[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge],
Title
[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge],
Creator
Date
Identifier
GFF 2/12
Description
Handwritten letter from Sir Oliver Lodge, 17 Parkhurst Road, Liverpool, to George F. Fitzgerald, dated 9 November 1879. Lodge expresses his gratitude for Fitzgerald's comments on his book. He mentions a negative review he received and notes his sadness at the passing of James Clerk Maxwell. 2pp.
Transcription:
"My dear Fitzgerald,
I am very much obliged to you for your kind criticisms on my little book. I like having the defects pointed out because then they can be corrected in a future edition. What you say about fig 49 and the pump values is quite true. I would have been better to draw the valve with that only I feared it would not be too clear. The siphon explanation is also I perceive a little hazy though it is the one I usually give to a junior class. I shall think it out more carefully in future. As to compounding ref. with acc. I am not prepared to acknowledge the incorrectness of this at the moment. But I will keep myself open on this point. It had never struck me as [questionable?] before. I am very glad that you and Mr Stoney like the book on the whole. I took a good deal of trouble with it. The review in Nature last week cut it up rather viciously but his criticisms are not fair nor true ones at all. They are mostly nonsense. How frightfully sad it is about Maxwell. It feels like a personal loss. Utterly irreparable.
Yours very truly,
Oliver Lodge"
Transcription:
"My dear Fitzgerald,
I am very much obliged to you for your kind criticisms on my little book. I like having the defects pointed out because then they can be corrected in a future edition. What you say about fig 49 and the pump values is quite true. I would have been better to draw the valve with that only I feared it would not be too clear. The siphon explanation is also I perceive a little hazy though it is the one I usually give to a junior class. I shall think it out more carefully in future. As to compounding ref. with acc. I am not prepared to acknowledge the incorrectness of this at the moment. But I will keep myself open on this point. It had never struck me as [questionable?] before. I am very glad that you and Mr Stoney like the book on the whole. I took a good deal of trouble with it. The review in Nature last week cut it up rather viciously but his criticisms are not fair nor true ones at all. They are mostly nonsense. How frightfully sad it is about Maxwell. It feels like a personal loss. Utterly irreparable.
Yours very truly,
Oliver Lodge"
Source
RDS Library & Archives GFF collection of letters
Rights
Copyright RDS Library & Archives. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the RDS Library & Archives.
Relation
RDS Science Archive
Format
Manuscript
Language
English
Type
Coverage
1870-1901
Collection
Citation
Lodge, Oliver, Sir, 1851-1940, “[Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Sir Oliver Lodge],,” RDS Digital Archive, accessed July 10, 2025, https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/items/show/1274.