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Page 1 of 2

The Common Sense of the Exact Sciences
  • William Kingdon Clifford
  • Prepared for publication by Karl Pearson
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
    First published in:
    1885
  • A student of Trinity College and a member of the Cambridge Apostles, William Kingdon Clifford (1845–79) graduated as second wrangler in the mathematical tripos, became a professor of applied mathematics at University College London in 1871, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1874. The present work was begun by Clifford during a remarkably productive period of ill health, yet it remained unfinished at his death. The statistician and philosopher of science Karl Pearson (1857–1936) was invited to edit and complete the work, finally publishing it in 1885. It tackles five of the most fundamental areas of mathematics - number, space, quantity, position and motion - explaining each one in the most basic terms, as well as deriving several original results. Also demonstrating the rationale behind these five concepts, the book particularly pleased a later Cambridge mathematician, Bertrand Russell, who read it as a teenager.

Lectures and Essays
  • Volume 2
  • William Kingdon Clifford
  • Edited by Leslie Stephen, Frederick Pollock
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1879
  • A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and of the Royal Society, William Clifford (1845–79) made his reputation in applied mathematics, but his interests ranged far more widely, encompassing ethics, evolution, metaphysics and philosophy of mind. This posthumously collected two-volume work, first published in 1879, bears witness to the dexterity and eclecticism of this Victorian thinker, whose commitment to the most abstract principles of mathematics and the most concrete details of human experience resulted in vivid and often unexpected arguments. Volume 2 shows Clifford's thorough engagement with scientific thought as a method for illuminating ethical and moral questions. Essays such as 'Body and Mind', 'On the Scientific Basis of Morals' and 'The Ethics of Belief' all variously demonstrate Clifford's core tenet: that beliefs - whether they guide human action or scientific enquiry - 'can never suffer from investigation'.

Lectures and Essays
  • Volume 1
  • William Kingdon Clifford
  • Edited by Leslie Stephen, Frederick Pollock
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1879
  • A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and of the Royal Society, William Clifford (1845–79) made his reputation in applied mathematics, but his interests ranged far more widely, encompassing ethics, evolution, metaphysics and philosophy of mind. This posthumously collected two-volume work, first published in 1879, bears witness to the dexterity and eclecticism of this Victorian thinker, whose commitment to the most abstract principles of mathematics and the most concrete details of human experience resulted in vivid and often unexpected arguments. Volume 1 includes a detailed biographical introduction by Clifford's colleague, Frederick Pollock, who situates his close friend's interests in Darwin and Spinoza within a larger, life-long devotion to the principles of scientific enquiry and experiment. This volume also features two important essays, 'On Some of the Conditions of Mental Development', his first public lecture delivered at the Royal Institute in London, and 'The Philosophy of the Pure Sciences'.

Page 1 of 2