I here present the revised edition of a course of lectures on
Experimental Mechanics which I delivered in the Royal College of
Science at Dublin eighteen years ago. The audience was a large evening
class consisting chiefly of artisans.
The teacher of Elementary Mechanics, whether he be in a Board School, a
Technical School, a Public School, a Science College, or a University,
frequently desires to enforce his lessons by exhibiting working
apparatus to his pupils, and by making careful measurements in their
presence.
He wants for this purpose apparatus of substantial proportions
visible from every part of his lecture room. He wants to have it of
such a universal character that he can produce from it day after day
combinations of an ever-varying type. He wishes it to be composed of
well-designed and well-made parts that shall be strong and durable,
and that will not easily get out of order. He wishes those parts to
be such that even persons not specially trained in manual skill shall
presently learn how to combine them with good effect. Lastly, he
desires to economize his money in the matters of varnish, mahogany, and
glass cases.
I found that I was able to satisfy all these requirements by a suitable
adaptation of the very ingenious system of mechanical apparatus devised
by the late Professor Willis of Cambridge. The elements of the system I
have briefly described in an Appendix, and what adaptations I have made
of it are shown in almost every page and every figure of the book.
In revising the present edition I have been aided by my friends Mr. G.
L. Cathcart, the Rev. M. H. Close, and Mr. E. P. Culverwell.