Page:Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat.djvu/16

viii It has seemed to the Editor and to the Publishers that the product of the wonderful genius of Carnot,—the great foundation-stone of one of the most marvellous and important of modern sciences, the first statement of the grand though simple laws of Thermodynamics,—as illustrated in this one little treatise, should be made accessible to all who desire to study the work in English, and preserved, so far as its publication in this form could accomplish it, as a permanent memorial, in a foreign tongue, of such grand truths, and of such a great genius as was their discoverer. It is with this purpose that Publishers and Editor have co-operated in this project.

The book consists, as will be seen on inspection, of the translation of Carnot's Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu, preceded by a notice written by the Editor calling attention to its remarkable features, and its extraordinary character as the product of a most remarkable genius; and by a biographical sketch of the great author, written by his brother, Mons. Hyppolyte Carnot, which sketch we find in the French copy of the work as published by Gauthier-Villars, the latest reproduction of the book in the original tongue. To the main portion of the book, Carnot's Réflexions, is appended the celebrated paper of Sir