Physics without Apparatus

Abstract

I.IT is almost a proverb in science that some of the greatest discoveries have been made by the most simple means. It is equally true that almost all the more important facts and laws of the physical sciences can be illustrated and explained by the help of experiments made without special or expensive apparatus, and requiring only the familiar objects of common life for their performance. The greatest exponents of popular science—and amongst them notably Faraday—delighted in impromptu devices of this kind. It is indeed surprising how throughout the whole range of natural philosophy the hand of the master can turn to account the very simplest and rudest of apparatus. A silver spoon, a pair of spectacle lenses, a tumbler of water, and a few sheets of paper suffice to illustrate half the laws of geometrical optics. A few pieces of sealing-wax, some flannel, silk, writing paper, pins, and glass tumblers will carry the clever experimenter a long way into the phenomena of electricity. These are things which any person can procure, and which any person can be taught to use. But their right use depends on the possession of accurate scientific knowledge and a clear understanding of what the various experiments are to prove. In fact the art of experiment and the science of inductive reasoning are the essential qualifications necessary to make Physics without apparatus profitable.