Illustrations of the Viscous Theory of Glacier Motion And Three Papers on Glaciers by John Tyndall

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Illustrations of the Viscous Theory of Glacier Motion brings together works published between 1846 and 1859 by the Scot James D. Forbes (1809–68) and Irishman John Tyndall (1820–93), both of whom were experienced alpinists as well as glaciologists. However, their views on the motion of glaciers were disparate, and a scientific quarrel over primacy and credit for discoveries continued even after their respective deaths. These papers include Forbes' articles on experiments on the flow of plastic bodies and analogies between lava and glacier flows, and on the plasticity of glacier ice, as well as Tyndall's observations on the physical phenomena of various Alpine glaciers, including the famous 'Mer de Glace', and a piece on the structure and motion of glaciers, co-written with Thomas Huxley. Several works by and about all three scientists (including works on Alpine travel) have also been reissued in this series.

Contents

Part I. Containing Experiments on the Flow of Plastic Bodies, and Observations on the Phenomena of Lava Streams
1. Plastic models
2. Analogy of glaciers to lava streams James D. Forbes

Part II. An Attempt to Establish by Observation the Plasticity of Glacier Ice
3. De Saussure's theory
4. Modifications of De Saussure's theory
5. Experiments at Chamouni on the plasticity of ice James D. Forbes

Part III
6. On the motion of glaciers of the second order
7. On the annual motion of glaciers, and on the influence of seasons
8. Summary of the evidence adduced in favour of the theory James D. Forbes

Part IV. On the Physical Phenomena of Glaciers
9. Observations on the Mer de Glace (1858) John Tyndall
10. On the veined structure of glaciers, with observations upon white ice-seams, air-bubbles and dirt-bands, and remarks upon glacier theories (1859) John Tyndall
11. On the structure and motion of glaciers (1857) John Tyndall and Thomas H. Huxley

Customer Reviews