physics - 36 titles

Author:  Archimedes (ca. 285 BCE-212/211 BCE)
Title/Imprint: Opera, quae quidem extant, omnia
[8], 139, [1] (blank), [4], 65, [3] (all blank), [8], 163, [1] (blank), 68, [4] p. diagrs. 33 cm.; I. Heruagius: Basel , 1544

Archimedes is generally considered to be one of the great minds of ancient times with his important contributions to mathematics, hydraulics, and mechanics. This book is the first appearance in print of Archimedes's works in the original Greek.
Full title: Opera, quae quidem extant, omnia, multis iam seculis desiderata, atq. à quàm paucissimis hactenus uisa, nuncq. primùm & graecè & latinè in lucem edita ... Adiecta quor. sunt Eutocci Ascalonitae in eosdem Archimedis libros Commentaria, item graecè & latinè, nunquam antea excusa ...
Eutocius' Commentariea has a special title page.
Edited by Thomas Venatorius.
Provenance: Jacque Auguste de Thou (engraved plate bound in as frontispiece). There is also an armorial binding bearing de Thou arms.

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Author:  Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham) (ca. 965-ca. 1040)
Title/Imprint: Opticæ thesavrvs. Alhazeni Arabis libri septem, nuncprimùm editi.
[6], 288, [8], 474, [2] p. : ill., diagrs. ; 34 cm.; Episcopios: Basel , 1572

This work is the most important produced by this Egyptian mathematician and astronomer. His work on optics preserved much of the ideas of the Greeks, but added some of his own original ideas, including a complete working of the laws of reflection. The second section of this book contains the work on optics by the 13th-century Polish scientist, Vitelo.
Full title: Opticæ thesavrvs. Alhazeni Arabis libri septem, nuncprimùm editi. Eivsdem liber De crepvscvlis & nubium ascensionibus. Item Vitellonis Thvringopoloni libri x. Omnes instaurati, figuris illustrati & aucti, adiectis etiam in Alhazenum commentarijs, à Federico Risnero.

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Author:  Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576)
Title/Imprint: De subtilitate libri XXI
[36], 371, [1] p. : ill. ; 32 cm. (fol.); Ioh. Petreum: Nuremburg , 1550

Cardano was one of the great scholars of the 16th century, working in a wide variety of fields from medicine to mathematics to astrology. This work, a collection of various physical experiments and inventions, helped boost his popular notoriety.
Full title: Hieronymi Cardani medici mediolanensis De subtilitate libri XXI.
Signatures: A-D4 [E]2 a-2y4 2z6.

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Author:  Simon Stevin (1548-1620)
Title/Imprint: De beghinselen der weeghconst
3 pts. in 1 v. : ill. ; 22 cm. (4to); Christoffel Plantijn: Leiden , 1586

Stevin provided a great boost to the study of statics with this work. In it he moves statics away from just the study of the lever by describing how to work with forces and how to resolve a single force into two components. He also made some significant inroads into the understanding of hydrostatics. This work is actually a collection of three separate tracts.
Our copy has marginal notes in Latin.
Signatures: aA-cC4 dD6 A-M4 a-e4 f2 Aa- Ii4. Leaf dD4 is blank. Simon Stevins Uytspraeck vande weerdicheyt der duytsche tael: p. 9-[34] (1st series)
Each part of the volume has a separate title page; that to pt. 2 reads De Weeghdaet; that to pt. 3, De beghinselen eles waterwichts. Our copy has the bookplate: Ex officina Plantiniana, Balthasaris Moreti, 1599; another unidentified bookplate bearing Plantin's device is pasted to the verso of the front free endpaper.

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Author:  Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Title/Imprint: Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno à due nuoue scienze, attenenti alla mecanica & i movimenti locali
306 (i.e. 314), [6] p. illus. 20 cm.; Elsevirii: Leiden , 1638

Near the end of his life, Galileo returned to some of his earlier studies on motion and mechanics. The result was this classic work which is famous for its development of ideas on the strength of materials and the law of falling bodies. It was published in the Netherlands because of the Inquisition's ban on Galileo's works.
Numerous errors in paging.
Signatures: *4 A-Rr4.

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Author:  Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Title/Imprint: New experiments physico-mechanical, touching the air : whereunto is added a defence of the authors explication of the experiments against obiections of Franciscus Linus and Thomas Hobbes.
3 pts. in 1 v., [2] leaves of plates : ill. ; 21 cm.; Oxford; London , 1662

Boyle and his colleague Robert Hooke maded major improvements in the vacuum air pump and used it in several scientific experiments. This work, which came out two years after Boyle's intial report of his research, describes what is now known as "Boyle's Law," that is, the pressure of a gas varies inversely to a change in its volume at a constant temperature, and vice-versa.
The Herald of Science is actually composed of three parts bound together in one volume: New experiments physico-mechanical, touching the spring of the air ... / by the Honorable Robert Boyle. Oxford : Printed by H.Hall ... for Tho. Robinson, 1662 -- A defence of the doctrine touching the spring and weight of the air ... against the objections of Franciscus Linus. London : Printed by J.G. for Thomas Robinson, 1662 -- An examen of Mr. T. Hobbes ... London : Printed by J.G. for Thomas Robinson, 1662.
The main title is taken from the general half-title (with the ed. statement transposed); there are separate title pages and pagination for each of the three works.
Provenance: Peter Nouaille, Greatness (armorial bookplate)

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Author:  Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Title/Imprint: New experiments physico-mechanical, touching the air : whereunto is added a defence of the authors explication of the experiments against obiections of Franciscus Linus and Thomas Hobbes.
3 pts. in 1 v., [2] leaves of plates : ill. ; 21 cm.; Oxford; London , 1662

Boyle and his colleague Robert Hooke maded major improvements in the vacuum air pump and used it in several scientific experiments. This work, which came out two years after Boyle's intial report of his research, describes what is now known as "Boyle's Law," that is, the pressure of a gas varies inversely to a change in its volume at a constant temperature, and vice-versa.
The Herald of Science is actually composed of three parts bound together in one volume: New experiments physico-mechanical, touching the spring of the air ... / by the Honorable Robert Boyle. Oxford : Printed by H.Hall ... for Tho. Robinson, 1662 -- A defence of the doctrine touching the spring and weight of the air ... against the objections of Franciscus Linus. London : Printed by J.G. for Thomas Robinson, 1662 -- An examen of Mr. T. Hobbes ... London : Printed by J.G. for Thomas Robinson, 1662.
The main title is taken from the general half-title (with the ed. statement transposed); there are separate title pages and pagination for each of the three works.
Provenance: Peter Nouaille, Greatness (armorial bookplate)

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Author:  Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Title/Imprint: Traitez de l'eqvilibre des liqvevrs, et de la pesantevr de la masse de l'air
14 p. l., 232, [7] p. 2 fold. pl. 15 x 9 cm.; G. Desprez: Paris , 1663

This work, published posthumously, was done during a period of intense scientific activity by Pascal. Here he describes his studies on the equilibrium of liquids and the weight of the air. This was the first discussion of the relationship of barometric change to weather.
Full title: Traitez de l'eqvilibre des liqvevrs, et de la pesantevr de la masse de l'air. / Contenant l'explication des causes de divers effets de la nature qui n'avoient point esté bien connus jusques ici, & particulieremẽt de ceux quel'on avoit attribuez à l'horreur du vuide.
Signatures: ã122 A-K12.

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Author:  Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Title/Imprint: Philosophical transactions, giving some accompt of the present undertakings, studies, and labours of the ingenious, in many considerable parts of the world
p. 3075-3087 : ill. ; 23 cm.; London , 1672

This is Isaac Newton's first scientific publication in which he discusses his experiments on breaking up white light into a spectrum of colors. However, criticism of the paper by Robert Hooke devastated Newton and he withdrew into virtual scientific isolation for three years.
Our copy has a few pencil markings in the margin of p. 3079. It has a modern brown buckram library binding with gilt-lettered spine.

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Author:  Otto von Guericke (1602-1686)
Title/Imprint: Experimenta nova (ut vocantur) magdeburgica de vacuo spatio primùm
8 p. l., 244, [4] p., 1 l. illus., 2 double pl., port., diagrs. 33 cm; J. Janssonium à Waesberge: Amsterdam , 1672

This work (which appears twice in this list) describes Guericke's famous 1654 experiment of the "Spheres of Magdedburg." In this experiment he demonstrated how two teams of horses could not pull apart two copper hemispheres that had the air evacuated from their interior and were only held together by air pressure. Also included in the Electricity & Magnetism Section (no. 55], this work is also important because of its description of the first electric rotary generator. Guericke invented this device that produced static electricity by generating friction against a moving ball of sulfur. This copy was once owned by the noted book collector, Herbert McLean Evans.
Signatures: *-**4, A-Hh4. Signature F2 is eroneously signed Ff2.
A single leaf of errata follows the text.

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Author:  Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695)
Title/Imprint: Horologivm oscillatorivm : sive, De motv pendvlorvm ad horologia aptato demonstrationes geometricæ
161 p. : ill., diagrs. ; 33 cm.; F. Muguet: Paris , 1673

In this work Huygens finally explains, using his knowledge of mathematics and dynamics of bodies in motion, how the pendulum can be used to regulate the workings of a clock.

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Author:  Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727)
Title/Imprint: Philosophiæ naturalis principia mathematica
4 p. l., 383, 400-510 p., 1 l. fold. plates, diagrs. 26 cm.; Joseph Streater: London , 1687

In addition to this work's description of Newton's law of gravity (explained in the Astronomy section), this book laid the foundations of Newton's physics with his famous three laws of motion. He was able to convincingly establish the relationship of mass, force, and direction of motion.
Our copy is of the First edition and first issue, as described in item number 10 of the Babson Collection's descriptive catalogue.
Collation: A-Zz4, ***4, Aaa-Ooo4(-Ooo4blank). There is 1 leaf of errata; H2 is signed G2 and Ll2 is signed Kk2. P4 is a cancel. The second and third books were apparently printed by different printers as indicated by the different type in the headings and the break in paging between the two books.

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Author:  Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695)
Title/Imprint: Traité de la lvmière : où sont expliquées les causes de ce qui luy arrive dans la réflexion & dans la réfraction
180 p. : diagrs. ; 20 cm.; P. vander Aa: Leiden , 1690

This is the first publication of Huygens's theory of the properties of light. As opposed to the corpuscular theory of light adhered to by Newton's followers, Huygens developed a coherent wave theory of light that beautifully explained the laws of relection and refraction as well as double refraction and the polarization of light.
Full title: Traité de la lvmière : où sont expliquées les causes de ce qui luy arrive dans la réflexion & dans la réfraction, et particulièrement dans l'étrange réfraction dv cristal d'Islande / / par Monsieur Christian Huygens, seigneur de Zeelhem ; avec un discours de la cause de la pesantevr.
There is a separate title page for the Discovrs de la cavse de la pesantevr.
There are two states of the title leaves for this first edition, the other bearing only the author's initials "C. H. D. Z." The Dibner Library also has a copy of this version.
Provenance: Our copy is Prof. James Dewar's (autograph) presentation copy to John Tyndall (shelf mark).

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Author:  Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
Title/Imprint: Lectiones Cutlerianæ : or, A collection of lectures, physical, mechanical, geographical & astronomical, made before the Royal Society
6 pts. in 1 v., 17 leaves (some fold.) of plates : ill., diagrs., map ; 23 cm.; J. Martyn: London , 1679

Hooke's work with Robert Boyle led him to become appointed the curator of experiments for the Royal Society of London. With the death of the Society's first secretary, Henry Oldenburg, Hooke took over these duties and published this famous set of six tracts on subjects in astrornomy, physics, and mechanics.
Each part has a separate title page and pagination, dated 1674-1678.
Contents: An attempt to prove the annual motion of the earth. -- Animadversions on the Machina coelestis of Mr. Hevelius. -- A description of helioscopes. -- Lampas. -- Cometa -- Microscopium. -- Lectures de potentia restitutivâ.
Our copy has the armorial binding of Baron Grenville, Chancellor of Oxford.
Our copy is imperfect in that it lacks part (tab. 3) of the 2nd folding leaf in the tract on helioscopes (cf. p. 31); it also lacks various blank leaves.

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Author:  Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Title/Imprint: Opticks: or, A treatise of the reflections, refractions, inflexions and colours of light : also two treatises of the species and magnitude of curvilinear figures
[4], 144, 137, [3], 139-211, [1] p., [18] folded leaves of plates : ill. ; 25 cm. (4to); Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford: London , 1704

After his first publication in optics (see Herald 144), Newton continued to study optics, and finally in 1704 he published this collection of his studies. In this book he discusses many phenomena including the colors that make up white light, the phenomena now called "Newton's Rings," and an explanation of double refraction to try and give him priority over Huygens's explanation.
Signatures: pi2 A-S4 2A-2B4 2D-2S4 2T4 (2T1+chi1;± 2T2) 2U-3D4. Page 120, second section, misnumbered 112. Half title leaf for Enumeration linearum tertii ordinis numbered 138 at head of recto. Errata: p. [212].
The title page is in red and black within a double rule frame border.
Written in ink on the front free endpaper of our copy: G.W. Hemming 4th June 1836.

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Author:  Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647)
Title/Imprint: Lezioni accademiche
XLIX, [1], 96 p. [1] leaf of plates : ill., port. ; 26 cm. (4to); Jacopo Guiducci, e Santi Franchi: Florence , 1715

Inspired by Galileo, Torricelli began studying air pressure and began pursuing experiments that led to his invention of the barometer in 1643. Unfortunately, his untimely death in 1647 led to many of his works remaining unpublished. This book marks the first appearance of most of Torricelli's works in print, 68 years after his death.
There is a preface with the life of the author by Tommaso Bonaventura.
Contents: I. Ringraziamento agli accademici della Crusca quando da essi fu ammesso nella loro accademia -- II-IV. Della forza della percossa -- V-VI. Della leggerezza -- VII. Del vento -- VIII. Della fama -- IX. In lode delle mattematiche X-XI. Dell'architettura militare -- XII. Encomio del secol d'oro.
Stamped on the front free endpapers or our copy: Mario Cermenati. There is also a bookseller's label: Il Polifilo, Milano.

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Author:  Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756-1827)
Title/Imprint: Entdeckungen über die Theorie des Klanges
[4], 77, [1] p., XI leaves of plates : ill. ; 22 cm. (4to); Weidmanns Erben und Reich: Leipzig , 1787

Chladni, called the "Father of Acoustics," was a lawyer-turned-musician who developed a way to show how surfaces vibrate by placing sand upon a disk, clamping the disk at the center, and drawing a bow across the edge. This book used his illustrations of the resulting patterns to show the complex nature of acoustics and is considered the founding work of this new science.
Signatures: pi2 A-I4 K2 L1.
There is a library stamp on the title page of our copy: Bibliothek der von Portheim-Stiftung.

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Author:  Benjamin, Graf von Rumford (1753-1814)
Title/Imprint: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
p. 80-102, [1] folded leaf of plates : ill. ; 29 cm.; London , 1798

This article laid the foundation for the measurement of heat and its equivalence to mechanical energy. Rumford, born in America, exiled to Britain, and employed in Bavaria, observed the heating of water in which cannon barrels were being bored out. His realization that the amount of heat produced only depended on the friction of the machines destroyed the old concept of "caloric" to explain heat.
Our copy has extensive ms. annotations in the margins. It is included in the full volume of the Philosophical transactions which has the bookplate: Scientific Library, United States Patent Office. Our copy has a later brown cloth binding with a gilt lettered spine.

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Author:  Thomas Young (1773-1829)
Title/Imprint: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
p. 12-48, [1] folded leaf of plates : ill. ; 28 cm.; London , 1802

Young was a physician by trade who became interested in, among other things, the nature of light and color. In this famous article, he discusses his experiments on light and how two light beams can constructively and destructively interfere with each other. This work put the wave theory of light on a solid experimental ground. This article is the text of the Bakerian Lecture for 1801.
Our copy is part of the complete volume of the Philosophical transactions which has the bookplate: Scientific Library, United States Patent Office. Our copy has a later brown cloth binding with gilt-lettered spine, faux marbled endpapers, and brown sprinkled edges.

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Author:  Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826)
Title/Imprint: Bestimmung des Brechungs-und Farbenzerstreuungs-Vermögens verschiedener Glasarten in Bezug auf die Vervollkommnung achromatischer Fernröhre
[8], 193-226 p., III leaves of plates (2 folded) : ill. ; 27 cm. (4to); Munich , 1817

Fraunhofer was an optician who became interested in the spectra of the light of various flames. In this critical work, he describes his observations of the dark lines that appeared in the spectrum of sunlight. This discovery (found independently by William Wollaston in 1802) led to the science of solar and stellar spectroscopy. The article appeared in the journal Denckschriften der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München für die Jahre 1814 und 1815, of which it formed chapter 8
Signatures: pi4 25-284 291.

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Author:  Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron Fourier (1768-1830)
Title/Imprint: Théorie analytique de la chaleur
[4], xxij, 639, [1] p., II folded leaves of plates : ill. ; 26 cm. (4to); Firmin Didot: Paris , 1822

This important work is an excellent example of the application of mathematical analysis to physical problems. Using a special type of infintie series, now known as a Fourier series, Fourier showed how to use it to analyze and determine the conduction of heat in solid bodies.

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Author:  Sadi Carnot (1796-1832)
Title/Imprint: Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu et sur les machines propres a développer cette puissance (Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire and on the Best Machines to Produce This Power)
[4], 118 p., [1] folded leaf of plates : ill. ; 22 cm. (8vo); Bachelier: Paris , 1824

Carnot was an engineer who, upon retiring from the military, began studying the principles of the steam engine. Resolved to improve on the efficieny of these engines, he published this work that discussed the general procecss of steam engines and not the mechanical details. The process he described became known as the Carnot cycle and although few copies were published, his work became an important contribution to the understanding of thermodynamic theory.
Signatures: pi2 1-78 84(-84).
Our copy has a trimmed plate, no longer folded.

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Author:  Robert Brown (1773-1858)
Title/Imprint: A brief account of microscopical observations : made in the months of June, July, and August, 1827, on the particles contained in the pollen of plants and on the general existence of active molecules in organic and inorganic bodies
16 p. ; 21 cm.; Richard Taylor: London , 1828

Brown, a respected botanist, wrote this small pamphlet and had a few copies privately printed for distribution to his colleagues. It describes his observations of small parrticles in the fluid within pollen grains. Finding this motion in both living and dead pollen, he believed it to be an inherent property of matter. This Brownian Motion was studied by many who tried to explain it over the following years, and in 1905 Einstein provided a satisfactory explanation, noting that it was caused by the motion of molecules bombarding the visible particles on all sides.
Date, July 30, 1828, taken from p. 16.
The printing information: [London] : Printed by Richard Taylor, can be found on the verso of the title page.

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Author:  Julius Robert von Mayer (1814-1878)
Title/Imprint: Bemerkungen über das mechanische Aequivalent der Wärme (Remarks on the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat)
56 p. ; 22 cm.; Johann Ulrich Landherr: Heilbronn , 1851

Classic work by the German physicist Mayer, who studied the mechanical equivalent of heat and described the law of conservation of energy. James Joule dismissed Mayer's work, disturbing Mayer so much that he attempted suicide. In the 1860s, John Tyndall realized the value of Mayer's work and rehabilitated his standing in the physics community. The Dibner Library's copy was formerly owned by Tyndall.
Our copy is bound into a volume of five separate tracts: Mayer, Die organische Bewegung in ihrem Zusammenhange mit dem Stoffwechsel : ein Beitrag zur Naturkunde (Heilbronn : Verlag der C. Drechsler'schen Buchhandlung, 1845) -- Mayer, Bemerkungen über das mechanische Aequivalent der Wärme (this copy) -- Hermann von Helmholtz, Ueber die Wechselwirkung der Naturkräfte und die darauf bezüglichen neuesten Ermittelungen der Physik (Königsberg : Verlag von Gräfe & Unzer, 1854) -- Mayer, Beiträge zur Dynamik des Himmels : in populärer Darstellung (Heilbronn : Verlag von Johann Ulrich Landherr, 1848) -- Emile Verdet, Exposé de la théorie mécanique de la chaleur (Paris : Imprimerie de Ch. Lahure et Cie. ..., 1862).
Inscribed at the head of the title: H. Debus, 1862.

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Author:  James Prescott Joule (1818-1889)
Title/Imprint: London, Edinburgh, and Dublin philosophical magazine and journal of science
p. 263-276, 347-355, 435-443 : ill. ; 23 cm.; , 1843

Already well known through his establishment of "Joule's Law," Joule described his study of the measurement of the mechanical equivalent of heat, in that it required 772 foot-pounds of work to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. Lord Kelvin recognized the importance of Joule's work and worked with him to develop the theories of thermodynamics.
Our copy is in three different sections, all included in the full volume of Philosophical magazine, 3rd ser., v. 23, Oct.-Dec. 1843.
Contents: Pt. 1. On the calorific effects of magneto-electricity -- Pt. 2. On the mechanical value of heat
Our copy has the bookplate: Scientific Library, United States Patent Office; with U.S.P.O. perforated stamp on t.p., with accession no.: 18168. There are some pencil markings in an unknown hand in the margins. The volume has a later brown buckram library binding with a gilt-lettered spine and marbled edges.

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Author:  Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)
Title/Imprint: Über die Erhaltung der Kraft (On the Conservation of Energy)
[4], 72 p. ; 22 cm.; G. Reimer: Berlin , 1847

One of the great thinkers of the 19th century, Helmholtz produced this groundbreaking work based on his study of the energy producecd in organic bodies. Helmholtz reasoned that all heat was related to forces and that these forcees could not be destroyed, an early form of the law of conservation of energy.

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Author:  William, Sir Crookes (1832-1919)
Title/Imprint: The mechanical action of light
31, [1] p. : ill. ; 22 cm.; London , 1876

Crookes performed a number of important experiments with high-vacuum tubes which opened up interesting areas of research on radiation. In this paper, originally printed in the Quarterly Journal of Science for July, 1875, he noted how cathode rays travel in straight lines and produce phosphorescence and heat when they strike certain materials. The rays were also influenced by a magnet, thus proving their electrtical nature.
Our copy has a printed yellow paper cover.
The author's presentation inscription to Professor Harcourt is on p. [1] of the cover of our copy. The author's 2-page note to Harcourt dated Feby 13, 1882 is laid in.

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Author:  Albert Abraham Michelson (1852-1931)
Title/Imprint: On the relative motion of the earth and the luminiferous aether
p. [449]-463 : ill. ; 23 cm.; Taylor & Francis: London , 1887

This article discusses the famous experiment by Michelson and Morley designed to see if there really was an "aether," the basic substance that filled the universe and allowed light waves to propagate across space. At the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, they perfected the experiment tried earlier in Berlin by Michelson and obtained the famous negative effect, proving that there was no aether. The result forced scientists to look for other standards of reference and led to Einstein's proposal that the speed of light is a constant.
Our copy is extracted from: The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 5th ser., vol.24, no.151.

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Author:  Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen (1845-1923)
Title/Imprint: Ueber eine neue Art von Strahlen : (Vorläufige Mittheilung)
10 p. ; 23 cm.; Stahel'schen k. Hof-u. Univers.-Buch-u. Kunsthandlung: Würzburg , 1895

First of two articles in which Röntgen reported on a new form of radiation that was able to fog covered photographic plates kept near a cathode-ray tube in his laboratory. He also noted that this radiation was able to penetrate normally opaque substances such as wood or aluminum. This radiation became known as Röntgen rays and are now known more commonly as X-rays.
Our copy is extracted from the Sitzungsberichten der Würzburger Physik.-medic. Gesellschaft.
Our copy is inscribed by the author on p. [1].

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Author:  Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen (1845-1923)
Title/Imprint: Eine neue Art von Strahlen. II, Mittheilung
9, [3] p. ; 23 cm.; Stahel'schen k. Hof-u. Univers.-Buch-u. Kunsthandlung: Würzburg , 1896

This is the second paper of the series of articles on the X-rays. The two papers by Röntgen together make up Herald of Science 162.
Our copy is extracted from the Sitzungsberichten der Würzburger physikal.-medic. Gesellschaft' Jahrgang, 1895. It is in its original paper covers.

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Author:  Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908)
Title/Imprint: Recherches sur une propriété nouvelle de la matière : activité radiante spontanée ou radioactivité de la matière
[4], 360, [4] p., XIII leaves of plates : ill. ; 29 cm.; Firmin-Didot et cie: Paris , 1903

This work is an early collection of studies on radioactivity by Becquerel, whose father and grandfather were also noted scientists. In 1896 Becquerel discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity with his work on uranium.
Our copy is from the Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences de l'Instutut de France, t.46. It has its original printed blue paper cover.
Errata: p. [361]; note relative aux planches: p. [363].

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Author:  Marie Curie (1867-1934)
Title/Imprint: Recherches sur les substances radioactives
141, [3] p. : ill. ; 24 cm.; Gauthier-Villars: Paris , 1903

Shortly after Becquerel discovered radioactivity, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre began looking for other substabces that might display this effect. Their work led to the discovery of polonium and radium and Marie managed to produce radium in a pure metallic state. This work (our copy is inscribed by Marie Curie) describing their research came out the same year that the Curies and Becquerel won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Our copy is extracted from the Annales de chimie et de physique, Sept-Nov, 1903. It has the original printed yellow paper cover with the misprint "Klodowska" on p. [1].
Our copy has written in ink on p. [1] of cover: Hommage de l'aut[eur]; the "Klodowska" misprint has been corrected in ink.
Stamped on p. [1] of the cover of our copy: Richard S. Curtiss.

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Author:  J.J. (Joseph John) Thomson (1856-1940)
Title/Imprint: Conduction of electricity through gases
vi, [2], 566 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge , 1903

This book is the summary of Thomson's work that led to his discovery of the electron in 1897. This far-reaching discovery led to Thomson's receiving the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906.
"Contains the subject-matter of lectures given at the Cavendish-Laboratory" -- from the Preface, p. [v].
Our copy has inscribed on the front free endpaper: Herbert Jackson ... from N. Northall-Laurie, Xmas 1903.

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Author:  Max Planck (1858-1947)
Title/Imprint: Zur Theorie des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum
p. 237-245 : ill. ; 23 cm.; J.A. Barth: Leipzig , 1900

This article marks a major turning-point in the development of physics as it described Planck's concept of the quanta, an idea that would lead to the quantum theory of physics. Planck's theory indicated that energy could only be emitted in discrete (albeit very small) packets called quanta. Even though this idea was totally against the past thermodynamic laws of physics, it was eventually accepted and Planck won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918. Our copy was formerly owned by the noted collector Herbert McLean Evans and is accompanied by Planck's letter of transmittal to Evans.
Our copy is included in a set of pages extracted from the Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft. Following the article by Planck are: "Eine Bemerkung zur Wirkung der Sprengel'schen Quecksilberluftpumpe / von H. Boas ; (Vorgetragen in der Sitzung vom 16. November 1900), p. 246-252; and "Mitgliederliste der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft": p. 253-260.

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Author:  Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Title/Imprint: Annalen der Physik
p. 891-921 ; 22 cm.; , 1905

This paper by Einstein was the first to introduce his theory of relativity. "On the electrodynamics of moving bodies" discussed the special theory of relativity which said that, for all frames of reference, the speed of light is a constant and that time and motion are all relative to the observer.
Our copy is contained in a volume with burgundy buckram library binding with a white-lettered spine and marbled edges; the original printed paper front cover is bound in at the end of the volume.

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Author:  Otto Hahn (1879-1968)
Title/Imprint: Über das Zerplatzen des Urankernes durch langsame Neutronen
20 p. : ill. ; 31 cm.; Walter de Gruyter und Co.: Berlin , 1939

Hahn and Strassman published this article that started scientists down the path to the atomic bomb. Originally working with Lise Meitner who was forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1938, they had been working with uranium and bombarding samples with slow neutrons. They realized that this caused the uranium atoms to split into lighter nuclei and releasing large amounts of energy, and the implications were not lost to a world at war.
Our copy is extracted from the Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Jahrgang 1939. Math.-naturw. Klasse, Nr. 12.
Colophon: Berlin : Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei.
Our copy is contained in a box with the following other articles: "Einiges über die experimentelle Entwirrung der bei der Spaltung des Urans auftretenden Elemente un Atomarten / nach Versuchen von Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann und Hans Götte". Berlin : Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften ..., 1942 -- "Die chemische Abscheidung der bei der Spaltung des Urans entstehenden Elemente und Atomarten (Allgemeiner Teil) / von Otto Hahn und Fritz Strassmann". Berlin : Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften ..., 1944.

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