Excerpt from Gravitation: An Elementary Explanation of the Principal Perturbations in the Solar System In laying this work before the public, I think it right to state the object for which it was originally composed, and the circumstances which have in some degree changed its destination. The treatise was originally designed for a class of readers who might be supposed to possess a moderate acquaintance with the phaenomena and the terms of astronomy; geometrical notions sufficient to enable them to understand simple inferences from diagrams; two or three terms of algebra as applied to numbers; but none of that elevated science which has always been used in the investigation of these subjects, and without which scarcely an attempt has been made to explain them. I proposed to myself, therefore, this general design: to explain the perturbations of the solar system, as far as I was able, without introducing an algebraic symbol. It will readily be believed that, after thus denying myself the use of the most powerful engine of mathematics, I did not expect to proceed very far. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."