WORSTER, Benjamin (1685-1726)

A compendious and methodical account of the principles of natural philosophy. As explained and illustrated in the course of experiments, performed at the academy in Little Tower-Street ... The second edition, revis'd and corrected, with large additions, by the author

London: printed for Stephen Austen, 1730.
8vo: A8 a2 B--S8, 146 leaves, pp. xviii [2] 269 [3] (p. i blank, publisher's advertisements on p. ii and the final 3 pages), woodcut headpieces and initials, woodcut diagrams in the text. Leaf size and condition: 193 x 118mm. Sig. a printed on a different paper stock and slightly foxed. Binding: Contemporary panelled calf, red sprinkled edges, red lettering piece. Neat repairs to one spine panel and the foot of the spine, minor rubbing and crack in upper joint. A nice copy. Provenance and annotation: Armorial bookplate of Ian Richard Moninns (twentieth-century). References: ESTC t137171; Wallis 721WOR22/30.
Second, enlarged edition (first 1722). No further editions were published.
§ Benjamin Worster's work is significant as an early exposition of Newtonian science in English - it must be remembered that the Principia itself was not available in English until 1729 - and is an important example of the scientific lectures of the period. Worster taught natural philosophy at Thomas Watts' 'Accomtant's office' in which he was apparently a partner. The syllabus for the course, printed as an appendix to this work, covers Newton's laws of motion, Newtonian physics and celestial mechanics, hydrostatics and pneumatics, and optics. The lectures were advertised at the end of the syllabus in the first edition (two and a half guineas for the course, reduced to one and a half guineas for those attending for a second time, gratis thereafter). In this second edition the chapter headings remain the same, but the text is considerably expanded, chiefly with additional experiments. Worster probably died in 1726 so these descriptions of experiments were perhaps intended to replace the demonstrations themselves and no lectures are advertised.

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