture notes are illustrated throughout with some accomplished pencil and ink sketches of scientific apparatus.

Collection Information

Physical description

1 vol., 323p.

Provenance

Gift of Peter Stephen Duponceau, January 19, 1827.

Preferred citation

Cite as: John Howard Wurts, Notes of Lectures on Natural Philosophy, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Acquired, 1970.

Related material

The Lecture Notes Collection (AC #052) at the Seeley G. Mudd Library, Princeton University, includes notes on natural philosophy by John Maclean, Jr., 1857, and George Gray, which correspond to Wurts's. Gray's notes explicitly identify the lecturer as Stephen Alexander.

Indexing Terms

Corporate Name(s)

Princeton University

Genre(s)

Lecture notes

Personal Name(s)

Alexander, Stephen, 1806-1883
Wurts, John Howard, 1838-1862

Subject(s)

Natural Philosophy -- Study and teaching
Physics -- Study and teaching -- 19th century
Scientific apparatus and instruments.

Detailed Inventory


Table of contents			Request Collection for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Collection

Statics			Request Series for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Series
Lecture I - Introduction		p. 1	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture II - Science		p. 10	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture III - Induction, deduction; natural philosophy		p. 18	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture IV - General properties of ponderable matter		p. 28	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture V - Instrumentation (sketches)		p. 37	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture VI - Properties of matter		p. 48	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture VII - Properties, liquids, gases, glasses		p. 53	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture VIII - Comrpessibility, dilatability		p. 61	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture IX - Heat and its measurement		p. 69	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture X - Mobility and motion, force		p. 82	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XI - Motion, velocity, inertia		p. 88	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XII - Physical forces, attraction, repulsion, gravitation		p. 97	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XIII - Gravitation, weight		p. 103	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XIV - Gravitation, specific gravity		p. 112	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XV - Length and its measurement; molecular forces, material strength, tenacity		p. 118	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XVI - Cohesion and adhesion		p. 129	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XVII - Repulsion and attraction, molecular forces, capillary attraction		p. 134	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XVIII - Capillary forces, contractile forces		p. 147	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XIX - Chemical affinity, atomic theory		p. 159	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XX - Molecular constitution of matter		p. 169	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XXI - Molecular constitution of matter (cont.), gases		p. 185	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XXII - Elasticity, torsion, brittleness, pliability		p. 197	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item

Lectures on Motion	September 16, [1857]		Request Series for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Series
Lecture I - Laws of motion, inertia, illustrations, momentum		p. 206	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture II - Momentum (cont.), reaction		p. 218	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item

Lectures on the applications of statics	Oct 22-Dec 3, 1857, written in Jan. 1858		Request Series for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Series
Lecture I - Application of force, power		p. 229	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture II - Funicular force		p. 236	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture III - Levers		p. 242	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture IV - Levers, wheel and axle, pulleys		p. 253	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture VI - Cogs, pulleys		p. 262	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture VII - Inclined planes, screws, wedges		p. 271	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture VIII - Wedges, strength and resistance of materials		p. 287	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture IX - Ratchets, dynamic forces, power		p. 304	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture X - Friction		p. 310	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Lecture XI - Springs; mechanical devices in the human frame		p. 317	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item