‎Discovery‎

‎"ØRSTED (OERSTED), H.C. - THE DISCOVERY OF ELECTROMAGNETISM - FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT IN FRENCH.‎

‎Experimenta circa Effectum, etc. Expériences sur l'effet du conflict électrique sur l'aiguille animantée.‎

‎(Paris, Crochard, 1820). No wrappers. In ""Annales"". In ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago"" Tome XIV, Cahier 4, Titlepage to vol. 14 + pp. 337-442. (Entire issue offered). Ørsted's paper: pp. 417-25. A few scattered brownspots.‎

‎First French translation and the first translation of Oersted's epoch-making announcement in his Latin pamphlet ""Extperimenta circa effectum conflictus electrici in acun magneticam. Hafniæ, 1820"" (privately printed in a very small number, and only distributed to colleques in Europe). This discovery and confirmation of the connection between 2 forces, electricity and magnetism, must be considered one of the happiest events in the history of science, both with regard to scientific and practical results. - ""From the moment that Ørsted's discovery became known it created an enormous sensation. The results communicated were so astounding that they were received with a certain distrust, but they were stated with such accuracy that it could hardly be permitted to entertain any doubts. In the course of a short time the treatise was translated into all the chief languages."" (Kirstine Meyer). - Dibner:61 - PMM: 282 - Horblitt: 3 b. - Sparrow: 152.‎

Bookseller reference : 46026

‎"DAVY, HUMPHRY - THE DISCOVERY OF HYDROGEN TELLURIDE - THE RIVALRY WITH GAY-LUSSAC & THENARD.‎

‎Nouvelles Recherches électro-chimiques, principalement relatives aux substances métalliques tirées des alcalis et de terres, et à quelques combinations de l'Hydrogène. (+) Suite des Recherches... (+) Sur les Observations sur les Recherches faites p...‎

‎Paris, J. Klostermann, 1810. Contemp. hcalf. Spine gilt. Slightly rubbed. A few scratches to binding. Small stamps on verso of titlepage.In: ""Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie"" Tome 75. 336 pp. a. 2 folded engraved plates. Some scattered brownspots. The papers: pp. 27-77, 129-175, 256-263, 264-273, 274-289 a. 290-316.‎

‎First French version of Davy's ""The Bakerian Lecture for 1809. On some new Electrochemical Researches, on various Objects, particularly the metallic Bodies, from the Alkalies, and Earth, and on some Combinations of Hydrogene. Read November 16, 1809."", together with the controversy papers by Davy and Gay-Lussac & Thenard.""Mr. Davy having from the commencement of his electro-chemical researches, communicated the several steps of his progress to the Society (The Royal Society), takes the present opportunity of reporting the results of his further inquiries under four principal heads. First, on the nature of the metals of the fixed alkalis. Second, on the nature of Hydrogen and composition of ammonia. Thirdly, on the metals of the earth"" and Fourthly he makes a comparison between the antiphlogistic doctrine, and a modified phlogistic hypothesis.""(Abstract). He further gives arguments for considering potassium and sodium, which he discovered in 1808, as a element.""""Gay-Lussac had a slight rivalry between himself and the creation scientist Sir Humphry Davy. Davy was chemically preparing Potassium and Sodium through an electrical current, and this made Gay-Lussac and Thénard envious of his success. They too decided to perform the same task, but they had no battery at their disposal as Davy had, so they had to form another way to chemically prepare the two elements. In 1808, they used a red-hot iron fused to potash, the water-soluble form of a manufactured salt containing potassium, to perform this task, a method that Davy admitted had its advantageous qualities. Gay-Lussac and Thénard were successful in preparing Potassium, and continued to make a full analysis of its chemical properties, and began to use it for their own experiments. In 1809, Davy performed the same task, using it to reduce Boron in Boracic acid.""‎

Bookseller reference : 46377

‎"HUDDART, JOSEPH. - DISCOVERY OF COLOR-BLINDNESS.‎

‎An Account of Persons who could not distinguish Colours. In a Letter to Joseph Priestly.‎

‎London, W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, 1777. 4to. Extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"", Year 1777. Vol. 67 - Part I. Pp. 260-265. Clean and fine, broadmargined.‎

‎First apperarance of this paper, constituting the first reliable account of colour blindness.Usually Goethe or John Dalton - Huddart's case was cited in Dalton's paper of 1794 - is supposed to have discovered colourblindness. However, the English oculist Joseph Huddart was the discoverer of this phenomenon. The first physiological explanation of it does come from Goethe.Garrison & Morton: 5832.‎

Bookseller reference : 46614

‎"BECQUEREL, HENRI. - THE DISCOVERY OF RADIO-ACTIVITY - THE BEGINNING OF THE NUCLEAR AGE‎

‎Sur les radiations émises par phosphorescence. (+) Sur les radiations invisibles émises par les corps phosphorescents. (+) Sur quelques propriétés nouvelles des radiations invisibles émises par divers corps phosphorescents. (+) Sur les radiation...‎

‎Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1896. 4to. Near contemp. full cloth. Spine gilt and with gilt lettering. Bookmark, ""The Chemists Club"" in gold on lower part of spine. Light wear along edges. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 122 (Entire volume offered).1633 pp. The papers: 420-421, pp. 501-502, pp. 559-564, pp. 689-694, pp. 762-767 and pp. 1086-1088.‎

‎First appearance of the six landmark papers in which Becquerel documents his discovery of Radio-activity, PROMPTING THE NUCLEAR AGE.Becquerel was an expert in fluorescence and phosphorescence, continuing the work of his father and grandfather. Follwing the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen, Bexquerel investigated fluorescent materials to see if they also emitted X-rays. He exposed a fluorescent uranium salt, pechblende, to light and then placed it on a wrapped photographic plate.He found that a faint image was left on the plate, which he believed was due to the pichblende emitting the light it had absorbed as a more penetrating radiation.. However, by chace, he left a sample that had not been exposed to light on top of a photographic plate in a drawer. he noticed that the photographic plate also had a a faint image of the pechblende. After several chemical tests he concluded that these ""Becquerel rays"" were a property of atoms. He had, by chace, discovered radio-activity and prompted thee beginning of the nuclear age. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 with Marie and Pierre Curie. The ""Becquerel Rays"" were later discovered to be a composite of three forms of emanation, distinguished by Rutherford as alpha, beta and gamma rays.Dibner: 163 (the later Mémoire from 1903) - PMM: 393 (1903- Mémoire) - Garrison & Morton: 2001 (only the first paper). - Magie ""A Sourve Book in Physics"" p. 610 ff. - Norman:157.‎

Bookseller reference : 46854

‎"BROGLIE, LOUIS de. - DISCOVERY OF THE WAVE THEORY OF MATTER AND CREATION OF WAVE-MECHANICS.‎

‎A Tentative Theory of Light Quanta.‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1924. Later full buckram, gilt lettering to spine. In: Philosophical Magazine conducted by Oliver Joseph Lodge etc."", Vol. 47. - Sixth Series. VIII,1168 pp. and 8 plates. (Entire volume offered). De Broglie's paper: pp. 446-458. Internally clean and fine.‎

‎First English version of the papers which ESTABLISHED A NEW ERA IN PHYSICS by introducing the epochal new principle that particle-wave duality should apply not only to radiation but also to matter and thus CREATING QUANTUM MECHANICS. The English paper is a translation of de Broglie's 3 ""Notes "" which he published in ""Comptes Rendus"" in September and October 1923 (Ondes et quanta. - Quanta de lumière, diffraction et interférences. - Les quanta, la théorie cinétique des gaz et le principe de Fermat). These 3 papers were extended to form his doctoral thesis of 1924 ""Recherches sur la Théorie des Quanta."" - This English edition (of the papers) was published before his thesis of 1924 as the paper is dated October 1, 1923, and published here in the Februar issue of Philosophical Magazine, months before the thesis.The English version contains furthermore an addition, a postscript, which contains a generalization of the theory which is consistent with the special theory of relativity, and NOT published in ""Comptes Rendues"" in 1923.With the three communications to the Academy of Sciences (the 3 Comptes Rendus papers) in the fall of 1923 de Broglie had presented the main ideas of his unified dynamics of light quanta and atoms. He was confident enough about his results that he submitted them also in English in the offered paper. At the end of the paper he summarized his results. De Broglie relates ""After long reflection in solitude and meditation, I suddenly had the idea, during the year 1923, that the discovery made by Einstein in 1905 should be generalized by extending it to all material particles and notably to electrons"" (Preface to his PhD thesis 1924).""He made the leap in his September 10, 1923, paper: E=hv should hold not only for photons but also for electrons, to which he assigns a 'fictitious associated wave'. In his September 24 paper, he indicated the direction in which one 'should seek experimental confirmations of our ideas': a stream of electrons traversing an aperture whose dimensions are small compared with the wavelenght of the electron waves 'should show diffraction phenomena' .""(Pais ""Subtle is the Lord"", pp. 425-436).In the third paper (October 8) he discusses ""The interplay between the propagation of the particle and of the waves could be expressed in more formal terms as an identity between the fundamental variational principles of Pierre de Fermat (rays), and Pierre Louis Maupertuis (particles) as de Broglie discussed it further in his last communication . Therein he also considered some thermodynamic consequences of his generalized wave-particle duality. He showed in particular how one could, using Lord Rayleigh’s 1900 formula for the number of stationary modes for phase waves, obtain Planck’s division of the mechanical phase space into quantum cells.Louis de Broglie achieved a worldwide reputation for his discovery of the wave theory of matter, for which he received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1929. His work was extended into a full-fledged wave mechanics by Erwin Schrödinger and thus contributed to the creation of quantum mechanics. After an early attempt to propose a deterministic interpretation of his theory, de Broglie joined the Copenhagen school’s mainstream noncausal interpretation of the quantum theory.""(DSB).""This idea [i.e. de Broglie's that matter might behave as waves] was tested and confirmed by Davisson and Germer in 1927... Thus the duality of both light and matter had been established, and physicists had to come to terms with fundamental particles which defied simple theories and demanded two sets of 'complementary' descriptions, each applicable under certain circumstances, but incompatible with one another."" (Printing and the Mind of Man, 417).This volume of Philosophical Magazine contains another importent paper in the history of Quantum Mechanics"": ""The Quantum Theory of Radiation"" by BOHR, KRAMERS AND SLATER, pp. 785-802. ""After Kramers had succeeded in extending the scope of the correspondence argument to the theory of optical dispersion ""thus rounding off a treatment of the interaction of atomic systems with radiation that accounted for all emission, absorption, and scattering processes"" Bohr ventured to propose a systematic formulation of the whole theory, in which what he called the virtual character of the classical model was emphasized. In this he was aided by Kramers and a young American visitor, J. C. Slater, and the new theory was published in 1924 under the authorship of all three. The most striking feature of this remarkable paper, ""The Quantum Theory of Radiation,"" was the renunciation of the classical form of causality in favor of a purely statistical description. Even the distribution of energy and momentum between the radiation field and the ""virtual oscillators"" constituting the atomic systems was assumed to be statistical, the conservation laws being fulfilled only on the average. This was going too far: the paper was hardly in print before A. H. Compton and A. W. Simon had established by direct experiment the strict conservation of energy and momentum in an individual process of interaction between atom and radiation. Nevertheless, this short-lived attempt exerted a profound influence on the course of events"" what remained after its failure was the conviction that the classical mode of description of the atomic processes had to be entirely relinquished."" (DSB).‎

Bookseller reference : 46950

‎"HENRY, JOSEPH. - DISCOVERY OF SELF-INDUCTION.‎

‎Facts in reference to the Spark, &c from along conductor uniting the poles of a Galvanic Battery.‎

‎Philadelphia, Fraklin Institute, 1835. 8vo. Later full green cloth. Tome-and titlelabels in leather with gilt lettering on spine. In: ""Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania... Edited by Thomas P. Jones"", Vol. XV. New series. Engraved frontisp. (2),446 pp., 2 folded engraved plates and 2 folded engraved maps. (Entire volume offered). Henry's announcement: pp. 169-70. A stamp to verso of frontispiece (Library of Congress duplicate stamp).‎

‎First printing of this importent paper, the first to describe in detail how the phenomena of Self-Induction was discovered. Henry discovered the induction phenomena - how an electric current in one coil may set up a current in the other through the development of the magnetic field - independently of Faraday, but Faraday was first to publish on electromagnetic induction. Henry's experiments with induction led him to his importent discovery of SELF-INDUCTION, which is the phenomenon in which a change in electric current in a coil produces an induced emf in the coil itself. This phenomenon was also discovered inependently by Faraday, but this time Henry had published first. The basic unit of inductance was to be called ""the Henry"". Relevant to the controversy between Faraday and Henry is the following statement by A D Bache, Secretary of the American Philosophical Society introducing an abstract of Henry in J Franklyn Inst. 1835 pp. 169-70 (H. Norman 1053 and the paper offerd): ""A memoir on this subject has been since submitted to the Society, containing an extension of the subject, the primary fact in relation to which was observed by Professor Henry as early as 1832, and announced by him in the American Journal of Science. Mr. Faraday having recently entered upon a similar train of observations, the immediate publication of the accompanying is important, that the prior claims of our fellow countryman may not be overlooked.""(Spark Museum).Magee ""Source Book in Physics"", p. 515.‎

Bookseller reference : 47003

‎"RAOULT, F.-M. (FRANCOIS MARIE). - DISCOVERY OF RAOULT'S LAWS.‎

‎Loi générale de congélation des dissolvants, Mémoire de... (Extrait par l'auteur). (+) Loi générale des tensions de vapeur des dissolvants. (2 Papers).‎

‎(Paris, Gauthier-Villars), 1882. 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 95, No 22 a. Tome 104 No 21 (entire issues offered). Pp. 1017-1076 and pp. 1387-1462. Raoult's papers: pp. 1030-33 (tome 95) and pp. 1430-1433 (tome 104).‎

‎First appearance of Raoult's two importent papers in which described a method for finding the molecular weight of an organic compound by the determination of the lowering of the freezing point of water that resulted from dissolving that compound in water and the law governing the relation between solutes and vapor pressure.""Then in 1882, F.-M. Raoult published his results on the effects of nondissociating organic solutes, from which he deduced a general law controlling the lowering of freezing points (the first paper offered). Four years later he extended this work to show the effect of solutes on vapor pressure (the second paper offered). Having established the effect of nondissociating compounds, he was in position to show that salts produced an eeffect which, though anomalous, could nevertheless be explained by the supposition that a dissolved molecule broke up into other molecules. This work was of great value in supplying a new method for determining molecular weights, since the depression of freezing point and vapor pressure (as well a the related rise in boiling point later discovered) are proportional to the moleculat concentrations ofthe solutions"" it was of equal value in supporting the ideas of van't Hoff on osmotic pressure. With the announcement of the dissociation theory of Arrhenius, the anomalies were explained and the full significance of the generalizations of Raoult was recognized. Raoult published the formulations of his laws in the ""Comptes Rendus"" for 1882 and 1887 (the papers offered)"" (Leicester a. Klickstein ""A Source Book in Chemistry"", pp. 471 ff).‎

Bookseller reference : 47024

‎"COMPTON, ARTHUR HOLLY. - THE DISCOVERY OF THE COMPTON-EFFECT, NOBEL PRIZE PAPER.‎

‎A Quantum Theory of the scattering of X-Rays by Light Elements.‎

‎Lancaster, The Physical Review, 1923. Royal8vo. Contemp. full buckram. In:""The Physical Review"", Series II, vol. 21. (4),736 pp., Plates and textillustr. (Entire volume offered). A perforated stamp in upper margin on a few leaves. Compton's paper: pp. (483-) 501.‎

‎First printing of this milestone paper in quantum physics in which Compton verifies Planck's quantum postulate and found that some of the X-rays had, in scattering, lenghtened their wavelenght. This phenomena was called the ""Compton Effect"" in his honour. For this discovery Compton received the Nobel prize in physics in 1927.""Compton was able to account for this (lenghtening of wavelenght) by presuming that a photon of light struch an electron, which recoiled, subtracting some energy from the photon and therefore increasing its wavelenght. This made it seem that a photon acted as a particle: thus after more than a century, the particulate natuer of light, as evolved by Newton, was revived... What itamounted to was that Compton brought to fruition the view that electromagnetic radiation had both a wave aspect and a particle aspect, and that the aspect which was most evident depended on how the radiation was tested. De Broglie was, at the same time, showing that this held true also for ordinary particles, such as electrons."" (Asimov)Parkinson ""Breakthroughs"", 1923 P. - Sigmund Brandt ""The Harvest of as Century"", Episode 31.‎

Bookseller reference : 47061

‎"LEIBNIZ (LEIBNITZ), G.F. - CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS - JOHANN BERNOULLI - JACOB BERNOULLI ET AL. - THE DISCOVERY OF THE ""CATENARY CURVE"" , THE ""LOGARITHMIC CURVE"" AND THE ""POLAR COORDINATES"".‎

‎1. De Linea in quam Flexile se pondere proprio curvat, ejeuque usu insignia adinveniendi quotcunque medias proportionales & Logarithmos. - 2. De Solutionibus Problematis Catenarii vel Funicularis in Actis A. 1691, aliisque a Dn. I.B. propositis. (1-2:...‎

‎Leipzig, Grosse & Gleditsch, 1691. 4to. Contemp. full vellum. Faint handwritten title on spine. a small stamp on titlepage. In: ""Acta Eruditorum Anno MDCLXXXXI"". (8),590,(6) pp. and 13 (of 15) folded engraved plates. The 2 first plates lacks, but they do not belong to the papers listed.Leibniz' papers: pp.277-281 a. 1 plate, pp. 435-439. Johann Bernoulli: pp. 274-276 a. 1 plate. Huygens: pp. 281-282. - Jacob Bernoulli: pp. 282-290 a. 1 plate.‎

‎All papers first apperance. All 5 of extreme importence in the development of the Calculus. Leibniz' 2 papers on the catenary curve (paper 1-2 offered here) was written at the instigation of Jacques Bernoulli. Following the example of Blaise Pascal, who had initiated, in 1658, a contest for the construction of the cycloid, Leibniz also provoked the geometers of his time, by challenging them to submit, at the fixed date of mid-1691, their geometric method for the construction of the catenary curve. Leibniz later provided the answer, followed by Johann Bernoulli and Huygens.'These two papers are a historical account of the origin of the study of this transcendental curve, and, at the same time, the first physical-geometric construction showing the species-relationship between the catenary and the logarithmic curves, as two companion curves" one arithmetic, the other geometric. All of the differentials of the catenary curve, are arithmetic means of corresponding differentials of the logarithmic curve" and, all of the differentials of the logarithmic curve, are geometric means of the catenary.'""The Catenary is the form of a hanging fully flexible rope or chain (the name comes from ""catena"", which means 'chain'), suspended on two points. The interest in this curve originated with Galileo, who thought that is was a parabola. Young Christiaan Huygens proved in 1646 that this cannot be the case. What the actual form was remained an open question till 1691, when Leibniz, Johann Bernoulli and the then much older Huygens sent solutions to the problem to the ""Acta"" (Jakob Bernoulli, 1690, Johann Bernoulli 1691, Huygens 1691 and Leibniz 1691), - these 4 1691-papers offered here - in which the previous year Jakob Bernoulli had challenged mathematicians to solve it. As published, the solutions did not reveal the methods, but through later publications of manuscripts these methods have been known. Huygens applied with great ( paper 4) virtuosity the by then classical methods of 17th century infinitesimal mathematics, and he needed all his ingenuity to reach a satisfactory solution. Leibniz ( the papers 1-2) and Bernoulli (paper 3), applying the new Calculus, found the solutions in a much direct way. In fact, the catenary was a test-case between the old and the new style in the study of curves, and only because the champion of the old style was a giant like Huygens, the test-case can formally be considered as ending in a draw."" (Grattan-Guiness in ""From the Calculus to Set Theory, 1630-1910."").The paper by JACOB BERNOULLI ( no. 5 offered here) is a milestone papers as it marks the invention of the ""SYSTEM OF POLAR COORDINATES"" with points located by reference to a fixed point and a line through that point. Although newton had earlier also devised such a coordinate system (in 1671), his work was not known, so that the credit for the discovery generally goes to Bernoulli. (Parkinson, Breakthroughs (1691).Further papers contained in this volume of Acta Eruditorum:DENYS PAPIN: Mecanicorum de Viribus Motricibus sententia, asserta a D. Papino adversius C.G.G. L. (Leibniz) objectiones. pp. 6-13. The plate lacks. - and Dion. Papini Observationes quaedam circa materias ad Hydraulicam spectantes. Pp. 208-213 a. 1 plate. This importent paper is part of the LEIBNIZ-PAPIN-CONTROVERSY.JACOB BERNOULLI: Specimen Calculi Differentialis in dimensione Parabolæ helicoidis, ubi de flexuris curvarum in genere, carundem evolutionibus. Pp. 13-22. The plate lacks. - and J.B. Demonstratio Centri Oscillationis ex Natura Vectis, reperta occassione eorum, quæ super hac materia in Historia Literaria Roterodamensi recensentur, articulo...Pp.317-321.LEIBNIZ: O.V.E. Additio ad Schediasma de Medii Resistentia publicatum in Actis mensis Febr. 1889. Pp. 177-178. and O.V.E. Quadratura Arithmetica Communis Sectionum Conicarum quæ centrum babent,...Pp. 178-182 a. 1 plate.TSCHIRNHAUS: Singularia Effecta Vitri Caustici bipedalis, quod omnia magno sumtu hactenus constructa specula ustoria virtute superat, per D.T. Pp. 517-520‎

Bookseller reference : 41859

‎"FARADAY, (MICHAEL). - ON THE DISCOVERY OF ELECTOMAGNETIC INDUCTION.‎

‎(Lettré) A M. Gay-Lussac. Institution royale, Ier décembre 1832. (The letter ""On Magneto-electric Induction"").‎

‎(Paris, Crochard, 1832). No wrappers. In: ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique"", 2e Series, vol. 51, Cahier 4. Pp. 337-444 (Entire issue offered). Faraday's letter: pp. 404-434 a. 1 engraved plate. Some brownspots.‎

‎First printing of Faraday's famous letter to Gay-Lussac in which he claim to be the discoverer of electro-magnetic induction, analysed the results of the Italian philosophers, pointing out their errors, and defending himself from what he regarded as imputations on his character. The style of this letter is unexceptionable, for Faraday could not write otherwise than as a gentleman"" but the letter shows that had he willed it he could have hit hard. The letter was later translated into English and published in ""Philosophical Magazine"" in 1840 under the title ""On Magneto-electric Induction"".""In 1831, seemingly out of nowhere, came the discovery of electromagnetic induction and the beginning of the experimental researches in electricity which were to lead Faraday to the discovery of the laws of electrochemistry, specific inductive capacity, the Faraday effect, and the foundations of classical field theory."" (DSB).‎

Bookseller reference : 48329

‎"PASTEUR, (LOUIS). - THE DISCOVERY OF ANAEROBIC LIFE.‎

‎Animalcules infusoires vivant sans gaz oxygène libre et déterminant des fermentations.‎

‎(Paris, Mallet-Bachelier), 1861. 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 52, No 8. Pp. (321-) 368. (Entire issues offered). Pasteur's paper: pp. 344-347. Minor marginal brownspots.‎

‎First printing of a milestone paper in microbiology, being the paper in which Pasteur disclosed his discovery of organisms that lived without oxygen. Two years later he named them anaerobic or zymics, contrasting to aerobic which only lived in the presence of free oxygen.""In 1861 he turned his attention to the butyric fermentation and made another importent discovery, viz. that this fermentation proceeds in the absence of oxygen. In the fermented material he found cylindrical rods, which he showed were the cause of the fermentation. Following the nomenclature and ideas of the time he regarded them as animal in character and named them Vibrio..."" (Bullock ""The History of Bacteriology"", p. 61).‎

Bookseller reference : 53357

‎"PAYEN, A. et J.F. PERSOZ - DISCOVERY OF THE FIRST ENZYME, DIASTASE.‎

‎Mémoire sur la diastase, les principaux produits de ses réactions et leurs applications aux arts industriels"" (Memoir on diastase, the principal products of its reactions, and their applications to the industrial arts),‎

‎Paris, Crochard, 1833. Contemp. hcalf. Raised bands, gilt spine with gilt lettering. A few scratches to spine. Stamps to verso of titlepage. In: ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago."", Series 2, tome 53. Entire volume offered. 448 pp. Payen & Persoz's paper: pp. 73-92. Clean and fine.‎

‎First printing of a pioneering paper in industrial chemistry and microbiology, being the discovery of the first Enzyme, Diastase. It catalyses the breakdown of starch into maltose.‎

Bookseller reference : 51493

‎"DAVY, HUMPHRY - THE DISCOVERY OF POTASSIUM AND SODIUM (FRENCH VERSION).‎

‎Recherches ëlectrochimiques sur la décomposition des terres, avec des observations sur les métaux obtenus des terres alcalines, et sur un amalgame produit avec l'ammoniaque. Tireeis des Transactions philosophiques, et traduites par M. C.A. Prieur. (+)...‎

‎Paris, Mad. Ve Barnard, 1809. Contemp. hcalf. Spine gilt. Wear to top of spine. A few scratches to binding. Small stamps on verso of titlepage.In: ""Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie"" Tome 70. 336 pp. (Entire volume offered). Davy's paper: pp. 189-254.‎

‎First edition in French (the first English 1808) of this importent historical paper in chemistry, in which Davy shows that electricity is capable of decomposing some alkalies, isolating two new substances and discovering potassium and sodium. Neville in his Historical Chemical Library vol. I, p.340, writes about this paper ""ONE OF THE GREAT CLASSIC RESEARCHES IN CHEMISTRY, in which Davy announced in this, his second Bakterian lecture, the isloation of metallic potassium and sodium by the electrolytic decomposition of their fused oxides.""""He (Davy) began his own electrical experiments...The results were spectacular. On October 6, 1807, the current passing through molten potash liberated a metal, which Davy called potassium. The little globules of shining metal tore the water molecule apart as it eagerly recombined with oxygen and the liberated hydrogen burst into lavender flame. Davy danced about in a delirium of joy. A week later he isolated sodium from soda.""(Asimow). The paper offered here describes these discoveries.""Humphry Davy was one of the most brilliant chemists of the early nineteenth century. His early study of nitrous oxide brought him his first reputation, but his later and most importent investigations were devoted to electrochemistry. Following Galvani's experiments and the discovery of the voltaic pile, interest in galvanic electricity had become widespread. The first electrolysis by means of the pile was carried out in 1800 by Nicholson and Carisle, who obtained oxygen and hydrogen from water. Davy began to examine the chemical effects of electricity in 1800, and his numerous discoveries were presented in his Bakerian lecture to the Royal Society on November 20, 1806. (A Source Book in Chemistry p. 243).‎

Bookseller reference : 50198

‎"SEFSTRÖM, N.-G. (NILS GABRIEL). - THE DISCOVERY OF VANADIUM.‎

‎Sur le Vanadium, métal nouveau, trouvé dans du fer en barres de Eckersholm. forge qui tire sa mine de Taberg, dans le Smaland.‎

‎(Paris, Crochard, 1831). No wrappers. In: ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago."", tome 46, Cahier 1. Pp. 5-112. (Entire issue offered). Sefström's paper: pp. 105-111.‎

‎First printing of the paper in which Sefström announced his discovery of a new element in iron from the Taberg mine in Småland. He named it Vanadium from the goddess Vanadis.Parkinson ""Breakthroughs"" 1831 C.The discovery and isolation of Vanadium has a long story to tell. In reality it was found by del Rio in 1801, he named it Erythronium, but upon further study he decided that he was mistaken as his further studies showed that it was made up of a basic lead chromate.‎

Bookseller reference : 49631

‎"BECQUEREL, HENRI., MARIE CURIE, PIERRE CURIE, GUSTAVE BÉMONT, EUGÈNE DEMARÇAY. - THE DISCOVERY OF RADIOACTIVITY, RADIUM & POLONIUM DISCOVERED.‎

‎(Nine papers documenting the discovery of radioactivity, the discovery of Radium and Polonium:) 1. Becquerel: Sur les radiations émises par phosphorescence. 2. Becquerel: Sur les radiations invisibles émises par les corps phosphorescents. 3. Becq...‎

‎Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1896 a. 1898. 4to. Bound in 2 contemp. hcloth, spines gilt and with gilt lettering. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 122 a. 127. - 1633 pp. + 1302 pp. Both with halftitle and title-page. Title-pages with a punched stamp to lower margin. The papers (tome 122:) pp. 420-421, 501-503, 559-564, 689-694, 762-767, 1086-1088. (Tome 127:) pp. 175-178, 1215-1217, 1218. Internally clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of the landmark papers in which Becquerel documents his discovery of Radio-activity, PROMPTING THE NUCLEAR AGE, and the papers which the Curies announced the discoveries of the 2 elements Polonium and Radium.Becquerel was an expert in fluorescence and phosphorescence, continuing the work of his father and grandfather. Follwing the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen, Bexquerel investigated fluorescent materials to see if they also emitted X-rays. He exposed a fluorescent uranium salt, pechblende, to light and then placed it on a wrapped photographic plate.He found that a faint image was left on the plate, which he believed was due to the pichblende emitting the light it had absorbed as a more penetrating radiation.. However, by chace, he left a sample that had not been exposed to light on top of a photographic plate in a drawer. he noticed that the photographic plate also had a a faint image of the pechblende. After several chemical tests he concluded that these ""Becquerel rays"" were a property of atoms. He had, by chace, discovered radio-activity and prompted thee beginning of the nuclear age. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 with Marie and Pierre Curie. The ""Becquerel Rays"" were later discovered to be a composite of three forms of emanation, distinguished by Rutherford as alpha, beta and gamma rays.Dibner: 163 (the later Mémoire from 1903) - PMM: 393 (1903- Mémoire) - Garrison & Morton: 2001 (only the first paper). - Magie ""A Sourve Book in Physics"" p. 610 ff. - Norman:157. ""The Curie's owned their success to an extremely sensitive electroscopic apparatus constructed by Pierre and his brother Jacques, which made possible a ""new method of chemical analysis based on the precise measurement of radium emitted, a method still in use.""(DSB).Becquerel's discovery of the radioactive properties of uranium (1896) inspired Marie and Pierre Curie to investigate radiation. They reported their researches in a series of papers from 1897 in the Comptes rendus. First they isolated a new substance about three hundred times as active as radium. This they called Polonium in honour of Marie's native Poland. A further examnination of the residue of Pitchblende after the removal of uranium and polonium disclosed residual radio-activity far greater than was possessed by either substance alone. To this material the name Radium was given. The radium was found to be about two million times as radio-active as uranium.Garrison & Morton: 2003. - Magie ""A Source Book in Physics"" p. 613 ff.‎

Bookseller reference : 49475

‎"PASTEUR, LOUIS. - DISCOVERY OF ""MOLECULAR ASSYMETRY""‎

‎Recherches sur les relations qui peuvent exister entre la forme cristalline, la composition chimique et le sens de la polarisation rotatoire. (+) Note sur la Cristallisation du soufre. (Memoir on the relation that can exist between crystalline form an...‎

‎Paris, Victor Masson, 1848 a. 1851. 8vo. 2 contemp. hcalf, raised bands, gilt spine. Light wear along edges. Small stamps on verso of titlepages and on verso of 1 plate. In ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique"", 3me Series - Tome XXIV and XXXI. (6),512 pp. and 2 plates + 512 pp. a. 4 plates.(2 entire volumes offered). Pasteur's papers: pp. 442-459 a. pp. 459-460, 1 double-page folded engraved plate + pp. 67-102 a. 1 plate. Some scattered brownspots to first part of the first volume, not affecting P's papers.‎

‎First full exposition of Pasteur's momentous and revolutionary discovery of ""molecular assymetry"" and founding the science of Polarimetry.The discovery was first announced by Pasteur in may 1848 by the printing of the preliminary report of only 4 short pages, in order to establish priority. The announcement - 4 pages - was published in Comptes rendus hebdomadaires de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Seance of May 15, 1848, 26 (21), 535-538 (Published on May 1848).""In 1848....Pasteur studied the crystals of tartrates (one of the substances that exhibited the now-clockwise, now-counterclockwise effect) under the microscope and found that the crystals were mirror images of the others. The two crystals resembled each other as a right-hand glove resembles a left-hand glove....This was a revolutionary discovery and it took some courage to announce it. A few years before, the well-known chemist Mitscherlich had studies the same tartrate crystals and declared them all to be identical. Pasteur was only a twenty-sic-year-old unknown. neverthelless he announced his findings and went before Biot to repeat the separation ofthe crystals before the eyes of the aged authority in the field. Biot was convinced and Pasteur received the Rumford medal of the Royal Society for his work....Pasteur had thus founded the science of polarimetry in which the measurements of the manner in which the plane of polarized light was twisted could be used to help to determine the structure of organic substance, to follow various chemical reactions, and so on.""(Asimov). Leicester & Klickstein ""A Source Book of Chemistry"", p. 374-379).‎

Bookseller reference : 49336

‎"RAMSAY, WILLIAM & PER THEODOR CLEVE. - THE INDEPENDENTLY DISCOVERY OF HELIUM ON EARTH‎

‎On a Gas showing the Spectrum of Helium, the reputed cause of D3, one of the Lines in the Coronal Spectrum. preliminary Note. (Received March 26, 1895). (+) Helium, a Gaseous Constituent of certain Minerals. Part I. And (P.E. CLEVE:) Sur la présence d...‎

‎London, arrison and Sons, 1895. - (Paris, Gauthier-Villars), 1895. 8vo. and 4to. Later full cloth, gilt lettering to spine (Ramsay) and without wrappers (Cleve). In ""Proceedings of the Royal Society"" (Ramsay), Vol. 58. (Entire vol. offered). And in ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"" (Cleve), Tome 120, No 15. Pp. (797-) 850. (Entire issue offered). Ramsay's papers: pp. 65-67 and pp. 81-89. - Cleve's paper: p. 834. Stamps tp edges and a few corners a bit bumped on vol. 58, otherwise clean and fine.‎

‎First printing of both papers in which Ramsay and Cleve - independently - announced their discovery of Helium on the Earth. Although Ramsay announced the discovery of Helium before Cleve had completed his research, the Swedish chemist was independent discoverer of the element.Helium was discovered in the sun already in 1868 by Jules Janssen and independently by Lockyer the same year. Janssen discovered helium in the sun when he observed a total eclipse in India by studying the spectra of the suns chromosphere and Lockyer, also by spectroscopy, found that the new line in the spectrum did not belong to any element then known and he named it Helium for the sun.In the same volume as Ramsays paper there are 5 papers by NORMAN LOCKYER dealing with the discovery of Helium on the earth, examining Ramsay's and Cleve's findings.Parkinson ""Breakthroughs"", 1895.‎

Bookseller reference : 49284

‎"RAYLEIGH, LORD (J.W. STRUTT) and WILLIAM RAMSAY. - THE DISCOVERY OF ARGON.‎

‎Argon, a New Constituent of the Atmosphere. Received and Read January 31, 1895.‎

‎London, Harrison and Sons, 1895. 4to. Orig. full cloth. Gilt lettering to spine. Blindtooled covers. First corner a bit bumped. In ""Philosophical Transactions"", Vol. 186 - I, Series A. XIV,(2),602,(4) pp. (Entire volume offered). The paper: p. 187-241 a. 8 textillustrations (apparatus). The title-page with faint brownspots. Otherwise internally clean and fine.‎

‎First printing of this importent paper in the history of chemistry, Lord Rayleigh's most famous discovery, announcing the discovery of this new gas, the first finding of one of the rare gases (inert gases) having unusual properties, and forming a distinct group in the periodic table, and all with zero valency.""The original paper in the ""Philosophical Transactions"" will undoubtly rank as a classic, the investigation having been a particularly brilliant ine."" (Ernst von Meyer in History of Chemistry). For this discovery Lord Rayleigh and W. Ramsay received the Nobel Prize (1904). The volume also contains WILLIAM CROOKES ""On the Spectra of Argon"", OSBORNE REYNOLD ""On the Dynamical Theory of Incompressible Viscous Fluids and the determination of the Criterion"", KARL PEARSON ""Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Evolution. - II. Skew Variations in Homogenous Materials"" etc.After having made several measuring of the densities of gases, ""Rayleigh came across a curious puzzle. With oxygen, he always obtained the same density, regardless of how the oxygen might be produced, whether from one particular compound, from a second compound, or from the air. The situation was different with nitrogen. The nitrogen he obtained from air constantly showed a slightly higher density than the nitrogen he obtained from any of various compounds. Rayleigh could think of several ways in which the nitrogen obtained from air might be contaminated but none of the possibilities checked out experimentally. He was so frustrated that he went so far as to write to the journal ""Nature"" asking for suggestions. Ramsay, a brilliant Scottish chemist, asked permission to tackle the problem and received it. The upshot was that a new gas, somewhat denser that nitrogen, was discovered to exist in the atmosphere. It was named argon and it was the first of a series of rare gases of unusual properties whose existence had never been suspected.""(Asimow).Dibner, Heralds of Science No. 50 - Neville, Historical Chemical Library vol. II, p.358.‎

Bookseller reference : 49207

‎"VULPIAN, (EDME FÉLIX ALFRED). - DISCOVERY OF ADRENALINE.‎

‎Note sur quelques réactions propres à la substance des capsules surrénales.‎

‎(Paris, Mallet-Bachelier, 1856). 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 43, No 13. Pp. (637-) 672. (Entire issue offered). Vulpian's paper: pp. 663-665.‎

‎First appearance of the paper in which Vulpian described his discovery of adrenaline in the adrenal medulla. Vulpian established that the medulla synthesised a substance that was liberated into the blood circulation. This substance was later identified as adrenaline.Garrison & Morton No. 1141.‎

Bookseller reference : 49036

‎"BERNARD, CLAUDE. - THE DISCOVERY OF THE GLYCOGENIC FUNCTION OF THE LIVER.‎

‎Sur une nouvelle fonction du foie chez l'homme et les animaux. (Extrait par l'auteur).‎

‎(Paris, Bachelier),1850. 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome XXXI, No. 17. With titlepage to vol. 31. Pp. (561-) 592. (Entire issue offered). Bernard's paper: pp. 571-574. Titlepage with a faint stamp to top and a stamp in lower margin.‎

‎First appearance of the first exposition of the glycogenic function of the liver - one of the greatest physiological discoveries of the 19th century. Bernard showed that the liver builds up complex substances, including glycogen, from the nutriment brought to it by the blood and that these are subsequently modified for distribution to the body.Dibner ""Heralds of Science"" No 131 - Horblit ""One Hundred Books famous in Science"" No. 11a, here listing ""Nouvelle Fonction du Foie"" from 1853 but with the remark ""The work appeared earlier in abbreviated form in the ""Comptes rendus"" (the paper offered). - Exhibition of First Editions of Epochal Achievements in the History of Science, Berkeley 1934. No 107.‎

Bookseller reference : 48830

‎"POINCARÉ, HENRI. - THE DISCOVERY OF AUTOMORPHIC FUNCTIONS‎

‎Theorie des Groupes fuchsiens (+) Mémoire sur les Fonctions fuchsiennes (+) Sur les Fonctions de deux Variables (+) Mémoire sur les groupes kleinéens (+) Sur les groupes des équations linéaires (+) Mémoire sur les fonctions zétafuchsiennes. - [THE DISCOVERY OF AUTOMORPHIC FUNCTIONS]‎

‎Berlin, Stockholm, Paris, F. & G. Beijer, 1882-84. Large4to (272 x 230 mm). Three volumes uniformly bound in contemporary half calf with gilt lettering to spine. In ""Acta Mathematica"", volume 1-5. Light wear to extremities, boards and spines with scratches. Stamp to verso of front board in all volumes. First three leaves in first volume detached, otherwise internally fine and clean. Vol. I, pp. 1-62" Pp. 193-294 Vol. II, pp. 97-113 Vol. III. pp. 49-92 Vol. IV pp. 201-312" Vol. V pp. 209-278.‎

‎First publication of these groundbreaking papers which together constitute the discovery of Automorphic Functions. ""Before he was thirty years of age, Poincaré became world famous with his epoch-making discovery of the ""automorphic functions"" of one complex variable (or, as he called them, the ""fuchsian"" and ""kleinean"" functions)."" (DSB).These manuscripts, written between 28 June and 20 December 1880, show in detail how Poincaré exploited a series of insights to arrive at his first major contribution to mathematics: the discovery of the automorphic functions. In particular, the manuscripts corroborate Poincaré's introspective account of this discovery (1908), in which the real key to his discovery is given to be the recognition that the transformations he had used to define Fuchsian functions are identical with those of non-Euclidean geometry. (See Walter, Poincaré, Jules Henri French mathematician and scientist).The idea was to come in an indirect way from the work of his doctoral thesis on differential equations. His results applied only to restricted classes of functions and Poincaré wanted to generalize these results but, as a route towards this, he looked for a class functions where solutions did not exist. This led him to functions he named Fuchsian functions after Lazarus Fuchs but were later named automorphic functions. First editions and first publications of these epochmaking papers representing the discovery of ""automorphic functions"", or as Poincaré himself called them, the ""Fuchsian"" and ""Kleinian"" functions.""By 1884 Poincaré published five major papers on automorphic functions in the first five volumes of the new Acta Mathematica. When the first of these was published in the first volume of the new Acta Mathematica, Kronecker warned the editor, Mittag-Leffler, that this immature and obscure article would kill the journal. Guided by the theory of elliptic functions, Poincarë invented a new class of automorphic functions. This class was obtained by considering the inverse function of the ratio of two linear independent solutions of an equation. Thus this entire class of linear diffrential equations is solved by the use of these new transcendental functions of Poincaré."" (Morris Kline).Poincaré explains how he discovered the Automorphic Functions: ""For fifteen days I strove to prove that there could not be any functions like those I have since called Fuchsian functions, I was then very ignorant" every day I seated myself at my work table, stayed an hour or two, tried a great number of combinations and reached no results. One evening, contrary to my custom, I drank black coffee and could not sleep. Ideas rose in crowds I felt them collide until pairs interlocked, so to speak, making a stable combination. By the next morning I had established the existence of a Class of Fuchsian functions, those which come from hypergeometric series" i had only to write out the results, which took but a few hours...the transformations that I had used to define the Fuchsian functions were identical with those of Non-Euclidean geometry...""‎

Bookseller reference : 60243

‎"DONNÉ, AL. (ALFRED). - THE DISCOVERY OF BLOOD-PLATELETS.‎

‎De l'origine des globules du Sang, de leur mode de formation et de leur fin.‎

‎(Paris, Bachelier), 1842. 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 14, No. 10. Pp. (349-) 378. (Entire issue offered). Donné's paper: pp. 366-368.‎

‎First printing of the paper, announcing the discovery of blood-platelets, THE THIRD CORPUSCLES OF THE BLOOD. Platelets, or thrombocytes or yellow blood cells, are very small, irregularly shaped clear cell fragments (i.e. cells that do not have a nucleus containing DNA), 2-3 µm in diameter, which derive from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes. The average lifespan of a platelet is normally just 5 to 9 days. Platelets are a natural source of growth factors. They circulate in the blood of mammals and are involved in hemostasis, leading to the formation of blood clots. Platelets release thread-like fibers to form these clots.Garrison & Morton, 864.‎

Bookseller reference : 59217

‎"BALARD, ANTOINE JÉROME. - THE DISCOVERY OF THE ELEMENT BROMINE‎

‎Mémoire sur une Substance particulière contenue dans l'eau de la mer (le brôme).‎

‎Paris, Crochard, 1826. Contemp. hcloth. Gilt lettering on spine. In: ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique, par Gay-Lussac et Arago"", tome 32. 448 pp., 3 folded engraved plates. Balard's paper: pp. 337-84. Entire volume offered with original memoirs by Savart, Berzelius, Humboldt, Arago, Poisson, Liebig, Dumas et al.‎

‎First printing of Balard's famous memoire in which he records his discovery of the new element Bromine (le brôme). While he was studying the flora of a salt marsh, he notized a deposit of sodium saulfate which had crystallized out in a pan containing mother liquer from common salts. ""In an attempt to find a use for the waste liquers he performed a number of experiments, and notized that when certain reagents were added, the mother liquer bacame brown. His investigation of this phenomenon,...ked to the remarkable discovery....(Weeks p. 264). ""The discovery of a new chemical element by a young and obscure provincial pharmacist caused a sensation in Paris. Balard's achievemnt was recognized by the Academie des Sciences and he was awarded a medal by the Royal Society of London.""(DSB I, p. 416). ""The discovery of bromine is a very importent acquisition to chemistry, and gives M. Balrad honorable rank inthe career of the sciences. We are of the opinion that this young chemist is every way worthy of the encouragement of the Academy, and we have the honour to propose that his memoir shall be printed in the ""Recueil des Savants Étrangers"" (The report from the French Academy, signed by Vaugelin, Thenard, and Gay-Lussac).‎

Bookseller reference : 59047

‎BECQUEREL, Henri.‎

‎Recherches sur une propriété nouvelle de la matière. Activité radiante spontanée ou radioactivité de la matière. Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences de l’Institut de France. Tome quarante-sixième.‎

‎Paris, Typographie de Firmin-Didot et Cie. 1903, 300x245mm, 360pages, broché. Couverture supérieure détachée, dos fendu. A faire relier. Intérieure en très bon état, aucun défaut. Sous emboitage. Cet exemplaire attend les soins d’un bon reliure afin d’en être dignement et justement habillé selon son importance historique et son impacte phénomal dans les découvertes scientifiques.‎

‎13 planches en n/b de 33 figures, Pour un paiement via PayPal, veuillez nous en faire la demande et nous vous enverrons une facture PayPal‎

Bookseller reference : 80428

‎FLAHAULT, Ch.‎

‎Nordenskiold. Notice sur sa vie et ses voyages. (Avec un portrait et une carte lithographiée).‎

‎Paris, K. Nilson 1880, 240x155mm, frontispice, 76pages, broché. Déchirures sur les bords des couverture et au dos. Signature de l’auteur sur le haut de la couverture supérieure, intérieur propre.‎

‎avec la carte dépliante à la fin du livre, Pour un paiement via PayPal, veuillez nous en faire la demande et nous vous enverrons une facture PayPal‎

Bookseller reference : 104389