General Science

General Science

The Project Gutenberg EBook of General Science, by Bertha M. Clark
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: General Science
Author: Bertha M. Clark
Release Date: August 25, 2005 [EBook #16593]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GENERAL
SCIENCE ***

Produced by John Hagerson, Kevin Handy, Sankar Viswanathan and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

GENERAL SCIENCE

BY
BERTHA M. CLARK, PH.D.
HEAD OF THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
WILLIAM PENN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, PHILADELPHIA

NEW YORK - CINCINNATI - CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
1912

PREFACE
This book is not intended to prepare for college entrance examinations;
it will not, in fact, prepare for any of the present-day stock
examinations in physics, chemistry, or hygiene, but it should prepare
the thoughtful reader to meet wisely and actively some of life's
important problems, and should enable him to pass muster on the
principles and theories underlying scientific, and therefore economic,
management, whether in the shop or in the home.
We hear a great deal about the conservation of our natural resources,
such as forests and waterways; it is hoped that this book will show the
vital importance of the conservation of human strength and health, and
the irreparable loss to society of energy uselessly dissipated, either in
idle worry or in aimless activity. Most of us would reproach ourselves
for lack of shrewdness if we spent for any article more than it was
worth, yet few of us consider that we daily expend on domestic and
business tasks an amount of energy far in excess of that actually
required. The farmer who flails his grain instead of threshing it wastes
time and energy; the housewife who washes with her hands alone and
does not aid herself by the use of washing machine and proper

bleaching agents dissipates energy sadly needed for other duties.
The Chapter on machines is intended not only as a stimulus to the
invention of further labor-saving devices, but also as an eye opener to
those who, in the future struggle for existence, must perforce go to the
wall unless they understand how to make use of contrivances whereby
man's limited physical strength is made effective for larger tasks.
The Chapter on musical instruments is more detailed than seems
warranted at first sight; but interest in orchestral instruments is real and
general, and there is a persistent desire for intelligent information
relative to musical instruments. The child of the laborer as well as the
child of the merchant finds it possible to attend some of the weekly
orchestral concerts, with their tiers of cheap seats, and nothing adds
more to the enjoyment and instruction of such hours than an intimate
acquaintance with the leading instruments. Unless this is given in the
public schools, a large percentage of mankind is deprived of it, and it is
for this reason that so large a share of the treatment of sound has been
devoted to musical instruments.
The treatment of electricity is more theoretical than that used in
preceding Chapters, but the subject does not lend itself readily to
popular presentation; and, moreover, it is assumed that the information
and training acquired in the previous work will give the pupil power to
understand the more advanced thought and method.
The real value of a book depends not so much upon the information
given as upon the permanent interest stimulated and the initiative
aroused. The youthful mind, and indeed the average adult mind as well,
is singularly non-logical and incapable of continued concentration, and
loses interest under too consecutive thought and sustained style. For
this reason the author has sacrificed at times detail to general effect,
logical development to present-day interest and facts, and has made use
of a popular, light style of writing as well as of the more formal and
logical style common to books of science.
No claim is made to originality in subject matter. The actual facts,
theories, and principles used are such as have been presented in

previous textbooks of science, but the manner and sequence of
presentation are new and, so far as I know, untried elsewhere. These are
such as in my experience have aroused the greatest interest and
initiative, and such as have at the same time given the maximum
benefit from the informational standpoint. In no case, however, is
mental training sacrificed to information; but mental development is
sought through the student's willing and interested participation in the
actual daily happenings of the home and the shop and the field, rather
than through formal