The Works of John Playfair Author:John Playfair Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: f DISSERTATION: EXHIBITING A GENERAL VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE, SINCE THE REVIVAL OF LETTERS IN EUROPE. VoL. II... more ». ADVERTISEMENT. This Dissertation was published in the Second and Fourth Volumes of the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, in which the following account of it is given : " Mr Pjlayfair's Dissertation was intended to furnish an Historical Sketch of the principal Discoveries and Improvements in Science, from the Revival of Letters to the beginning of the present Century ; and, in that portion of it which is prefixed to the Second Volume of this work, the history is brought down to the period marked by the commencement of Newton's discoveries. The remaining half was to have completed the design, in three parts or subdivisions; the First, comprehending the period of Newton and Leibnitz ; the Second, that of Euler and D'alembert ; and the Third, that of Lagrange and Laplace. " Mr Platfair was proceeding, with his accustomed diligence and ardour, in the execution of this interesting and congenial task, when he was seized with the illness of which he died. Thejirst subdivision of this part of his plan, which embracesa view of the advances made in the most remarkable period of the history of Science, was happily completed, and the printing finished, while he was yet able to correct the press. It is now given to the Public, under the painful impression that it must too probably be considered as a Fragment; for the Editor fears, that the materials collected for the completion of the Dissertation, though containing the results of much elaborate inquiry, and profound reflection, cannot be put into a shape that would justify their publication as a work of Professor Playfair. " Edinburgh, December 1819." The ...« less