The New Heat Theorem

Summary

"The New Heat Theorem" by Walther Hermann Nernst, based on the provided passages, does not present a central argument or discuss scientific concepts. Instead, the text appears to be a collection of definitions and idiomatic expressions, likely from an older lexicon or glossary. It focuses on the etymology and colloquial usage of various words and phrases, categorizing them by their initial letters.

The passages offer a glimpse into the historical evolution of language, illustrating how common phrases and their meanings have changed over time. Readers would encounter a glossary of terms related to everyday life, animals, food, and social interactions, providing insight into the linguistic landscape of a particular era. The entries are presented without context for any larger scientific theory, focusing solely on the definition and usage of individual words.

Key concepts

• Horse-play — Any rude boisterous sort of sport.
• Elbow-grease — A derisory term for sweat, used to describe labor.
• Prisme — A triangular crystal-glass or fool's paradise that reflects imaginary colors by refraction.
• Projectors — Busybodies in new inventions and discoveries, traders in impractical whims.
• Prog — Meat, with "Rum Prog" referring to nice eating.
• Proling — Hunting or searching about in quest of a wench or any game.

From the book

after it. _Bonny-clapper_, sower Butter-milk. _Booby_, a dull heavy Lob. _Booberkin_, the same. _Boon_, a Gift, Reward, or Gratification. _Boon-companion_, a merry Drinking Fellow. _Boot_, a Scotch Torture, or Rack, for the Leg, is to draw to Confession. _What Boots it?_ What Avails it? _Booty-play_, false, Cheating, also Plunder, _the Bowls Booty_, when

Sixpence. _Bordel-lo_, a Bawdy-House. _Boreson or Bauson_, a Badger. _Bottle-head_, void of Wit. _Bottom_, _a Man of no Bottom_, of no Basis of Principles, or no

Tub with the Bottom out_, a sleeveless frivolous Tale. _Boughs_, _he is up in the Boughs, or a top of the House_, of one upon

Popular questions readers ask

• The text suggests a direct lineage: "as the _Slaves_ went off, the _Beggers_ came in their Place." Explain this historical transition and its implied cause-and-effect as if you were teaching someone who knows nothing about either slavery or the dissolution of abbeys, using a simple analogy to illustrate the shift in social structures.
• The author frames the maintenance of beggars as a "Rent-charge" for the "Freedoms" gained through Christianity's role in freeing slaves. Unpack this provocative economic and moral equation: what does it reveal about the author's perceived societal cost-benefit analysis of social welfare in their time?
• The author compares the universality of Gypsies to the "Foul Disease," noting how both are widely attributed to foreign origins by various nations. Explain what this specific analogy reveals about the common human tendency to externalize blame or "other" perceived social problems.
• Considering the dictionary's stated aim to help readers "secure their Money and preserve their Lives" from the "Canting Crew," how does the lengthy historical and social context provided in the preface about the origins and universality of beggars and gypsies shape the reader's likely perception of the dictionary's content and its subjects?
• If the author's premise is true—that freeing slaves inherently led to the creation of beggars—what are the broader implications for understanding social progress, and how might this perspective challenge modern notions of liberation or societal responsibility for the vulnerable?