Two discourses of the objects, pleasures and advantages, I. of science: II. of political science / By Henry Lord Brougham.
- Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux
- Date:
- 1846
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Two discourses of the objects, pleasures and advantages, I. of science: II. of political science / By Henry Lord Brougham. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Yesemble them. very closely in many ofits. most remarkable properties. Et] These are the curve lines best known and most frequently discussed ; but there are an. infinite number of others all related to straight lines and other curve lines by certain fixed rules: for ex- ample, the course which any point in the cireum- ference of a circle, as a nail in the felly of a wheel rolling along, takes through the air, is a curve called the eycloid, which has many remarkable properties; and, among others, this, that it is, of all lines possible, the one in which any body, not falling perpendicularly, will descend from one point to another the most quickly. Another curve often seen is that in which a rope or chain hangs. when supported at both ends: it is called the Ca- tenary, from the Latin for chain. ; and in this form some arches are built. 'The form of a sail filled with wind is the same curve. Ii, DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL TRUTHS. You perceive, if you reflect a little, that the science which we have been considering, in both _its branches, has nothing to do with matter ; that is to say, it does not at all depend upon the properties: or even upon the existence of any bodies or sub-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22026575_0031.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
