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THE
Newtonian System
OF
PHILOSOPHY
Adapted to the Capacities of young Gentlemen and Ladies, and familiarized and made entertaining by Objects with which they are intimately acquainted:

BEING
The substance of Six Lectures read to the Lilliputian Society,
By TOM TELESCOPE, A.M.
And collected and methodized for the Benefit of the Youth of these Kingdoms,
By their old Friend Mr. Newbery, in St. Paul’s Church Yard;
Who has also added a Variety of Copper-Plate Cuts, to illustrate and confirm the Doctrines advanced.

Oh Lord how manifold are thy Works! In Wisdom hast thou made them all, the Earth is full of thy Riches.

Young Men and Maidens, Old Men and Children, praise the Lord. Psalms

LONDON,
Printed for J. Newbery, at the Bible and Sun, in St Paul's Church Yard. 1761.

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TO THE
Young GENTLEMEN and LADIES
OF
Great Britain and Ireland,
This Philosophy of Tops and Balls
Is humbly inscribed,
By their most obedient Servant,

J. NEWBERY.

CONTENTS

I ntroduction, page 1.

LECTURE I. Of Matter & Motion

The Laws of Motion, page 5. Attraction and Gravitation, 9. Figure of the Earth, ib. Magnet, or Loadstone, 12. The Sphere of Attraction, and of Repulsion, ib. Cohesion, ib. Electricity, 14.

LECTURE II. Of the Universe, and particularly of the Solar System.

The Horizon, 18. Fixed Stars, 20. The Sun, the Planets, and Comets, 23. Eclipses of the Sun, and Moon, 26. Motion of the Earth, 28. Velocity of Light, 31.

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LECTURE III. Of the Air, Atmosphere, and Meteors.

The four Elements, 34. Air, and Atmosphere, 37. Elasticity of the air, 38. Wind-Gun,40. Earthquakes, 41. Water, 42. Light, and Sound. ib. Echo, 43. Air-Pump, 44. Ventilators, 48. Winds, 49. Mists, Fogs, and Clouds, 52. Rain, 53. Thunder, and Lightning, 55, 60. Snow, and Hail, 56. Northern Lights, 57. Jack-with-a-Lanthorn, or Will-with-the-Wisp, 58. Rainbow, 59. Halos, 60.

LECTURE IV. Of Mountains, Springs, Rivers, and the Sea

Mountains, 63. Burning Mountains, 68. Springs, 73. Rivers, 74. Lakes, ib. The Sea, 75. Tides, 76.

LECTURE V. Of Minerals, Vegetables, and Animals

Earths, 798. Sand, Gravel, Chalk, and Rocks, ib. Fossils, 80. Vulgar and precious Stones, ib. Salts, 81. Mineral substances, ib. Plants, 83. Animals, 90. Men, ib. Brutes, 91.

LECTURE VI. Of the five Senses of Man, and of his Understanding.

Origin of our Ideas, 100. Seeing, 103. Telescopes, 19,106. Separating Colours by the Prism, 107. Hearing, 108. Smelling, 100. Tasting, 111. Touching, 114. Heat, and Cold, 115. Pleasure, and Pain, 117. of the Understanding, 119.

© 2024 The Newton Project

Professor Rob Iliffe
Director, AHRC Newton Papers Project

Scott Mandelbrote,
Fellow & Perne librarian, Peterhouse, Cambridge

Faculty of History, George Street, Oxford, OX1 2RL - newtonproject@history.ox.ac.uk

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