The Project Gutenberg EBook of General Science, by Bertha M. Clark

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Title: General Science

Author: Bertha M. Clark

Release Date: August 25, 2005 [EBook #16593]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GENERAL SCIENCE ***

Produced by John Hagerson, Kevin Handy, Sankar Viswanathan
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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GENERAL SCIENCE

BY

BERTHA M. CLARK, PH.D.

HEAD OF THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

WILLIAM PENN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, PHILADELPHIA

NEW YORK - CINCINNATI - CHICAGO

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

1912

PREFACE

This book is not intended to prepare for college entrance
examinations; it will not, in fact, prepare for any of the present-day
stock examinations in physics, chemistry, or hygiene, but it should
prepare the thoughtful reader to meet wisely and actively some of
life's important problems, and should enable him to pass muster on the
principles and theories underlying scientific, and therefore economic,
management, whether in the shop or in the home.

We hear a great deal about the conservation of our natural resources,
such as forests and waterways; it is hoped that this book will show
the vital importance of the conservation of human strength and health,
and the irreparable loss to society of energy uselessly dissipated,
either in idle worry or in aimless activity. Most of us would reproach
ourselves for lack of shrewdness if we spent for any article more than
it was worth, yet few of us consider that we daily expend on domestic
and business tasks an amount of energy far in excess of that actually
required. The farmer who flails his grain instead of threshing it
wastes time and energy; the housewife who washes with her hands alone
and does not aid herself by the use of washing machine and proper
bleaching agents dissipates energy sadly needed for other duties.

The Chapter on machines is intended not only as a sti