On the applications of science to human health and well-being. Being a lecture, introductory to a course, 'on the application of physics to common life', delivered to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, in June, 1847 / [Alexander Bain].

  • Alexander Bain
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the applications of science to human health and well-being. Being a lecture, introductory to a course, 'on the application of physics to common life', delivered to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, in June, 1847 / [Alexander Bain]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    plexity, and discord, and difficulties of life have been the theme of complaints that ring through all the ages of men ; yielding Cynic and Stoic philosophies, self-inflicted tortures and immolations, voluntary banishment from the world, gloomy speculations, suicides and crimes. It is surely worth while trying whether a better knowledge of the actual course of things, and of the beneficial agencies wrapt up in the womb of nature, may not help, among other causes, to stem such a torrent of despair, and prove the pos¬ sibility of a great and harmonious existence for man. For this end we are anxious that the Art of Living should be based, not as heretofore, upon vague experience, however extensive, but on the‘well-sifted and thoroughly tested experience that con¬ stitutes our Exact Sciences. And it is a satisfaction to know that several of these sciences have already yielded important contribu¬ tions to this great practical object. Some of these contributions I shall take the liberty of referring to, to exemplify the nature of such applications, and to introduce the specific case that I am to dwell on in the subsequent lectures. The Arithmetical and Mathematical Sciences have now reached, as you may have heard, an amazing perfection, and they carry their usefulness into all the arts and ongoings of life. They have also been valuable to the specific Art of Living. Even the small range of arithmetic requisite for enabling each person to balance their means with their expenditure, fulfils an important function. But the most notable application of mathematics to our present case, is its serving as the foundation of, perhaps, the greatest device for im¬ proving the tenure of human existence that modern ages has pro¬ duced ; I mean the system of insurances as now practised. This wonderful instrument for alleviating the load of human cares, and quieting feverish terrors and sleepless nights, could not have been set up until the Greek had perfected his geometry, till algebra had come from the Arabs, and Napier of Merchiston constructed his logarithms. Reserving my allusions to Physics to the last, let me mention next the science of Chemistry, so new, and yet so comprehensive and so certain. Besides creating entire new fields of industry, and multiplying the diffusion of useful commodities, this science first explained to us exactly our dependence on a pure atmosphere, and specified the change that comes over the air in passing through our lungs. The settled indifference of the human race to such a prime element of existence as fresh air, proves how long it would take to perfect even our bodily condition by the experience of the general multitude. The immortal discoveries of Priestley, Lavoisier, and others, on the different kinds of air, took the lead in the movement that is now beginning to operate for im¬ proving the dwellings of the present generation. Chemistry is also . commencing to explain the laws of digestion; from which it will gradually proceed to render an exact account of all the changes
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