Search Results: Titles starting with D from Atticus Rare Books

FIRST EDITION OF THE PAPER IN WHICH Von ARDEEN REPORTS ON & DETAILS HIS CONSTRUCTION OF THE "THE FIRST SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE," (SEM) an invention he had earlier conceived (Collard, The Development of Microbiology, p. 25). In this paper, Von Ardeene "realized in prototype form" the microscope he had earlier theorized (Brown, Pais, and Pippard, Twentieth Century Physics, III, pp. 1588). He "was awarded the Leibniz Medal for the invention of the scanning electron microscope" (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy, Aberration-Corrected Imaging in Transmission Electron Microscopy, 2015). Manfred von Ardenne was a self-educated German physicist and inventor. In the late 1930s, he realized there was great potential in employing a focused electron probe rather than a wide beam. In other words, von Ardenne wanted to use a focused electron probe to scan across specimens. Toward that end, von Ardenne (in an earlier paper) suggested the development of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) which… Read More

Wien: Ed. Hölzel, 1904. 1st Edition. Bound volume. FIRST EDITION OF BJERKNES'S SEMINAL MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS, now known as "the primitive equations of weather" - the mechanics and physics of weather. Bjerknes proposed these equations in the paper offered here, and in so doing, pioneered numerical weather forecasting, which is based on applying physical laws to the atmosphere and solving mathematical equations associated with these laws. [Note that we also offer this item in its original paper wrappers]. Vilhelm Bjerknes became "a professor of applied mechanics and mathematical physics at the University of Stockholm in 1895. Two years later he discovered the circulation theorems that led him to a synthesis of hydrodynamics and thermodynamics applicable to large-scale motions in the atmosphere and oceans. He then began devising a research plan that would use these theorems to compute the future state of the atmosphere given its present (initial) condition. This work ultimately… Read More

Berlin: Springer, 1928. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF BOHR'S SEMINAL PAPER ANNOUNCING HIS "COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE," a tenet at the center of quantum mechanics stating "that matter is both particle and wave, but can only be measured to be one or the other by any given experiment, because the object being measured is affected by the measurement" (History of Physics: The Wenner Collection). Bohr's "complementarity principle became the cornerstone of what was later referred to as the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics Bohr recognized the need for the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics to be imbedded in a rationally coherent conceptual framework" (H. Kragh, Quantum Generations, 1999, pp. 209-210). Toward that end, his ‘complementarity' principle went on to form the basis of what became known as the ‘Copenhagen interpretation' of quantum mechanics. "From the epistemological point of view, the discovery of the new type of logical relationship that complementarity represents is… Read More

Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1857. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF HERMANN HELMHOLTZ'S FIRST DESCRIPTION OF HIS INVENTION OF THE TELESTEREOSCOPE, an optical device designed to present a three dimensional view of a distant scene; it is sometimes called a binocular telescope because it offers a view of distant objects through both eyes. Helmholtz, an Austrian scientist, had a background in medicine and physics and in his time, was "the acknowledged master of physiological optics" (Cahan, Helmholtz and the Foundations of Nineteenth-century Science, 163). WE ALSO INCLUDE THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THIS PAPER (an extract from the Phi Mag of the same year). Helmholtz's telestereoscope uses a system of mirrors or prisms that he designed to produce an exaggerated perception of depth by optically increasing the length of the base line of the viewer. In addition to use in optometry, telestereoscopes are also used in astronomical observatories. ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME: Kirchhoff's important first paper… Read More

Paris: Chez Klostermann, 1813. 1st Edition. BOUND FIRST EDITION OF THREE 1813 WORKS BY DELAROCHE AND BÉRARD THAT TOGETHER ESTABLISHED THE FIRST PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF THE HEAT CAPACITIES OF GASES & established beyond argument that the specific heats of various gases differ from each other. All three papers are noted in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography as important original works. Prior to 1812, the state of specific-heat measurements had yet to be established and the need to do so was well understood. The First Class (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) of the French Institute sponsored a prize competition with the goal of moving the state of specific-heat measurements beyond these initial attempts. "The competition was won by Fran ois Delaroche (1775-1813) and Jacques-Étienne Bérard (1789-1869). They used a constant flow method which involved passing a heated gas under a constant pressure through a spiral copper tube immersed in a calorimeter filled with water. From the amount of heat… Read More

Leiden: Lugduni Batavorum, 1665. 1st Edition. A collective 17th century printing of three notable works related to human generation, sexuality, and reproductive anatomy. de Humano Foetu Libellus is the only 17th century edition of Guilio Cesare Aranzi's important book on the foetus. "Aranzi believed the maternal and foetal circulations to be separate. He described the ductus arteriosus and ductus venosus of the foetus, and the corpora Arantii in the heart valves. Incidentally, he was the first to record a pelvic deformity" (Garrison-Morton 464, citing the first edition of 1564). Aranzi was also the first to delineat the uterus, the foetus, and the placenta in the various stages of development. Aranzi (1530-1589) was a leading anatomist of his time. Plazzoni's De Partibus Generationis is notable for his detailed description of the sexual organs, their functions, and physiology. Plazzoni investigated the means whereby the penis achieves erection, the function of the clitoris, and the physiology of… Read More

Leiden: Lugduni Batavorum, 1664. 1664. A collective 17th century printing of three notable works related to human generation, sexuality, and reproductive anatomy. Plazzoni's work is notable for his detailed description of the sexual organs, their functions, and physiology. Plazzoni investigated the means whereby the penis achieves erection, the function of the clitoris, and the physiology of sexual arousal. Also of note, are Plazzoni's descriptions of perineal tears and rectovaginal fistulae, as well as his account of the vulvovaginal ducts, of which Bartholin was apparently unawarein his classic treatment of them. This collected edition is also important because it contains the only seventeenth century edition of Guilio Cesare Aranzi's important book on the foetus. "Aranzi believed the maternal and foetal circulations to be separate. He described the ductus arteriosus and ductus venosus of the foetus, and the corpora Arantii in the heart valves. Incidentally, he was the first to record a pelvic… Read More

1728. 1st Edition. First Edition of George Bernhard Bilfinger's De Causa gravitatis physica generali disquisitio experimentalis (On the General Physical Cause of Gravity) - a prize winning explanation of the cause of the weight of bodies designed to check Galileo's and Edme Mariotte's theories. In so doing, Bilfinger discusses the work of many important contemporary scientists. This work won the highest award in a contest sponsored by the Paris Academy (a contest in which Bernoulli was also a contestant). At once a physicist, a mathematician, an astronomer, a botanist, and a philosopher, Bilfinger was one of the most accomplished and versatile thinkers of his time and was appointed professor of experimental and theoretical physics at St. Petersburg by Peter the Great. Although he was the pupil, friend, and defender of Christian Wolff, Bilfinger concentrated his attention on the philosophy and mathematics of Gottfried Leibniz. Bilfinger's work was of great import to Kant. In 1725 and while at the… Read More

Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier, 1741. 1st Amsterdam Printing. FIRST AMSTERDAM PRINTINGS OF 2 IMPORTANT PAPERS: CLAIRAUT ON STELLAR ABERRATION, THE FIRST DIRECT CONFIRMATION OF THE COPERNICAN THEORY with MAUPERTUIS & HIS OFFICIAL REPORT ON THE LAPLAND EXPEDITION TO MEASURE THE SHAPE OF THE EARTH. THE TRIPS CONFIRMED NEWTON'S DYNAMIC & SUPPORTED THE OBLATE SHAPE. 23 plates. Note that we offer the original, first Paris printing as well. Both the French astronomer Alexis Claude de Clairaut and the French mathematician Pierre Louis de Maupertuis were involved in 18th century efforts to determine the shape of the earth; both published their findings in the this volume. To many controversy over the shape of the earth seemed a test between differing systems of natural philosophy — Cartesian and Newtonian. Though Newton and Huygens were working from differing theories of gravity, each calculated Earth to be slightly flattered at the poles. Writing in Principia, "Newton had calculated from the Earth's… Read More

Paris: L'imprimerie Royale. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITIONS OF 2 IMPORTANT PAPERS: CLAIRAUT ON STELLAR ABERRATION, THE FIRST DIRECT CONFIRMATION OF THE COPERNICAN THEORY with MAUPERTUIS & HIS OFFICIAL REPORT ON THE LAPLAND EXPEDITION TO MEASURE THE SHAPE OF THE EARTH. THE TRIPS CONFIRMED NEWTON'S DYNAMIC & SUPPORTED THE OBLATE SHAPE. Note that we offer the later Amsterdam printing as well. Both the French astronomer Alexis Claude de Clairaut and the French mathematician Pierre Louis de Maupertuis were involved in 18th century efforts to determine the shape of the earth; both published their findings in the this volume. To many controversy over the shape of the earth seemed a test between differing systems of natural philosophy — Cartesian and Newtonian. Though Newton and Huygens were working from differing theories of gravity, each calculated Earth to be slightly flattered at the poles. Writing in Principia, "Newton had calculated from the Earth's rotational force at the Equator that its equatorial… Read More

Paris: A. Maloine, 1897. 1st Edition. SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF AN EARLY WORK ON X-RAYS BY 19th MEDICAL PHOTOGRAPHER, FÉLIX MÉHEUX. SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY IN ORIGINAL WRAPS. Félix Méheux (1838-1908) was a medical photographer and an outstanding illustrator and colorist at the Hôpital Saint-Louis from 1884 to 1904. This pamphlet is affectionately inscribed to Professor Albert Fournier (1832-1914), First Professor of Cutaneous and Syphilitic Diseases at the same hospital. Méheux's work remains well-respected to this day. As said, this work is rare. While other Méheux publications and photos appear in the special collections of a number of important libraries throughout the world, only four copies of this work exist worldwide. Méheux's publication came shortly after Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's discover of X-rays in late 1895. Röntgen's discovery electrified both the scientific community and the public at large. Though arguable, many consider Röntgen's discovery "the most globally… Read More

Washington DC: American Economic Association, 2008. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPS OF A 2008 PAPER ON BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS CO-WRITTEN BY THE 2017 NOBEL PRIZE WINNER IN ECONOMICS, RICHARD THALER. A team of economists — Post, Van den Assem, Baltussen & Thaler — "analyzed the decisions of people appearing on Deal or No Deal and found, among other things, that contestants are less risk averse when they have seen their expected winnings tumble. "Losers" tend to continue playing the game even if this means rejecting bank offers in excess of the average of the remaining prizes" (Wikibooks). "Thaler has had a long body of work contributing to our understanding of Economics and business and consumer decision making" and this paper is noted in the Nobel Committee's ‘advanced information'. Note that we offer two other Richard Thaler papers separately, "Save More Tomorrow" in Journal of Political Economy 112, 1, 2, February 2004 and "Libertarian Paternalism" in The American… Read More

2006. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS OF AN ARTICLE ON PLUTO BY THE ASTROPHYSICIST NEIL deGRASSE. On August 16, 1960 the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union the IAU voted to change Pluto's status as a planet to that of a dwarf. While the decision was and is contentious, "Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects and to ge away from simply counting the planets... In 2006 the International Astronomical Union confirmed [Tyson's] assessment by changing Pluto to the dwarf planet classification" (Wikipedia). Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the… Read More

London: Royal Society, 1886. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION as extracted, complete with 3 lithographed plates. In 1858 and in a paper we offer separately, the famous English paleontologist, biologist and comparative anatomist Richard Owen identifies and names extinct giant lizard bones: Megalania prisca. Disappearing approximately 40,000 years ago, Megalania prisca inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene. In this paper, written in 1886, 28 years later, Owen uses newly received fossil bones from the Gowrie Creek, Darling Downs, Queensland" to again concentrates on Megalania Prisca, this time on the sacrum and foot bones. Owen coined the term Megalania Prisca (Species: prisca; Genus: Megalania.) The name is made up of two Greek words: Mega - "great", "big", and lania - "roam". The word "prisca", in Greek, means "ancient" and the full name of the species can be translated as a "ancient great roamer." Owen "distinguished himself with his powers of organization and deduction. At the same time… Read More

London: Royal Society, 1859. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION as extracted, complete with 2 lithographed plates. In this paper, on the largest known terrestrial lizard, the famous English paleontologist, biologist and comparative anatomist Richard Owen identifies and names extinct giant lizard bones: Megalania prisca. Disappearing approximately 40,000 years ago, Megalania Prisca inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene. Owen coins his giant lizard bones: Megalania Prisca. The name is made up of two Greek words: Mega - "great", "big", and lania - "roam". The word "prisca", in Greek, means "ancient" and the full name can be translated as a "ancient great roamer." Owen "distinguished himself with his powers of organization and deduction. At the same time he showed himself to be a peerless anatomist with instincts for reconstruction almost on a par with the great Cuvier in Paris. He became such an expert on the anatomy of animals that he was granted first refusal on any animal that died at the… Read More

London: Taylor and Francis, 1869. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING OF THE FIRST DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT MELBOURNE TELESCOPE built by Thomas Grubb of Dublin in 1868 and erected at Melbourne Observatory in 1869. The paper is accompanied by 10 lithographed plates. The telescope erected was a reflector telescope with a speculum (metal) mirror of 48 inches in diameter; at the time it was the second largest telescope in the world and the largest in the southern hemisphere. Upon examination of the telescope at completion, Lord Rosse, Dr. Robinson, and Warren de la Rue expressed their opinion in a report that the telescope was a masterpiece of astronomical mechanism. Many important observations were carried out with the telescope, including those of Nebulae; it was also the first instrument to document gravitational lens light refraction. CONDITION & DETAILS: London: Taylor and Francis. Extracted from The Philosophical Transactions. 4to. pp. 127-161. 10 lithographed plates depicting the… Read More

Lancaster: American Physical Society, 1960. 1st Edition. Full volume with original wrappers bound in. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS OF WEBER'S INVENTION OF THE FIRST GRAVITATIONAL WAVES DETECTOR. Hamiltonian formulation of the equations of general relativity now known as ADM formalism. WEBER: "The detection of gravitational waves is sometimes described as the Holy Grail of Modern Physics" (Blair, Advances Gravitational Wave Detectors, xvi). Gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of spacetime, were first predicted by Einstein's 1916 general theory of relativity. In February 2016, the September 2015 detection of gravitational waves, waves first predicted by Einstein over a hundred years ago, was announced. "The saga of gravitational wave detection goes back a long way: Einstein believed they existed but thought they were not physically detectable. Eddington queried their existence: he suggested that ‘they travel at the speed of thought'. But in the 1950's Pirani, Feynman, Bondi and later… Read More

London: J. Matthews. Small folio second edition, preferred and expanded, of Leybourn's important, detailed, and beautifully illustrated work on dialing. Leybourn's treatise (which is actually 14 treatises within one) is an extensive discussion of the fabrication of dials for a wide variety of different instruments. At publication in 1700, this volume was considered the most important work on dialing of its time, as well as the most extensive treatise of its kind in English. The history of dialing is discussed at length, as are the most minute details of construction, calculation, demonstration, and use. In addition to instructions on how to construct dials, Leybourn includes two chapters on reflex dialing by John Twysden and William Halton alongside other extensive commentary on dialing by Kircher, Maignan, Wells, and Samuel Foster. Additionally, Leybourn includes an extensive description and illustration of Francis Hall's elaborate and famous pyramid dial constructed at Whitehall. Hall's… Read More

Minneapolis: American Physical Society, 1929. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS OF THE MORSE POTENTIAL, "a convenient interatomic interaction model for the potential energy of a diatomic molecule. It is a better approximation for the vibrational structure of the molecule than the QHO (quantum harmonic oscillator) because it explicitly includes the effects of bond breaking, such as the existence of unbound states. It also accounts for the anharmonicity of real bonds and the non-zero transition probability for overtone and combination bands. The Morse potential can also be used to model other interactions such as the interaction between an atom and a surface... Its mathematical form inspired the MLR (Morse/Long-range) potential, which is the most popular potential energy function used for fitting spectroscopic data" (Wikipedia). ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME: Robertson, H. P., "The Uncertainty Principle" in The Physical Review 34, 1, July 1, 1929, pp. 163-164. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL… Read More

Leipzig: Englemann, 1867. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS CHROMOSOMES. "Friederich Wilhelm Benedikt Hofmeister (1824 1877) stands as one of the true giants in the history of biology and belongs in the same pantheon as Darwin and Mendel. Yet by comparison, he is virtually unknown" (Kaplan & Cooke, The genius of Wilhelm Hofmeister: the origin of causal analytical research in plant development, American Journal of Botany, 83, 12, December 1996, 1647). Hofmeister was a German botanist whose investigations of plant biology were groundbreaking and well ahead of his time. This volume was never translated into English. Hofmeister's volume is about plant cells and morphology and describes the fundamental structures and processes of the cell with a particular focus on the cell wall. He offers detailed descriptions and illustrations of his microscopic studies of plant cell structure, inclusive of internal organization. His work helped inspire Gregor Mendel to begin the… Read More