Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 65.djvu/517

Rh an unexpected extension (to the case of 'latent motions') at the hands of Lord Kelvin; and Lord Rayleigh, by his continual additions to it, shows that, in his view, it is still incomplete.

When the restriction to infinitely small motions is abandoned, the problems become of course much more arduous. The whole theory, for instance, of the normal modes of vibration which is so important in acoustics, and even in music, disappears. The researches hitherto made in this direction have, moreover, encountered difficulties of a less patent character. It is conceivable that the modern analytical methods which have been developed in astronomy may have an application to these questions. It would appear that there is an opening here for the mathematician; at all events, the numerical or graphical solution of any one of the various problems that could be suggested would be of the highest interest. One problem of the kind is already classical—the theory of steep water-waves discussed by Stokes; but even here the point of view has perhaps been rather artificially restricted. The question proposed by him, the determination of the possible forms of waves of permanent type, like the problem of periodic orbits in astronomy, is very interesting mathematically, and forms a natural starting-point for investigation; but it does not exhaust what is most important for us to know in the matter. Observation may suggest the existence of such waves as a fact; but no reason has been given, so far as I know, why free water-waves should tend to assume a form consistent with permanence, or be influenced in their progress by considerations of geometrical simplicity.

I have tried to indicate the kind of continuity of subject-matter, method and spirit which runs through the work of the whole school of mathematical physicists of which Stokes may be taken as the representative. It is no less interesting, I think, to examine the points of contrast with more recent tendencies. These relate not so much to subject matter and method as to the general mental attitude towards the problems of nature. Mathematical and physical science have become markedly introspective. The investigators of the classical school, as it may perhaps be styled, were animated by a simple and vigorous faith; they sought as a matter of course for a mechanical explanation of phenomena, and had no misgivings as to the trustiness of the analytical weapons which they wielded. But now the physicist and the mathematician alike are in trouble about their souls. We have discussions on the principles of mechanics, on the foundations of geometry, on the logic of the most rudimentary arithmetical processes, as well as the more artificial operations of the calculus. These discussions are legitimate and inevitable, and have led to some results which are now widely accepted. Although they were carried on to a great extent independently, the questions involved will, I think, be found to