"The Cavendishes flourished during the high tide of British aristocracy following the revolution of 1688-89, and the case can be made that this aristocracy knew its finest hour when Henry Cavendish gently laid his delicate weights in the pan of his incomparable precision balance. For this it took two generations and two kinds of invention, one in social forms and the other in scientific technique. This biography tells how it came to pass."--BOOK JACKET.

Volume II: 1862-1873 contains texts which illuminate Maxwell's scientific maturity. In this period he wrote the classic works on field physics and statistical molecular theory which established his unique status in the history of science. His important correspondence with Thomson and Tait provides remarkable insight into the major themes of his physics.

This bibliographic guide offers users a basic overview of the current trends and the best, most important, and most up-to-date paper and electronic information resources in the field of physics. The author has selectively chosen and succinctly annotated a list of hundreds of major tools used by physical scientists and researchers, including bibliographic sources, abstracting and indexing databases, journals, books, online sources, and other subject-specific non-bibliographic tools. Stern also provides information on grants, personal bibliographic database tools, document delivery, copyright and reserves. In addition, he discusses future developments, directions, and trends in the field, and in the concluding chapter he outlines the history and developments of the physics. Designed to help students, new researchers in the field of physics, and working physicists in need of additional information resources outside their normal field of study, this is an invaluable reference, research, and collectio

Profiles the eminent 18th century natural philosopher Henry Cavendish, best known for his work in chemistry and physics and one of the most baffling personalities in the history of science. In these chapters we are introduced to the psychology of science and of scientists and we learn about Cavendish’s life and times. His personality is examined from two perspectives: one is that he had a less severe form of autism, as has been claimed; the other is that he was eccentric and a psychological disorder was absent. Henry Cavendish lived a life of science, possibly more completely than any other figure in the history of science: a wealthy aristocrat, he became a dedicated scientist. This study brings new information and a new perspective to our understanding of the man. The scientific and non-scientific sides of his life are brought closer together, as the author traces topics including his appearance, speech, wealth, religion and death as well as Cavendish’s life of natural philosophy where objectivity and accuracy, writing and recognition all played a part. The author traces aspects of Cavendish’s personality, views and interpretations of him, and explores notions of eccentricity and autism before detailing relevant aspects of the travels made by our subject. The author considers the question “How do we talk about Cavendish?” and provides a useful summary of Cavendish’s travels. This book will appeal to a wide audience, from those interested in 18th century history or history of science, to those interested in incidences of autism in prominent figures from history. This volume contains ample relevant illustrations, several interesting appendices and it includes a useful index and bibliography.