"Great progress has been made in electrical science, chiefly in Germany, by cultivators of the theory of action at a distance. The valuable electrical measurements of W. Weber are interpreted by him according to this theory, and the electromagnetic speculation which was originated by Gauss, and carried on by Weber, Riemann, F. and C. Neumann, Lorenz, etc., is founded on the theory of action at a distance, but depending either directly on the relative velocity of the particles, or on the gradual propagation of something, whether potential or force, from the one particle to the other. The great...

This volume is a substantially complete presentation of the electrodynamics developed by Wilhelm Weber. Weber's force between point charges is explored and thoroughly analysed. Ampere's force between current elements is discussed in connection with modern experiments relating to the Ampere versus Grassmann--Biot--Savart controversy. Ampere's force is a central feature of this work, as Maxwell maintained it should always be in the study of electrodynamics, although it is included in few textbooks on electromagnetism. A detailed study of this force is an outstanding feature of this book. Other...