From the introductory: "A Word to You"
You ought to experiment!
For to experiment is to clear the cobwebs from your brain and to let the light of a new world into your mind.
By this I mean that you can learn many wonderful and fascinating secrets of nature in a most charming way and at very little expense.
In this book I have tried to write easy directions and draw clear pictures which tell and show you how to make a lot of simple devices and perform a large number of experiments; if you will do both you will not only add to your stock of knowing the how and the why of things scientific, but you will be highly entertained with your efforts in natural viagic, as it is called.
A good way to begin is to read about the first experiment carefully, then make and set up the apparatus, and don't give up until you have worked out the effect to a successful conclusion. All the time you are doing this you must think about what causes each action ; by so doing you will be nearly sure to discover some hidden truth or strange fact, and this is what makes natural magic, that is the magic of science, such a delightful pastime.
But experimenting in physics, as this branch of science is called, is much more than a mere pastime, for you will remember and profit by all that you do and learn as long as you live. As an illustration, suppose you saw an aeroplane winging its way through the empyrean blue above you; if, now, you know what air is and how it behaves, as described in Chapter VI, you will have a pretty good idea of how it flies.
Again, if you are interested in finding out how a device or a machine of any kind works, it will be an easy and simple matter, because you know how matter and force, sound and heat, light, magnetism and electricity act.
And, finally, if you like adventure, you don't need to go "somewhere in France," to the jungles of Africa, or north of 53° in search of it. No indeed. All you have to do is to start a series of experiments like those described in this book and you will be surprised to find where it will lead you even as it surprised the author.
