per print.
Foreigners were now interested in learning about English life,
philosophy, and opinion. They learned English to read English
literature such as Shakespeare. No longer were France and Italy
the only centers of culture and influence on other nations. By
1713, England was the leading sea power by far.
The Royal Society was still the principal focus of scientific
activity. Issac Newton was its President for several years and
drew in more foreigners. Its members were mathematicians,
chemists, botanists, physicians, engineers, authors, poets, and
theologians. Papers given there generated much discussion at its
meetings. Newton opined that particles attract each other by some
force in a similar way that large bodies attracted each other.
This force in immediate contact was exceedingly strong, at small
distances performed chemical interactions, and at greater
distances had no effect. Also there were local associations and
societies. There were learned journals such as "Philosophical
Transactions". In 1714, the mercury thermometer was invented by
Gabriel Fahrenheit of Germany; this was more accurate than the
alcohol and water thermometer. The hydrometer, which measures air
humidity, was also invented. These made possible weather
forecasting. In 1718 the French chemist Etienne Geoffroy published
a table of affinities among chemical substances. Carolus Linneaus,
a Swedish naturalist and botanist, established the scientific
method of naming plants and animals by genus and species.
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