Argon, A New Constituent of the Atmosphere

City of Washington: Published by the Smithsonian Institution, 1896. First Printing. Original Cloth. Fine. First separate appearance of this scientific paper reporting discovery of the first inert gas, for which Rayleigh and Ramsay were awarded the Nobel prize. Royal 8vo (322 x 242mm): [4],43,[1]pp, with tables and five text woodcut illustrations. Original forest green publisher's cloth, covers framed in blind, upper cover lettered in gilt, yellow coated end papers. Publisher catalog slip laid-in. Wanting the plain-paper dust jacket. A Fine, bright copy, pristine inside and out. Dibner 50 (for original periodical appearance). Originally published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, in 1895. Both Rayleigh and Ramsay claimed priority for the discovery of argon; they eventually agreed to submit a jointly authored paper. Both later won the Nobel prize (Rayleigh for Physics, Ramsay for Chemistry), and their discovery was a major factor in both awards. "Rayleigh and Ramsay had noted that nitrogen obtained from the air had a density greater than that of nitrogen liberated from its compounds by about one-half percent. This led to the isolation of the first of the inert gases, which they called argon," after the Greek word aergón ("inert, inactive") (Dibner). Ramsay later investigated other atmospheric gases, isolating helium, neon, krypton, and xenon, which pioneered a new section of the periodic table. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).