Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Advantages To Be Derived From The Study Of The Mathematics.
The interest which the Mathematics have in Painting , Music , and Architecture , cannot be questioned . «• With respect to Painting ; perspective , and the laws of light and shadow , are owing to Geometry and Optics : —Had not the Mathematics reduced Music to a system , it would have been no art , but enthusiastic rapture , subject to tiie caprice of every practitioner ! —
As for Architecture , there is hardly any department in the Mathematics , but is someway or other connected with it : Geometry and Arithmetic , for the due measure of the building , for models , plans , computation of materials , time , and charges ; for a rig ht disposition of its parts , that they may be both firm and beautiful—Mechanics , for its strengththe transporting and raising of materials ; and Optics ,
, for the symmetry of the whole I These are the foundations upon which the edifice must be reared : —to give them effect , taste , genius , and application to other subjects , will be essential ; for altliough , without a . knowledge of these rules , it would be impossible to arrive at eminence in either of the above pursuits , yet he who , with no ether than mathematical knowledge , should attempt to delineate
nature , combine sounds , or erect a palace , would at best only produce a stiff tree , a . disinteresting tune , or an uncomfortable mansion ! Having shewn the general utility of Mathematics , I shall now proceed to point out their more immediate usefulness in civil affairs . To begin with Arithmetic . An attempt to ascertain its endless advantages in whatever hath reference to number , would be vain ;
and indeed they are so self-evident , as to render such an attempt useless : I shall therefore only observe , that numbers are applicable even to such things as seem to be governed by no law ; I mean such as depend upon chance , in which the degree of probability , and its proportion in any two cases , are as much the subject of calculation as any thing else . The sevetal uses of Geometry are . hardly fewer than those of Arithmetic .
Men are hereby paid the price of their labour , according to the plain or solid content of their work : — -by this science , the plans of estates , and maps of countries , are laid down , and thus land ( as well as cloth ) is sold by its measure ; hence also , the height of the inaccessible cliiij or the dimensions of the roaring cataract , may be obtained , & c . The numerous machinesor instrumentsinvented for overcoming
, , resistances , or raising weights , for measuring time or ascertaining the situation of places , for discovering the state of the atmosphere , or exploring the appearance of the heavens , and for an endless variety of other purposes , which contribute greatly toward the benefit of society , siiiiicieutly demonstrate the importance of Mechanics . The value of a pair of spectacles is- comfortably felt in the decline
of life ; the merchant , in the preservation of his ship , hath often reason to be thankful for the improvement of g lasses ; and the political consequences likely to arise from the application of the telegraphe , will be an additional evidence of the impcitaisce of the telescope ; these ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Advantages To Be Derived From The Study Of The Mathematics.
The interest which the Mathematics have in Painting , Music , and Architecture , cannot be questioned . «• With respect to Painting ; perspective , and the laws of light and shadow , are owing to Geometry and Optics : —Had not the Mathematics reduced Music to a system , it would have been no art , but enthusiastic rapture , subject to tiie caprice of every practitioner ! —
As for Architecture , there is hardly any department in the Mathematics , but is someway or other connected with it : Geometry and Arithmetic , for the due measure of the building , for models , plans , computation of materials , time , and charges ; for a rig ht disposition of its parts , that they may be both firm and beautiful—Mechanics , for its strengththe transporting and raising of materials ; and Optics ,
, for the symmetry of the whole I These are the foundations upon which the edifice must be reared : —to give them effect , taste , genius , and application to other subjects , will be essential ; for altliough , without a . knowledge of these rules , it would be impossible to arrive at eminence in either of the above pursuits , yet he who , with no ether than mathematical knowledge , should attempt to delineate
nature , combine sounds , or erect a palace , would at best only produce a stiff tree , a . disinteresting tune , or an uncomfortable mansion ! Having shewn the general utility of Mathematics , I shall now proceed to point out their more immediate usefulness in civil affairs . To begin with Arithmetic . An attempt to ascertain its endless advantages in whatever hath reference to number , would be vain ;
and indeed they are so self-evident , as to render such an attempt useless : I shall therefore only observe , that numbers are applicable even to such things as seem to be governed by no law ; I mean such as depend upon chance , in which the degree of probability , and its proportion in any two cases , are as much the subject of calculation as any thing else . The sevetal uses of Geometry are . hardly fewer than those of Arithmetic .
Men are hereby paid the price of their labour , according to the plain or solid content of their work : — -by this science , the plans of estates , and maps of countries , are laid down , and thus land ( as well as cloth ) is sold by its measure ; hence also , the height of the inaccessible cliiij or the dimensions of the roaring cataract , may be obtained , & c . The numerous machinesor instrumentsinvented for overcoming
, , resistances , or raising weights , for measuring time or ascertaining the situation of places , for discovering the state of the atmosphere , or exploring the appearance of the heavens , and for an endless variety of other purposes , which contribute greatly toward the benefit of society , siiiiicieutly demonstrate the importance of Mechanics . The value of a pair of spectacles is- comfortably felt in the decline
of life ; the merchant , in the preservation of his ship , hath often reason to be thankful for the improvement of g lasses ; and the political consequences likely to arise from the application of the telegraphe , will be an additional evidence of the impcitaisce of the telescope ; these ,