‎Thé‎

‎"The Usual Gang of Idiots""‎

‎Mad About the Sixties‎

‎Quality Paperback Book Club 1996. Softcover. VG-/na. Some rubbing & edgewear; small creases & scratches; yellowing/discoloration & some duststaining; otherwise overall clean & tight. Quality Paperback Book Club paperback‎

Référence libraire : 40723 ISBN : 0316334189 9780316334181

‎"The Vagabond" F A Wills‎

‎The English Gate Northumberland‎

‎North-East Publications 1111. Hardcover. Good. Special Edition. 243 pages. No dust jacket. Signed by the author. Orange cloth with gilt lettering. Signed by the author & Illustrator with dedication to front free endpaper. Pen inscription to title page. Contains black & white illustrations and plates. Ex Libris sticker to rear of title page. Pages are mildly tanned throughout. Text is clear. Binding remains firm. Boards have moderate edge-wear with bumping to corners and rubbing to surfaces. Visible sunning & crushing to spine. Book has a slight forward lean. Noticeable brown staining. Gilt lettering remains bright and clear. North-East Publications hardcover‎

Référence libraire : 1669914834GEO

‎"The Voice of Experience"‎

‎Stranger Than Fiction‎

‎New York: Dodd Mead & Company 1934. Second printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Cloth; dust jacket; 8vo; pp. xiii 3 198. Spine tips and edges of boards very lightly rubbed; some very faint foxing along edges of text block nowhere infringing into margins or text itself. Dust jacket a bit scuffed along the edges; sunned along spine; tiny chips at spine tips and corners. Nineteen stories collected from the radio. <br/><br/> Dodd, Mead & Company hardcover books‎

Référence libraire : JC9653

‎"THE WARDMASTER"" [Disabled Men's Association of Australia]‎

‎The home nurse‎

‎Melbourne : Veritas Pub. Co. 1930. Octavo 183 x 123 mm illustrated stiff wrappers 63 pp a very good copy. unknown‎

Référence libraire : 23343

‎"TINSEAU (D'AMONDANS, CHARLES de). - GENERALIZATION OF THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM.‎

‎Solution de quelques Problêmes relatifs à la Théorie des Surfaces courbes, & des Courbes à double courbure. (Présenté en 1774).‎

‎(Paris, Moutard, Panckoucke, 1780). 4to. Extract from ""Mémoires fe Mathematique et de Physique, Présentés à l'Academie des Sciences par divers Savans"", Tome IX. Pp. 593-624 and 2 folded engraved plates. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of an importent papwer in the history of analytic geometry.""In this article Tinseau gave an interesting generalization of the Pythagorean theorem for space of three dimensions: the square of the area of a plane surface is equal to the sum of the squares of the projection of this surface upon three mutually perpendicular coordinate planes....To Tinseau it appears that the use of the word ""conoid"" in the modern sense is due.""(Boyer ""History of Analytic Geometry, p. 207).""Two of the three memoirs that constitute Tinseau’s oeuvre deal with topics in the theory of surfaces and curves of double curvature: planes tangent to a surface, contact curves of circumscribed cones or cylinders, various surfaces attached to a space curve, the determination of the osculatory plane at a point of a space curve, problems of quadrature and cubature involving ruled surfaces, the study of the properties of certain special ruled surfaces (particularly conoids), and various results in the analytic geometry of space. In these two papers the equation of the tangent plane at a point of a surface was first worked out in detail (the equation had been known since Parent), methods of descriptive geometry were used in determining the perpendicular common to two straight lines in space, and the Pythagorean theorem was generalized to space (the square of a plane area is equal to the sum of the squares of the projections of this area on mutually perpendicular planes). (DSB). Although Tinseau published very little, his papers are of great interest as additions to Monge’s earliest works. Indeed, Tinseau appears to have been Monge’s first disciple.‎

Référence libraire : 44931

‎"TRONCHIN, (THEODORE) - ""THE POITOU-COLIC""‎

‎De Colica Pictonum.‎

‎Genevæ, Fratres Cramer, 1757. Cont. boards. Light staining to upper corner on frontcover. XII,82 pp. A few scattered brownspots. On good paper.‎

‎First edition. ""Tronchin, sometimes physician to Voltaire, showed that the so-called ""Poitou-colic"" was caused by drinking water which had passed through lead gutters. Tronchin introduced inoculation into Holland, France, and Switzerland"" he was Boerhaave's favourite pupil and became a very wealthy practioner."" (Garrison & Morton No. 2095). - Waller 9686.‎

Référence libraire : 28781

‎"TSCHIRNHAUS, EHRENFRIED W. V. [FIRST PUBLICATION OF THE ""TSCHIRNHAUS TRANSFORMATION"".]‎

‎Methodus datae figurae, rectis lineis & curva Geometrica terminate, aut Quadraturam, aut impossibilitatem ejusdem Quadraturae determinandi. (+) Nova Methodus determinandi Maxima & Minima (+) Aufrendi omnes terminos intermedios ex data aequatione. - [FORCED LEIBNIZ TO PUBLISH THE CALCULUS]‎

‎Leipzig, Grosse & Gleditsch, 1683. 4to. Contemporary full vellum. Handwritten title on spine. Library label to pasted down front free end-paper and a small stamps on titlepage. In: ""Acta Eruditorum Anno MDCLXXXIII"". As usual with various browning to leaves and plates. Tschirnhaus' paper: pp. 122-124" Pp. 204-207" Pp. 433-437. [Entire volume: (8), 561, (7) pp + 13 plates].‎

‎First appearance of Tschirnhaus's three exceedingly important papers which were to to initiate one of the most famous mathematical discoveries. In the papers he used infinitisimal methods which were very close to Leibniz's method and where he tried to lay down criteria for rational quadratures in the case of conic, cubic and quadratic curves, papers that led Leibniz to publish his first paper on the differential calculus, the ""Nova Methoda"" in the Acta for 1684 in order to secure his priority over Tschirnhaus concerning the calculus. Leibniz discovered, when he read Tschirnhaus' papers, that Tschirnhaus had here published results showing similarity with Leibniz's invention of the calculus as he had confided to Tschirnhaus earlier, during their Parisian stay, and this without references to Leibniz.The present volume of Acta also contain the first edition of Tschirnhaus' ""Tschirnhaus Tranformation"". Tschirnhaus work intensively on finding a general method for solving equations of higher of higher degree. ""His transformations constituted the most promising contribution to the solution of equations during the seventeenth century" but his elimination of the second and third coefficients by means of such transformation was far from adequate for the solution of the quintic.(Boyer. A History of Mathematics, 1968, 472 p.).Tschirnhaus (1651-1708) , a Saxon nobleman, had as wide interest as acquaintances: He studied in Leyden, served in the Dutch army, visited England and Paris several times. He set up a glassworks in Italy and is said to have introduced Porcelain to Europe. He wrote about philosophy and mathematics and was a close friend of Leibniz.‎

Référence libraire : 46399

‎"TYNDALL, JOHN. - A FUNDAMENTALPAPER IN BACTEOROLOGY - THE FINAL BLOW TO ""SPONTANEOUS GENERATION"".‎

‎Further Researches on the Deportment and Vital Persistence of Putrefactive and Infective Organisms from a Physical Point of View. Received May 14, - Read May 17, 1877.‎

‎(London, Taylor and Francis, 1878). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1877, Vol. 167 - Part I. Pp. 149-206. Illustrations in the text. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearnace of this important paper in which Tyndall announced his discovery of fractional sterilization ""Tyndallization"".""In my last paper I made some remarks upon this subject"" and in relation to our present experiments, the influence of drying and hardening was brought home to me by the fact that in all the foregoing cases the infusions which five minutes boiling proved sufficient to sterilize were, without exception, derived from fresh hay mowen in 1876, while the infusions which five minutes' boiling failed to sterilize were derived, without exception, from old hay mown either in 1875 or some previous year.""(p. 159 in the paper).""Tyndall interested himself in atmospheric germs and dust. His experiments on sterilization by heat lead him to the discovery in 1877 (the paper offered) of fractional sterilization (Tyndallization)....The reseraches of Tyndall, even more than those of Pasteur, dealt the final blow to the doctrine of spontaneous generation"" they were fundamental for the progress of bacteriology.""(Garrison & Morton 2495, listing his later book from 1881 ""Essays on the floating-matter of the air..."").During the 1870s Pasteur and Tyndall were in frequent communication.‎

Référence libraire : 42813

‎"TYNDALL, JOHN. - THE FOG-SIGNAL EXPERIMENTS.‎

‎On the Atmosphere as a Vehicle of Sound. Received February 5, - Read February 12, 1874.‎

‎(London, Taylor and Francis, 1874). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1874. Vol. 164. Pp. 183-244. Clean and fine.‎

‎First printing of a classic paper on the theory of sound propagation, containing the famous fog signal experiments aiming at establishing fog-signals on the Coast of England. The investigations started from South Foreland near Dover at the signal-station.‎

Référence libraire : 42986

‎"Union of Russian Legitimist Monarchists;" HIH. the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich H. I.‎

‎Who Shall be the Emperor of Russia‎

‎Munich: R. Oldenbourg Ol'denburg 1924. Octavo 22 × 15 cm. Original staple-stitched self-wrappers; 11 pp. With a frontispiece portrait of the Grand Duke on coated paper and one chart The male descendants of Emperor the Nikolai I sic!. Oxidation from staples; light wear to wrappers and lower left corner of text lightly scuffed; else about very good. Scarce English translation of this defence of the claims to the throne of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich which features a two-page preface signed "Kirill." From the preface: "The deliverance of Our perishing country emphatically demands the triumph of Right and Good and the reunion of all Russians--true to their Oath and loving their Country--around the same and only banner of legality under whose protection there can be neither quarrels nor dissension." A harbinger of the tragic disunity of the Russian aristocracy in emigration which would only intensify throughout the 1920s. Editions by the Union of Russian Legitimist Monarchists were published in French and English and were apparently aimed at a larger international audience. They are scarce with only two other titles recorded: "The head of the Romanoff Dynasty the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich" and a French translation of the latter and a French translation of the present pamphlet. KVK OCLC show only two copies of the present title worldwide at the Bavarian State Library the International Labor Organization in Geneva and at Cambridge University. unknown books‎

Référence libraire : P002599

‎"VARIGNON, (PIERRE). - VARIGNON'S MANOMETER COINING THE WORD 'MANOMÉTRE'‎

‎Manometre, ou Machine pour trouver le raport des raretés ou raréfaction de l'Air naturel d'un même lieu en différens tems, ou de différens lieux en un même ou en différens tems, &c.‎

‎(Paris, Jean Boudot, 1706). 4to. Without wrappers. Extracted from ""Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences"". Année 1705. Pp. 300-331, textillustrations.‎

‎First apperance of this importent paper in which Varignon describes the function and theory behing his invention of the manometer, a term which he coined in this paper. 'Manometre' from Greek (manos + metron) = sparce measure.Stitched together is another importent paper JOSEPH TOURNEFORT ""Observations sur les Maladies des Plantes"", pp. 332-345 in which he made the first classification of plant diseases.‎

Référence libraire : 46059

‎"VAUQUELIN, (NICOLAS) - THE DISCOVERY OF CHROMIUM.‎

‎Sur une nouvelle substance métallique contenue dans le plomb rouge de Sibérie, et qu'on propose d'appeler Chrôme, à cause de la propriété qu'il a de colorer les combinaisons ou il entre. Lu à la premiere classe de l'Institut national, le 11 Brumai...‎

‎Paris, Fuchs et Guillaume, An VIe. (1798). Contemp. hcalf. Spine gilt. Very slightly rubbed. Small stamps on verso of titlepage. In: ""Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie"" Tome 25. - 335,(3) pp., 2 engraved folded plates and 1 folded table..(the entire volume offered). Vauquelin's papers: pp. 21-32 a. pp. 194-204. Some brownspots to the first and last leaves, otherwise fine and clean.‎

‎First printing of the papers in which Vauquelin describes and announces his discovery of Chromium. The first paper was simultaneously printed in Mem.de l'Institut. Because of its many coloured compounds Fourcroy and Haüy suggested the name 'chromium' for the new metal. (Greek, chroma-colour).In 1797, Vauquelin began his own studies of Siberian red lead. He was convinced that the mineral contained a new element. None of the elements then known could account for his results. He reported ""a new metal, possessing properties entirely unlike those of any other metal."" A year later, Vauquelin was able to isolate a small sample of the metal itself. He heated charcoal (nearly pure carbon ) with a compound of chromium, chromium trioxide (Cr 2 O 3 ). When the reaction was complete, he found tiny metallic needles of chromium metal. DSB XIII, p. 597 - Parkinson ""Breakthrough"" 1798 C.The volume contains other importent papers in the history of chemistry, Guyton ""Examen de quelques propriétés du Platine"" a. ""Examen de quelques critiques de la nomenclature de chimistes francais"", Chaptal ""Observations sur la fabrication de l'acétite de cuivre (verd-de-gris) etc.‎

Référence libraire : 43089

‎"VENEL, (GABRIEL FRANCOIS). - THE ANALYSIS OF SELTZER-WATER.‎

‎Mémoire sur L'Analyse des Eaux de Selters ou de Seltz. Première - (Seconde) Partie. (2 Mai 1750).‎

‎(Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1755). 4to. Extracts from ""Mémoires fe Mathematique et de Physique, Présentés à l'Academie des Sciences par divers Savans"", Tome II. Pp. 53-112. Clean and fine, wide-margined.‎

‎In these two memoirs Venel attempted to prove that effervescent mineral waters contain a quantity of common air in solution, thus seperating carbon dioxyde (he called it air surabondante) without knowing what it really was, thus beeing ""so close to making a discovery without actually making it..."" (Fourcroy). ""In 1750 Venel described his analysis of the effervescent mineral water of Selz, in Germany. Evaporation yielded only common salt and a little lime, and he was more interested in the effervescence, which was, he thought, caused by the escape of common air. All water contained a small amount of dissolved air, but Selzer and other effervescent waters contained superabundant air, as Venel called it. He made artificial Selzer water by adding the correct amounts of marine (hydrochloric) acid and soda to pure water, and he called the product aerated water, a term that is still in use. Stephen Hales had thought that effervescent mineral waters contained “sulphurous spirit"""" Venel’s experiments proved the absence of the gas now called sulfur dioxide, but he failed to notice that the ""superabundant air"" differed in any way from common air. It was, of course, carbon dioxide, characterized in 1754 by Joseph Black, who called it fixed air. Fourcroy later commented that no one had ever been so close to making a discovery without actually making it as was Venel.""(DSB).‎

Référence libraire : 44935

‎"VILLARD, P. (PAUL ULRICH). - THE DISCOVERY OF GAMMA RAYS AND GAMMA RADIATION.‎

‎Sur la réflexion et la réfraction des rayons cathodiques et des rayons déviables du radium. (+) Sur le rayonnement du radium.‎

‎(Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1900). 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 130, No 15 a. No 18. Pp. (962-) 1044 a. pp. (1145-) 1220. Entire issues offered. Villard's papers: pp. 1010-1012 a. 1178-1182, textillustrations. Clean and fine.‎

‎First apperance of Villard's two papers in which he announced and described the discovery of a new type of radiation more powerfull and penetrating than alpha-and beta rays. The new type of rays was named by Rutherford as gammarays.‎

Référence libraire : 51313

‎"VOLTA, (ALEXANDRO). - ESTABLISHING THE ""ELECTRIC CURRENT"" - THE PRECURSOR OF THE VOLTAIC CELL.‎

‎Extrait D'une lettre de M. Volta à M. Gren, sur l'électricité dite animale. Par Van Mons"" Traduit de L'Allemand. (+) Seconde lettre. (+) Addition a la Lettre précédente.‎

‎Paris, Guillaume/Fuchs, An VI, ou 1797, AN VII (1799). Without wrappers..In: ""Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie"" Tome 23, 4. Cahier. Titlepage to vol. 23. + Tome 29, Cahier 1, Titlepage to tome 29. Stamp to verso of titlepages. Pp. (225-) 336 + pp. (1-) 112. (2 entire issues offered). Volta's letters: pp. 276-315, 1 folded engraved plate with 22 figs. + pp. 91-93.‎

‎First French edition of these 3 letters to Gren in which Volta described his last steps towards his groundbreaking construction of his famous ""Pile"". In the letters he established the first law governing an electrical fluid and he anticipated both Davy and Faraday.""In 1796 Volta wrote three letters to Gren (published in German in Gren's N.J. der Physik). In THE FIRST he describes 'a very remarkable experiment'. A tin cup filled with soapy water, milk of lime, or better fairly strong alkaline ley, was held with one or both hands moistened witn ater, and the tip of the tongue dipped into the liquid. A sour taste was at once perceived by the tongue in contact with the alkaline liquid, which soon, changed into a salty and finally into a sharp alkaline taste. The acid taste was 'produced by the current of the electric fluid passing from the tin to thee alkaline liquer, from there to the tongue, then through the body to the layer of water and from there to the tin in a continous current..... In his SECOND LETTER Volta repeats this 'law' of the combination of three conductors. The mutual contact of silver and tin, for example, produces 'an action, a force, by means of which the first gives the electric fluid and the second receives it. If the circuit is completed by a humid concustor, a current or continous circulation of this fluid is set up in the direction indicated in the table (depicted on the attached plate)... In his THIRD LETTER Volta describes experiments in which plates of silver and zinc so smooth that they adhered on contact, polished, dry, and insulated, were brought in close contact, and separated by pulling them perpendicularly apart. They gave small deflections when applied directly to the electrometer...."" (Partington ""A History of Chemistry"", Vol. IV, pp. 10-12).‎

Référence libraire : 48189

‎"WESSEL, CASPAR. - THE FIRST SYSTEMATICAL THREATMENT OF COMPLEX NUMBERS.‎

‎Om Directionens analytiske Betegning, et forsøg, anvendt fornemmelig til plane og sphæriske Polygoners Opløsning. (Essai sur la représentation analytique de la direction, avec des applications, en particular à la détermination des polygones plans et d...‎

‎Kiøbenhavn, Johan Rudolph Thiele, (1797) 1799. 4to. Uncut and unopened in original blue boards. Published in: ""Nye Samling af det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter."" Vol. V. Wessel's paper: pp.469-518 and 3 folded engraved plates (the last plate inserted at p. 463). The whole volume V offered in its original binding. Engraved titlevignette. XII,670 pp., 15 engraved plates. 4 leaves with upper right corners gone, not affecting Wessel's paper.‎

‎First edition of this important first systematical treatment of the theory of complex numbers and at the same time, the first work to add vectors in three-dimensional space.""Wessel’s fame as a mathematician is based entirely on one paper, written in Danish and published in the Mémoires of the Royal Danish Academy, that established his priority in publication of the geometric representation of complex numbers. John Wallis had given a geometric representation of the complex roots of quadratic equations in 1685"" Gauss had had the idea as early as 1799 but did not explicitly publish it until 1831. Robert Argand’s independent publication in 1806 must be credited as the source of this concept in modern mathematics because Wessel’s work remained essentially unknown until 1895, when its significance was pointed out by Christian Juel. The title of Wessel’s treatise calls it an ""attempt"" to give an analytic representation of both distance and direction that could be used to solve plane and spherical polygons. The connection of this goal with Wessel’s work as a surveyor and cartographer is obvious. The statement of the problem also suggests that Wessel should be credited with an early formulation of vector addition. In fact, Michael J. Crowe, in A History of Vector Analysis (University of Notre Dame Press, 1967), defines the first period in that history as that of a search for hypercomplex numbers to be used in space analysis and dates it from the time of Wessel, whom he calls the first to add vectors in three-dimensional space."" (DSB).‎

Référence libraire : 58364

‎"WHEWELL, WILLIAM - A PIONEER-WORK ON TIDES WITH THE FIRST COTIDAL WORLD-MAP.‎

‎Essay towards a First Approximation to a Map of Cotidal Lines. Read May 2, 1833.‎

‎(London, Richard Taylor, 1833). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1833 - Part I. Pp. 147-236, a few textillustr.,1 engraved plate and 2 large folded engraved maps (a general, representing the greater part of the world (42x93 cm) and Chart of the British Isles, drawn and engraved by J.& C. Walker.). A small tear to world map. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of this classic, pioneering paper on the investigation of tidal phenomena. It is the first in a series of 16 papers Whewell made for the Royal Society. It contains the first printed cotidal world-map.""Whewell took over the subject of mapping cotidal lines from Lubbock with entusiasm....He exercised the pioneer's privilege of coining new words and phrases appropriate to his subject. Many failed to stick, some phrases of Whewell's origin still occasionally used are: 'age of the tides', 'luni-tidal interval', 'semi-menstrual inequality' etc, etc....Whewell's initial cotidal map for the world ocean was presented in his first paper of 1833 (the paper offered). By his own admission, it was entirely preliminary and tentative, what nowadays might be called a ""strawman"", to stimulate discussionm. He later (1836) suggested smll modifications, especially near the coast of North America"" these were incorporated in an 'improved' world map by G.B. Airy in his celebrated tratise on ""Tides and wave"", (Cartwright in ""Tides. A Scientific History"", pp.110-112.)‎

Référence libraire : 42692

‎"who Runs May read" The Track of the Royal Scot (part I) London (euston) to Carlisle Illustrated Description of the Journey‎

‎"who Runs May read" The Track of the Royal Scot part I London euston to Carlisle Illustrated Description of the Journey‎

‎LMS Route Book No. 3 1947. Book. Very Good. Soft cover. n.d. c 1947. LMS Route Book No. 3 Paperback‎

Référence libraire : 032656

‎"WIENER, CHR. - THE CAUSE OF BROWNIAN MOVEMENTS DISCLOSED.‎

‎Erklärung des atomistischen Wesens des tropfbar-flüssigen Körperzustandes, und Bestätigung desselben durch die sogenannten Molecularbewegungen.‎

‎Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1863. Conemp. hcalf. 5 raised bands, gilt spine and gilt lettering to spine. A few scratches to spine. A small nich to middle of spine.Small stamp on verso of first -and general- titlepage. In: ""Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff"", Vierte Reihe Bd. 28, (=Poggendorff Bd. 118). Entire volume offered. X,644 pp. and 8 engraved plates. Wiener's paper: pp. 79-94.‎

‎First printing of this importent paper in the development of the atomic theory.The cause of the Brownian movement was ascribed by C. Wiener in 1863 to bombardment of the suspended particles by the molecules of the liquid. This was confirmed by Svedberg in 1906"" he found that the length of the path described agrees with that calculated from the kinetic theory by Einstein (1905) and Smoluchowski (1906).The volume contains further notable papers: G. KIRCHHOFF ""Zur Geschichte der Spectral-Analyse und der Analyse der Sonnenatmosphäre"". Pp. 94-111.L. LORENZ: ""Ueber die Theorie des Lichts"". Pp. 111-145. - Lorenz is well known for his theory of the electromagnetic nature of light, which he, independently of Maxwell, published in 1867.‎

Référence libraire : 43566

‎"WILSON, C.T.R. - THE WILSON ""CLOUD-CHAMBER"".‎

‎On the Condension Nuclei produced in Gases by the Action of Röntgen Rays, Uranium Rays, Ultra-violet Light, and other Agents. Received October 29, - Read November 24, 1898.‎

‎(London, Harrison and Sons, 1899). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"", Vol. 192 - Series A. Pp. 403-453. Textillustrations. Clean and fine.‎

‎First printing of Wilson's second importent paper describing his further experiments with his ""Cloud Chamber"".""To the period 1895-1912 belongs the development of an instrument which to my mind is the most original and wonderful in scientific history.I refer to the cloud or expansion chamber of C.T.R. Wilson...It was a wonderful advance to be able to se, so to speak, the details of the adventures of these particles in their flight through the gas....""(Lord Rutherford).""C.T.R. Wilson had been developing his cloud-chamber, which was to provide the most powerfull of all methods of investigation in atomic physics. In moist air, if a certain degree of supersaturation is exceeded this can be secured by a sudden expansion of the air) condensation takes place on dust-nuclei, when any are present: if by preliminary operations condensation is made to take place on the dust-nuclei, and the resulting droplets are allowed to settle, the air in the chamber is thereby freed from dust. If now X-rays or radiation from a radioactive substance are passed into the chamber, and if the degree of supersaturation is sufficient, condensation again takes place: this is due to the production of ions by the radiation. Thus the tracks of ionising radiations can be made visible by the sudden expansion of a moist gas, each ion becoming the centre of a visible globule of water. Wilson showed that the ions produced by uranium radiation were identical with those produced by X-rays."" (Whittaker in ""A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity."" II, p. 4).‎

Référence libraire : 42793

‎"WILSON, C.T.R. - THE IMPROVED VERSION OF ""WILSONS CLOUD-CHAMBER"".‎

‎On a Method of making Visible the Paths of Ionising Particles through a Gas.‎

‎London, Harrison and Sons, 1911. Small 4to. Contemp. full cloth. Spine gilt and with gilt lettering. A stamp to verso of titlepage and a few other leaves. In: ""Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A."", Vol. LXXXV. XXIII,605,XXIV pp. and 11 plates. (Entire volume offered). Wilson's paper: pp. 285-288 a. 1 plate. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of the paper which describes the final version of his invention, the famous Cloud-Chamber, - the first Cloud Chamber was invented by him in 1896 - for making visible and photographing the paths of charged particles, an invention for which Wilson received a share of the Nobel Prize in 1827. By using the Cloud Chamber he was here (1911) able to observe the track of an alpha ray by condensing water drops onto the ions produced by its passage.The Cloud Chamber, which Rutherford called ""the most original apparatus in the whole history of physics"", became standard equipment in physics laboratories, and made possible numerous important discoveries in the fields of particle and nuclear physicsAfter 1896 ""Wilson continued to experiment with ultraviolet radiation and other techniques for producing condensation effects, but soon concentrated on atmospheric electricity, not returning to the cloud chamber until December 1910. He designed an improved chamber with new methods of illumination and the possibility of photographing the results. At this time Wilson realized that it might be possible to reveal the track of an a ray by condensing water drops onto the ions produced by its passage. During March 1911 he saw this effect produced in his apparatus. Thus, the elucidation of phenomena seen in the Scottish hills led to the possibility of studying the processes of radioactivity, and the Wilson cloud chamber became an important piece of laboratory equipment. But it was in the study of cosmic rays that it achieved its full power, particularly in the refined form developed by Patrick Blackett, in which it was possible to study particles of very high energy and the production of electron-positron pairs with the chamber situated in a strong magnetic field."" (DSB).‎

Référence libraire : 46922

‎"WILSON, C.T.R. - THE MOST ORIGINAL AND WONDERFUL INSTRUMENT IN SCIENTIFIC HISTORY - WILSON'S CLOUD CHAMBER.‎

‎Über die Expansionsapparat zur Sichtsbarmachung der Bahnen ionisierender Teilchen in Gasen, und über einige mittels dieses Apparats gewonnene Ergebnisse. Mit 23 Figuren im Text und auf 5 Tafeln. (Eingegangen 6. Oktober 1912). (On an Expansion Apparatu...‎

‎Leipzig, S. Hirzel, 1913. 8vo. Orig. printed wrappers, no backstrip. Wrappers loose. In ""Jahrbuch der Radioaktivität und Elektronik"", 10. bd., Heft 1. Pp. 1-138 (entire issue offered). Wilson's paper: pp. 34-54, textillustrations, showing apparatus and 5 photographic plates, showing ionizing by Alpha-, Beta- and Röntgen- radiation).‎

‎Together with the English version - published 1912 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society - this is Wilson's main paper relating ""that the track of an ionizing particle might be made visible and photographed by condensing water of the ions which is liberated"". The first trails were obtained in 1911 where he submitted a short note of this to the Proceedings. In the offered paper he published the first tracks made by the ionizing particles of alpha, beta and Röntgen-rays. This, Wilson Cloud-Chamber, became an extremely valuable instrument of fundamental research, the discovery of the positron in 1932 and the kaon in 1963 were made by using cloud chambers as detectors.""But the whole course of the particle appears infinitely more clearly by the method invented by C.T.R. Wilson in 1911 and named after him. The radiation is allowed to enter an expansion-chamber, containing a gas saturated with water vapour. A sudden expansion of the chamber cools the gas, and cloud-drops are then formed instantly around the ions produced along the tracks of the particles. By suitable illumination these tracks can be made to stand out clearly as if they had been described by luminous projectiles. The ""Altmeister"" of modern nuclear physics, Lord Rutherford, once called the Wilson chamber ""the most original and wonderful instrument in scientific history"".""Thomson Rees Wilson (1869-1959), a Scottish physicist, is credited with inventing the cloud chamber. Inspired by sightings of the Brocken spectre while working on the summit of Ben Nevis in 1894, he began to develop expansion chambers for studying cloud formation and optical phenomena in moist air. Very rapidly he discovered that ions could act as centers for water droplet formation in such chambers. He pursued the application of this discovery and perfected the first cloud chamber in 1911. In Wilson's original chamber the air inside the sealed device was saturated with water vapor, then a diaphragm is used to expand the air inside the chamber (adiabatic expansion). This cools the air and water vapor starts to condense. When an ionizing particle passes through the chamber, water vapor condenses on the resulting ions and the trail of the particle is visible in the vapor cloud. Wilson, along with Arthur Compton, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for his work on the cloud chamber. (Wikipedia).‎

Référence libraire : 45816

‎"WOLLASTON, WILLIAM HYDE. - INVENTION OF THE GONIOMETER.‎

‎Description of a reflective Goniometer. Read June 8, 1809.‎

‎(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1809). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1809 - Part I. Pp. 253-258 and 1 engraved plate showing the Goniometer. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of this paper describing Wollaston's invention of the Goniometer.""Nor was it only in chemistry that he (Wollaston) left his mark. He invented a goniometer, a device to measure the angles between crystal faces, which greatly advance mineralogical research. A calcium silicate mineral is named wollastonite in his honor."" (Asimow).""When a surface is so small as one fiftieth of an inch in breadth, it becomes axtremely difficult to apply the short radius of a goniometer to it with correctness. But since a surface of that magnitude may reflect a very brilliant light, the reflected ray may be employed as radius, and may at pleasure be taken of such a lenght that the angles of small crystals can be known with as much precision as those of the largest surfaces.""(Abstract).‎

Référence libraire : 42249

‎"WOLLASTON, WILLIAM HYDE. - THE DISCOVERY OF THE ELEMENT RHODIUM.‎

‎On a new Metal, found in crude Platina. Read June 24, 1804.‎

‎(London, Bulwer and Co., 1804). 4to. Without wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."" Year 1804-Part II. Pp. 419-430. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of the paper in which Wollaston announced his discovery of the metallic element Rhodium.""Dr. Wollaston dissolved a portion of crude platinum in qgua regia, and neutralized the excess acid with caustic soda. He then added salammoniac to precipitate the platinum as ammonium chloroplatinate, and mercurous cyanide to precipitate the palladium as palladium cyanide. After filteringoff the precipitate, he decomposed the excess mercurous cyanide inthe filtarate by adding hydrochloric acid and evaporating to dryness. When he washed the residue with alcohol, everything dissolved except a beautiful dark red powder, which proved to be a double chloride of sodium and a new metal, which because of the rose color of its salts, Dr. Wollaston named 'Rhodium'. He found that the sodium rhodium chloride could be easely reduced by heating it in a current of hydrogen, and that after the sodium chloride had been washed out, the rhodium remained as a metallic powder. he also succeeded in obtaining a rhodium button.""(Weeks: Discovery of the Elements. p. 104-05.)‎

Référence libraire : 42469

‎"WOLLASTON, WILLIAM HYDE. - THE INVENTION OF THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA LENS.‎

‎On a Periscopic Camera Obscura and Microscope. Read June 11, 1812.‎

‎London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1812. 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1812. With titlepage to the year 1812 - Part I. Pp. 370-377. Light yellowing to titlepage.‎

‎First appearance of the paper in which Wollaston explains his invention and function of photography's first lens, the Wollaston Meniscus, invented more than 25 years before the first photography appeared.""Wollaston developed the first lens specifically for camera lens called Wollaston's meniscus lens, or just meniscus lens, in 1812. The lens was designed to improve the image projected by the camera obscura. By changing the shape of the lens, Wollaston was able to project a flatter image, eliminating much of the distortion that was a problem with many of that day's biconvex lenses"" (DSB).‎

Référence libraire : 46063