The treatment of electricity is more theoretical than that used in preceding Chapters, but the subject does not lend itself readily to popular presentation; and, moreover, it is assumed that the information and training acquired in the previous work will give the pupil power to understand the more advanced thought and method.
The real value of a book depends not so much upon the information given as upon the permanent interest stimulated and the initiative aroused. The youthful mind, and indeed the average adult mind as well, is singularly non-logical and incapable of continued concentration, and loses interest under too consecutive thought and sustained style. For this reason the author has sacrificed at times detail to general effect, logical development to present-day interest and facts, and has made use of a popular, light style of writing as well as of the more formal and logical style common to books of science.
No claim is made to originality in subject matter. The actual facts, theories, and principles used are such as have been presented in previous textbooks of science, but the manner and sequence of presentation are new and, so far as I know, untried elsewhere. These are such as in my experience have aroused the greatest interest and initiative, and such as have at the same time given the maximum benefit from the informational standpoint. In no case, however, is mental training sacrificed to information; but mental development is sought through the student's willing and interested participation in the actual daily happenings of the home and the shop and the field, rather than through formal recitations and laboratory experiments.
Practical laboratory work in connection with the study of this book is provided for in my _Laboratory Manual in General Science_, which contains directions for a series of experiments designed to make the pupil familiar with the facts and theories discussed in the textbook.
I have sought and have gained help from many of the standard textbooks, new and old. The following firms have kindly placed cuts at my disposal, and have thus materially aided in the preparation of the illustrations: American Radiator Company; Commercial Museum, Philadelphia; General Electric Company; Hershey Chocolate Company; _Scientific American_; The Goulds Manufacturing Company; Victor Talking Machine Company. Acknowledgment is also due to Professor Alvin Davison for figures 19, 23, 29, 142, and 161.