This text celebrates, in four volumes, the bicentenary of the "Philosophical Magazine" and chronicles the history of scientific development as chonicled in its pages.  Each volume previews a 50 year period and contains not only classical works but also papers of an amusing controversial nature.  Commentaries preceding each part set the papers in the context of the time: Volume One 1798-1850 reproduces, in their orignal form, many celebrated papers of Davy, Faraday and Joule, as well as many papers on the nature of light and matter.  Forewards by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Nevill Mott and Professor John Meurig Thomas, in addition to a preface and introduction, trace the development of the "Philosophical Magazine" and provide an overview of scientific thought and achievements during the first half of the 19th century.