4 ms·

The Chemical History of a Candle (1848)

42 points by xbryanx 7y ago

bradyd 7y ago
Bill Hammack, engineerguy on YouTube, did a video series based on these lectures that are a very good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrHnLXMTOWM&list=PL0INsTTU1k2UCpOfRuMDR-wlvWkLan1_r https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrHnLXMTOWM&list=PL0INsTTU1k...
- soniman 7y ago
  I tried to read this book a few years ago and my first thought was, "This book would be much better as a video." Look forward to watching this.
  - jhbadger 7y ago
    That makes sense because originally it wasn't a book but a live performance by Michael Faraday (who was a pioneer of scientific popularization besides being a great original researcher).
- vanderZwan 7y ago
  The link in the description has a nice free PDF version too: http://www.engineerguy.com/faraday/ http://www.engineerguy.com/faraday/
jbay808 7y ago
This is one of my favourite books! It's very readable with a bit of effort, and must have been riveting to see in person. I most enjoy how thoroughly Faraday demonstrates how exactly they were able to know what they knew at the time - which gets into pretty advanced stuff. I doubt many today could so easily explain how we know certain scientific facts to be true, let alone demonstrate the chain of reasoning on their desktop. At the time this would have been cutting edge science put into a lecture for children; his massive electromagnet would have been like having a cyclotron in a lecture hall today. At the same time, despite being something like 170 years ago, Faraday manages to stick pretty much to facts that we would still agree on today, despite all the scientific revolutions that have happened since then (like disproving the aether, understanding atoms and heat, electromagnetism, and such). Pretty much the only archaic aspects of it are the names of the chemicals he uses. His explanation about the essence of what makes fire glow is also the best I have ever encountered.
- cvs268 7y ago
  > despite being something like 170 years ago, > Faraday manages to stick pretty much to facts that we would still agree on today, > despite all the scientific revolutions that have happened since then So much like how good Product Managers / Architects "spec-out" the system. The implementation(s) may be left open (or change over time), but the architecture remains valid.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  As a tour de force of how to demonstrate causal knowledge, this really is amazing and underappreciated.

42 points by xbryanx 7y ago

Bill Hammack, engineerguy on YouTube, did a video series based on these lectures that are a very good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrHnLXMTOWM&list=PL0INsTTU1k2UCpOfRuMDR-wlvWkLan1_r https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrHnLXMTOWM&list=PL0INsTTU1k...

soniman 7y ago
I tried to read this book a few years ago and my first thought was, "This book would be much better as a video." Look forward to watching this.
- jhbadger 7y ago
  That makes sense because originally it wasn't a book but a live performance by Michael Faraday (who was a pioneer of scientific popularization besides being a great original researcher).
vanderZwan 7y ago
The link in the description has a nice free PDF version too: http://www.engineerguy.com/faraday/ http://www.engineerguy.com/faraday/

jbay808 7y ago

This is one of my favourite books! It's very readable with a bit of effort, and must have been riveting to see in person. I most enjoy how thoroughly Faraday demonstrates how exactly they were able to know what they knew at the time - which gets into pretty advanced stuff. I doubt many today could so easily explain how we know certain scientific facts to be true, let alone demonstrate the chain of reasoning on their desktop. At the time this would have been cutting edge science put into a lecture for children; his massive electromagnet would have been like having a cyclotron in a lecture hall today. At the same time, despite being something like 170 years ago, Faraday manages to stick pretty much to facts that we would still agree on today, despite all the scientific revolutions that have happened since then (like disproving the aether, understanding atoms and heat, electromagnetism, and such). Pretty much the only archaic aspects of it are the names of the chemicals he uses. His explanation about the essence of what makes fire glow is also the best I have ever encountered.

cvs268 7y ago
> despite being something like 170 years ago, > Faraday manages to stick pretty much to facts that we would still agree on today, > despite all the scientific revolutions that have happened since then So much like how good Product Managers / Architects "spec-out" the system. The implementation(s) may be left open (or change over time), but the architecture remains valid.
dredmorbius 7y ago
As a tour de force of how to demonstrate causal knowledge, this really is amazing and underappreciated.