‎Physics‎

‎"REGNAULT, V. (HENRI VICTOR) - THE LAW OF DULONG AND PETIT CONFIRMED.‎

‎Recherches sur la chaleur spécifique des corps simples et des corps composés.‎

‎(Paris, Bachelier), 1840. 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 10, No 16. Pp. (671-) 670. (Entire issue offered). Regnault's paper: pp. 658-663. A few small inkspots on first page.‎

‎"REICHE, F. (+) A. SMEKAL.‎

‎Zur Theorie der Röntgenspektren.‎

‎Leipzig, Ambrosius Barth, 1918. 8vo. In full black cloth with gilt lettering to spine. In ""Annalen der Physik"", Vierte Folge, Band 57. Entire volume offered. Library labels to front end papers and stamp to title page, otherwise fine and clean. Pp. 124-144. [Entire volume: (1), 632, VIII pp.].‎

‎"REICHENBACH, HANS.‎

‎Axiomatik der relativistischen Raum-Zeit-Lehre.‎

‎Braunschweig, Vieweg & Sohn, 1924. Orig. clothbacked boards. Stamps to foot of titlepage. X,161,(1) pp., textdiagrams. From the library of the Danish logician and philosopher Jørgen Jørgensen with his name on front free endpaper. Clean and fine.‎

‎"REINOLD, A.W.‎

‎On the Relation between the Thickness and the Surface Tension of Liquid Fluids. received May 15, - Read May 27, 1886.‎

‎(London, Harrison and Sons, 1887). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1886 - Vol. 177 - Part II. Pp. 627-684 a. 1 engraved plate (apparatus).‎

‎"RENNER, R.‎

‎Zur Theorie der Wechselwirkung zwischen Elektronen- und Kernbewegung bei dreiatomigen, stabförmigen Molekülen. - [THE RENNER-TELLER EFFECT]‎

‎Berlin, Springer, 1934. 8vo. In contemporary halv cloth with gilt lettering to spine. In ""Zeitschrift für Physik"", Bd. 92, 1934. Entire volume offered. Stamp to front free end-paper and titlepage, otherwise fine and clean. Pp. 172-93. [Entire volume: VIII, 830 pp.].‎

‎"RENNER, R.‎

‎Zur Theorie der Wechselwirkung zwischen Elektronen- und Kernbewegung bei dreiatomigen, stabförmigen Molekülen. - [THE RENNER-TELLER EFFECT]‎

‎Berlin, Springer, 1934. 8vo. In contemporary halv cloth with gilt lettering to spine. In ""Zeitschrift für Physik"", Bd. 92, 1934. Entire volume offered. Stamp to front free end-paper and titlepage, otherwise fine and clean. Pp. 172-93. [Entire volume: VIII, 830 pp.].‎

‎First appearance of Renner's seminal paper containing what was to become known first as the Renner effect, later the Renner-teller effect. It was the first work to study the dynamic effects that go beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, in which the nuclear and electronic motions in a molecule are uncoupled.Because Renner is the only author of the 1934 paper that first described the effect, it was long called the Renner effect. However, as Herzberg's prestigious books refer to it as the Renner-Teller effect (after Edward Teller), it is now more common to use both names.‎

Bookseller reference : 49164

‎"REYNOLDS, OSBORNE & W.H. MOORBY - DETERMINING A PHYSICAL CONSTANT.‎

‎Bakerian Lecture. - On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat. Received March 10, - Read May 20, 1897.‎

‎(London, Harrison and Sons, 1898). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1897 - Vol. 190 - Series A.. Pp. 301-422, 6 plates and textillustr. Clean and fine.‎

‎"REYNOLDS, OSBORNE - THERMAL OSMOSIS & THERMAL TRANSPIRATION.‎

‎On certain Dimensional Properties of Matter in the Gaseous State. Part I. Experimental Reseraches on Thermal Transpiration of Gases through Porous Plates and on the Laws of Transpiration and Impulsion, including an Experimental Proof that Gas is not a...‎

‎(London, Harrison and Sons, 1879). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1879 - Vol. 170 - Part II. Pp. 727-845 and 3 plates. The plates slightly brownspotted, otehrwise fine and clean.‎

‎"RICE, S. O.‎

‎Mathematical Analysis of Random Noise (+) Mathematical Analysis of Random Noise (Concluded) (+) Statistical Properties of a Sine Wave Plus Random Noise. - [THE RICE DISTRIBUTION]‎

‎New York, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 1944, 1945 & 1948. 8vo. 3 issues of ""The Bell System Technical Journal"" offered. 1944, July, Vol. XXIII, No. 3" 1945, January, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 1948, January, Vol. XXVII, No. 1. All in the original printed blue wrappers. Some wear and sunning to spine, otherwise fine and clean copies. Pp. 282-332 46-156 109-157.‎

‎"RICE, S. O.‎

‎Mathematical Analysis of Random Noise. - [THE RICE DISTRIBUTION]‎

‎New York, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 1944. 8vo. In the original printed blue wrappers. In ""The Bell System Technical Journal"", Volume XXIII, Number 3, January 1944. Entire issue offered. Light miscolouring to spine and previous owner's signature to front wrapper. Other wise a very fine and clean copy. Pp. 282-332. [Entire issue: Pp. 207-336.].‎

‎"RITTER, (JOHANN W.). - THE DISCOVERY OF ""CHEMICAL RAYS"" - ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT AND RADIATION.‎

‎Announcing his discovery of ultraviolet light ""Von den Herren Ritter und Bückmann. - - Am 22sten Febr. habe ich auch auf der Seite des Violetts im Farbespectrum, ausserhalb desselben, Sonnenstrahlen angetroffen....‎

‎Halle, Rengerschen Buchhandlung, 1801. Without wrappers as published in ""Annalen der Physik. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert"", Bd. 7, Viertes Stück. The entire issue offered (=Heft 4). Pp. 387-528. Ritter's announcement p. 525. With titlepage to volume 7. Clean and fine. Titlepage a bit shavedin inner margin.‎

‎"RITTER, J. W. (JOHANN WILHELM).‎

‎Neue Versuche und Bemerkungen über den Galvanismus. Erster- Zweiter Brief. (1. Über die Spannungsreihe der Leiter und über die Stelle des Palladium und anderer Metallgemische in ihr. - 2. Von der Wirkung grösserer Voltaischer Säulen auf die Sinnesorga...‎

‎Halle, Rengerschen Buchhandlung, 1804-05. No wrappers. In: ""Annalen der Physik. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert"", Bd. 16, Dritter Stück und Bd. 19, Erstes Stück. With titlepages to vol. 16 and 19. Pp. (257- 384 a. 2 engraved plates + pp. 1-144 a. 2 engraveed plates. (2 entire issues offered). Ritter's papers: pp. 293-335 a. pp. 1-44. Titlepages with stamps, also on verso. Some scattered brownspots.‎

‎"RITTER, JOHANN WILHELM - THE INVENTION OF THE DRY CELL BATTERY.‎

‎Versuche mit einer Voltaischen Zink - Kupfer - Batterie von 600 Lagen.‎

‎(Halle, Rengerschen Buchhandlung, 1803). Without wrappers. Extracted from ""Annalen der Physik. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert"", Bd. 13, Erstes Stück. Pp. 1-72 and 2 folded engraved plates. A faint dampstain to lower part of some leaves and to the plates..‎

‎"ROETKEN, A. A. & K. D. SMITH & R. W. FRIIS.‎

‎The TD-2 Microwave Radio Relay System. - [THE PAPER SAVED IN THE WESTINGHOUSE TIME CAPSULE II]‎

‎New York, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 1951. 8vo. In the original printed blue wrappers. In ""The Bell System Technical Journal."", Volume XXX, October, 1951, No. 4, Part II. The entire volume offered. Pp. 1041-1077. [Entire volume: pp. 1041-1255]. Wear to spine, otherwise very fine. Previous owner's name [Regnar Svensson] to front wrapper. Internally fine and clean.‎

‎First publication of the highly influential radio system TD-2. The TD-2 was the backbone of all transcontinental television broadcasting and long distance telephone traffic, before satellite transmission was made possible. This paper is one out of three selected papers from Bell System Technical Journal to be saved in the Westinghouse Time Capsule II. Time Capsule II was created for the 1964 New York World's Fair and is not to be opened until the year 6939, four thousand years after the first time capsule was created. ""The first transcontinental microwave radio system was the AT&T TD-2 route from New York to San Francisco. This system employed 100 repeater stations operating in the 4-GHz band using a 20-MHz channel bandwidth to relay 480 voices channels on a frequency modulated radio carrier ""(Ishii, Thomas Koryu, Handbook of Microwave Technology, 1995, p. 449).‎

Bookseller reference : 43314

‎"ROMAS, (JACQUES) DE. - INVENTING THE ELECTRICAL KITE BEFORE FRANKLIN ?‎

‎Mémoire, ou aprés donné un moyen aisé pour élever fort haut, & à peu de frais, un corps Electrisable isolé, on rapporte des observations frappantes, qui provent que plus le corps isolé est élevé au dessus de la terre, plus le feu de l'Électricitè est ...‎

‎(Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1755). 4to. Extract from ""Mémoires fe Mathematique et de Physique, Présentés à l'Academie des Sciences par divers Savans"", Tome II. Pp. 393-407. With titlepage to vol. II. Clean and fine.‎

‎Firs appearance of the paper in which De Romas describes his invention of the electrical kite.""De Romas, who independently of Franklin hit on the electrical kite, seems to have proposed an experiment much like that of Marly in 1750 or 1751. He fiercely defended his independence against Priestly's insinuation that he merely improved upon Franklin's demonstrations...In fact de Romas drew his inspiration from the Bordeaux prize question of 1749 which, in turn, derived from Nollet's speculations.""(Heilbron ""Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries"", p. 351).‎

Bookseller reference : 45002

‎"RUE, WARREN DE LA AND HUGO W. MÜLLER. - EARLY TELEVISION.‎

‎Experimental Researches on the Electric Discharge with the Chloride of Silver Battery. Part I-III. (I. The Discharge at Ordinary atmospheric Pressures. Read December 13, 1877. - II. The Discharge in Exhausted Tubes. Read May 16, 1878. - III. Tube-Pote...‎

‎(London, Harrison and Sons, 1878, 1878 a. 1880). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"", Vol. 169, 1878 a. Vol. 171, 1880. Pp. 55-121, textillustr. a. 3 plates - pp. 155-241, textillustr. a. 4 plates facsimiles of photographs - pp. 65-116, textillustr. a. 3 plates, facsimiles of photographs. Last leaf in part III with a tear, no loss. 4 plates with a faint dampstain to margin not affecting images. Otherwise clean and fine.‎

‎"RUMFORD, BENJAMIN COUNT (BENJAMIN THOMPSON). - THE MECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT.‎

‎An Enquiry concerning the Nature of Heat, and the Mode of its Communication. Read february 2, 1804.‎

‎(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1804). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1804 - Part I. Pp. 77-182 and 2 engraved plates (showing his experimental apparatus). First and last leaves with some faint browning and brownspots. The plates with some browspots, mainly to margins. Wide-margined.‎

‎First appearance of Rumford's second large paper on the mechanical equivalent of heat, in which he owerthrows the caloric theory. Rumford's early papers were importent steps towards the conception of the principle of the ""Conservation of Energy"" and the thermodynamical laws.""The importence of this investigation here entered into, - inasmuch as it applies to most of the operations of nature as well as art, - appears so manifest, that we shall not recapitulate what the author advances on the subject. before he proceeds to the details of his experiments for the purpose oof computing the emissions of heat from various bodies under a variety of circumstances, he finds it necessary to prmise a minute description of the principal part of the apparatus he contrived for the purpose...""(Abstract).In his famous paper of 1798 ""An Inquiry Concerning the Source of Heat Which is Exicited by Friction"" showed that heat is a form of motion and not a substance as it was seen in the 18th century.""He had been lead to the hypothesis that friction is an inexhaustable source of heat while considering the boring of a canon at Munich's military arsenal and had proceeded to experiment with brass guns at the arsenal. The experiments confirm the hypothesis, justifying his conclusion that heat is not a material substance as others had believed. He goeson to equate heat to motion.""(Parkinson in ""Breakthroughs"" 1798 P.)‎

Bookseller reference : 45131

‎"RUMFORD, BENJAMIN COUNT.‎

‎An Inquiry concerning the Weight ascribed to Heat. Read before the Royal Society May 2, 1799.‎

‎London, Davis, (1799-1800). 8vo. Contemp. blue boards. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. Spine slightly rubbed. In: ""The Philosophical Magazine. By Alexander Tilloch"", Vol. V. - VI,422,4 pp. and 7 engraved plates. (Entire voulume offered). Rumford's paper: pp. 162-174. (November 1799). Internally clean.‎

‎Rumford's paper was published the same year in ""Philosophical Transactions"". His experiments with heat tried to show that heat is not a material substance, are famous episodes in the history of physics as they gave the death blow to the so-called caloric theory of heat.The volume contains also WILLIAM HERSCHEL ""On the nature and Construction of the Sun and Fixed Stars"", pp. 114-123 a. 222-232, originally published in the ""Transactions"" in 1794.‎

Bookseller reference : 49294

‎"RUMFORD, GRAFEN von (BENJAMIN THOMPSON). - THE ECONOMY OF HEAT.‎

‎Beyträge zur Lehre von der Wärme in physikalisher und ökonomischer Rücksicht.‎

‎(Halle, Rengerschen Buchhandlung, 1800) Without wrappers. In ""Annalen der Physik. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert"", Bd. 3, Drittes Stück. (The entire issue offered). Pp. 257-376 a. 3 folded engraved plates. Rumford's paper: 257-376.‎

‎First appearance in German of selected papers from Rumford's Experimental Essays on heat, describing smoky fireplaces and his design of more efficient fireplaces using radiant heat better. He discovers that mat surfaces radiate heat better than shiny ones etc. etc.‎

Bookseller reference : 43873

‎"RUMFORD, GRAFEN von (BENJAMIN THOMPSON). - WEAKENING THE CALORIC THEORY OF HEAT.‎

‎Bemerkungen über dias eigenthümliche Gesetz, wonach erkaltendes Wasser nahe beim Frostpunkte seine Dichtigkeit ändert, und über die auffallenden Wirkungen dieses Gesetzes in der Oekonomie der Natur, sammt Vermuthungen über die Endursache der Salzigkei...‎

‎(Halle, Rengerschen Buchhandlung, 1799). Without wrappers. In ""Annalen der Physik. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert"", Bd. 1 Viertes Stück und Bd. 2, Drittes Stück. (The entire issues offered). Pp. 379-518 a. 2 folded engravd plates + pp. 249-368 a. 2 folded engraved plates. Rumford's papers: pp. 436-463 a. pp. 249-286.‎

‎First German editions of Rumford's central essays on heat flows in liquids, describing his DISCOVERY OF THE CONVECTION OF HEAT and his experiments that led to his theory of the CONVECTION CURRENTS IN THE OCEAN. The papers appeared originally in the Philosophical Transactions in 1798.‎

Bookseller reference : 43872

‎"RUSKA, E [ERNST] (+) M. KNOLL.‎

‎Das Elektronenmikroskop (+) Die elektronenmikroskopische Abbildung elektronenbestrahlter Obberflächen (+) Zur Fokussierbarkeit von Kathodenstrahlbündeln grosser Ausgangsquerschnitte. - [NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS IN 1986. THE NOBEL PRIZE COMMITTEE: ""ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INNOVATIONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY""]‎

‎Berlin, Julius Springer, 1932 & 1933. 8vo. In two half cloth bindings with gilt lettering to spines. In ""Zeitschrift für Physik"". Vol. 78, 1932 & Vol. 83, 1933. Library stamp to free front end-paper and title-pages. A nice and clean set. (Vol. 78:) Pp. 318-339" (Vol. 83:] [Entire volumes: VII, 857 pp." VIII, 845 pp.].‎

‎First printing of Ruska and Knoll's two seminal papers which constitute the first theoretical and practical description of an electron microscope. This invention allowed researchers for the first time to view objects as small as the diameter of an atom. Not only did the discovery have profound influence on physics, it also revolutionized biological research, as it now became possible to distinguish individual molecules. Ruska received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1986 for his discovery regarding the electron microscope, which by the Committee was described ""as one of the most important innovations of the 20th century"".In 1933 the theoretical description presented in the present paper [1932] led Ruska to build a two-stage electron microscope with a resolution exceeding that of the optical microscope [described in the 1932 paper]. The technique behind it is largely built upon de Broglie's revolutionary theory regarding the wavelength of electrons. In 1931, working closely with Knoll, Ruska built the first electron lens, an electromagnet that could focus a beam of electrons, as if it were light. Using several such lenses, he was able to construct a prototype of an electron microscope, though with only the ability to magnify a meager 17 times. Yet, he had proven that the task was possible and he continued to improve his design. By 1933, Ruska's electron microscope, termed a transmission microscope, was much more powerful. The instrument worked by passing electrons through a thin slice of the specimen to be studied, which were then deflected to a photographic film emulsion or projected onto a fluorescent screen, generating an image at high magnification. In fact, the device was capable of magnifying specimens up to 10 times more than a contemporary light microscope.To build a commercial version of his microscope, Ruska was forced to briefly leave the academic world and delve into private industry. He joined the Siemens Company as an electrical engineer in 1937 and the company released its first marketable electron microscope, based on Ruska's design, in 1939.The volume contains many important contributions to 20th century physics, among others: Heisenberg, W. Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II. Pp. 156-64: This is the second paper in a series of three which presents Heisenberg's neutron-proton model. Shortly after Chadwick discoverd the neutron in 1932, Heisenberg developed a theory suggesting that atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, this introduced the concept of the nuclear exchange force and isotopic spin. (DSB 17: p.398).‎

Bookseller reference : 48975

‎"RUSKA, E [ERNST] (+) M. KNOLL.‎

‎Das Elektronenmikroskop. - [INVENTION OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPE - NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS 1986]‎

‎Berlin, Julius Springer, 1932. 8vo. Bound in a contemporary half cloth. In ""Zeitschrift für Physik"". Library stamp to free front end-paper and title-page. A nice and clean copy. Pp. 318-339. [Entire volume: VII, 857 pp.].‎

‎First printing of Ruska and Knoll's seminal paper in which the first description of an electron microscope appears. This allowed researchers for the first time to view objects as small as the diameter of an atom. Not only did the discovery have profound influence on physics, it also revolutionized biological research, as it now became possible to distinguish individual molecules. Ruska received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1986 for his discovery regarding the electron microscope.In 1933 the theoretical description presented in the present paper led Ruska to build a two-stage electron microscope with a resolution exceeding that of the optical microscope. The technique behind is largely built upon de Broglie's revolutionary theory regarding the wavelength of electrons. The volume contains many important contributions to 20th century physics, among others: Heisenberg, W. Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II. Pp. 156-64: This is the second paper in a series of three which presents Heisenberg's neutron-proton model. Shortly after Chadwick discoverd the neutron in 1932, Heisenberg developed a theory suggesting that atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, this introduced the concept of the nuclear exchange force and isotopic spin. (DSB 17: p.398).‎

Bookseller reference : 44352

‎"RUTHERFORD, E.‎

‎Übertragung erregter Radioaktivität.‎

‎[Leipzig, Hirzel, 1902]. Royal8vo, [275 x 195 mm]. Without wrappers, as issued. Offprint from ""Physikalische Zeitschrift"", 3. Jahrgang, No. 10. Pp. 210-214. With ""Ueberreicht vom Verfasser"" printed in top right corner of first leaf. Small blue gummed labels (from the library of Becquerel) pasted to top of first leaf. First leaf with brownspotting in inner margin. Traces after having been folded hjorizontally, otherwise fine.‎

‎Rare offprint, given by the author to Henri Becquerel, of Rutherford's important paper on the transferal of excited radioactivity. British-New Zealand chemist and physicist, Ernest Rutherford, became known as the father of nuclear physics. He discovered the concept of radioactive half life, proved that radioactivity involved the transmutation of one chemical element to another, and also differentiated and named alpha and beta radiation.Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1908 for ""for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances"". Becquerel was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903 for ""in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity"".‎

Bookseller reference : 52166

‎"RUTHERFORD, E. (ERNEST) (+) FREDERICK SODDY.‎

‎The Cause and Nature of Radioactivity I (+) The Cause and Nature of Radioactivity II. - [THEORY OF RADIOACTIVITY]‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1902. 8vo. Bound in contemporary half calf with marbled boards and gilt lettering to spine. Two title labels in red and black with gilt lettering to spine and five rasied bands with gilt ornamentation. In ""Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science"", Sixth Series, Vol. 4, 1902. Front hinge cracked, frontboard almost detached.L Library label pasted on to pasted down front free end-paper and library stamp to verso of title page. A very fine and clean copy. Pp. 370-96"" Pp. 569-585. [Entire volume: (8), 732 pp. + 6 plates.‎

‎First printing of Rutherford and Soddy's seminal paper on the nature of radioactivity, ""the revolutionary theory that radio-activity is a by-product of the transmutation of one form of matter into another."" (PMM 411). The theory ""provided the break with the past that was clearly needed [...] In this great theory of radioactivity which these young men sprung on the learned, timid, rather unbelieving, and, as yet, unquantized world of physics of 1902 and 1903, they unabashedly but forward the idea that some atomic species are subject to spontaneous transmutation."" (PAIS, Inward Bound).They both were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work within radioactivity. Rutherford and Soddy introduced the expression ""atomic energy"" in this paper, ""not just for the energy released by a radioactive element, but much more generally for the energy locked in any atom"" (Brown et al., Twentieth Century Physics, I, p. 63).""By this time Rutherford had recognized the need for skilled chemical assistance in his radioactivity investigations and had secured the services of a young chemistry demonstrator at McGill, Frederick Soddy. Together they removed most of the activity from a thorium compound, calling the active matter thorium X"" but they too found that the X product lost its activity and that the thorium recovered its original level in a few weeks. Had Becquerel's similar finding for uranium not been immediately at hand, they might have searched for errors in their work. In early 1902, however, they began to plot the activities as a function of time, seeing evidence of a fundamental relationship in the equality of the time for thorium X to decay to half value and thorium to double in activity.This work led directly to Rutherford's greatest achievement at McGill, for with Soddy he advanced the still-accepted explanation of radioactivity. Their iconoclastic theory, variously called transformation, transmutation, and disintegration, first appeared in 1902 and was refined in the following year. Although alchemy had long been exorcised from scientific chemistry, they declared that ""radioactivity is at once an atomic phenomenon and the accompaniment of a chemical change in which new kinds of matter are produced."" The radioactive atoms decay, they argued, each decay signifying the transmutation of a parent into a daughter element, and each type of atom undergoing its transformation in a characteristic period. This insight set the course for their next several years of research, for the task was then to order all the known radioelements into decay series and to search for additional members of these families."" (DSB)The volume contains several other important papers by contemporary phycicians.‎

Bookseller reference : 47098

‎"RUTHERFORD, E. (ERNEST) and T. ROYDS. - THE FINAL PROOF OF THE NATURE OF ALPHA-PARTICLES.‎

‎The Nature of the alpha Particle.‎

‎Manchester, 1909. 8vo. Contemp. full cloth. Orig. printed paper label on spine (a bit chipped). In: ""Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Phlosophical Society. (Manchester Memoirs.). Volume LIII. (1908-09). Entire volume offered. The volume contains 24 papers, all with seperate pagination. Rutherford's paper: pp. 1-3.‎

‎First printing of the paper which Rutherford and Royds gave the final proof that the alpha particle are atoms of helium. The present paper was read on November 3rd 1908 and published on the 19th. It was reprinted in Philosophical Magazine and that paper is dated November 13, 1908 and published February 1909.""After nearly a decade of labor, Rutherford was finally prepared to state... what the alpha particle really was ""We may conclude that an alpha-particle is a helium atom, or, to be more precise, the alpha-particle, after it has lost its positive charge, is a helium atom"". In a paper together with Royds, completed in November 1908, he was even more emphatic: ""We can conclude with certainty... that the alpha-particle is a helium atom... They had shown that a discharge sent through a volume in which alpha-particles from radium had been collected produced the characteristic helium spectrum !""(Pais ""Inward Bound"", p. 61).""Rutherford’s early conviction that the alpha particle was a doubly charged helium atom, but he had not succeeded in proving that belief. In 1908 he and Geiger were able to fire alpha particles into an evacuated tube containing a central, charged wire and to record single events. Ionization by collision, a process studied by Rutherford’s former colleague at Cambridge, J. S. E. Townsend, caused a magnification of the single particle’s charge sufficient to give the electrometer a measurable ""kick."" By this means they were able to count, for the first time accurately and directly, the number of alpha particles emitted per second from a gram of radium.This experiment enabled Rutherford and Geiger to confirm that every alpha particle causes a faint but discrete flash when it strikes a luminescent zinc sulfide screen, and thus led directly to the widespread method of scintillation counting. It was also the origin of the electrical and electronic methods of particle counting in which Geiger later pioneered. But at this time the scintillation technique, now proved reliable, was more convenient. This counting work also led Rutherford and Geiger to the most accurate value of the fundamental electric charge e before Millikan performed his oil-drop experiment. They measured the total charge from a radium source and divided it by the number of alphas counted to obtain the charge per particle. Since this figure was about twice the previous values of e. they concluded that the alpha was indeed helium with a double charge. But Rutherford still desired decisive, direct proof"" and here his skilled glassblower came to his aid. Otto Baumbach in 1908 was able to construct glass tubes thin enough to be transparent to the rapidly moving alpha particles yet capable of containing a gas. Such a tube was filled with emanation and was placed within a larger tube made of thicker glass. In time, alpha particles from the decaying emanation penetrated into and were trapped in the space between inner and outer tubes: and when ROYDS SPARKED THE MATERIAL IN THIS SPACE, THEY SAW THE SPECTRUM OF HELIUM."" (DSB).The volume contains 2 other importent papers by Rutherford 1. ""Some Properties of the Radium Emanations"" (issued Nov. 19th, 1908) and 2. together withY. Tuomikoski ""Differences in the Decay of the Radium Emanations"" (issued April 7th, 1909).‎

Bookseller reference : 46953