96 results
1905ref. 7611Washington: Governments Printing Office 1905. Hardcover. g. 4to. 272 pp. Brown cloth binding. Corners frayed and spine have a small amount of fraying very slightly shaken otherwise good to very good. Sixty-one full-page plates in color and b&w of drawings and photographs with two or more images on each plate. Good. Governments Printing Office hardcover books
1928ref. 006685New York: W W Norton & Co Inc 1928. Book. Very Good. Cloth. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Boas' classic treatise on race and culture RARE in the original 1928 First Edition and in collectible condition. 236pp. 10 pp references. Very Good in the original black cloth with paper labels front board and spine spine label a bit darkened and a trifle rubbed cloth a few small rubs contents are clean tight and unmarked. W W Norton & Co Inc Hardcover books
1893ref. 008934New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons 1893. Book. Near Fine. Decorative Cloth. Revised American Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. vii 566 pages with 219 illustrations in text. Dated 1884 copyright page 1893 title page. SCARCE in any edition in current commerce. Near Fine in original brown cloth with gilt lettering and decorations top edge gilt from the collection of Joseph Hyde Pratt noted North Carolina geologist conservationist and state and local civic leader and later during WW I he was colonel in command of the First Battalion of the 105th Engineers and part of the famous Thirtieth "Old Hickory" Division the first to break the Hindenburg Line. His ownership signature and name stamp front end page. Slight wear at spine ends light soiling at end pages. G. P. Putnam's Sons Hardcover books
1893ref. 1946New York: NY Academy of Sciences 1893. First Edition. As issued. A fine copy. 4to. An engraved invitation meas. appx. 8 x 11 in. with a portrait of Audubon. A superb engraved invitation with the original admission ticket and mailing envelope to the unveiling of the Audubon monument at Trinity Cemetery. NY Academy of Sciences unknown books
1933ref. 004111New York: Falstaff Press Inc. 1933. Book. Near Fine. Decorative Cloth. Limited and Numbered First Edition. From the Institute for Sex Research The Kinsey Insttitute Library with their small book plate bottom corner half title page library catalog numbers in pencil copyright page "Duplicate" stamp rear pastedown and sticker residue near base of spine. Number 629 of a Limited Edition of 3000 copies. Bound in decorative brown cloth with gilt rules and gilt titles at spine. Page 5 has a small added triangle of paper near top corner a small binding error. Otherwise book is clean tight and square. According to Sigmund Freud Bloch's studies were instrumental in the development of the anthropological approach to the theory of sexuality. Before Bloch homosexuality was analyzed using a pathological approach. SCARCE in collectible condition and with the added significance of having come from the Kinsey Institute !. Falstaff Press Inc. Hardcover books
1811ref. 6790Munich: I J Lentner 1811. First Edition. Contemporary paste paper boards. Good; some spotting and browning throughout. 8vo xxiv 4 1 - 224 239 pp. large folding table. The author is responsible for the striking physiological observation and first description of the circulation of endoplasm in Paramecium. The significance of this was not realized by Ehrenberg at the time and was finally confirmed by Carus in 1834. The discovery had a profound impact on the ideas of cell theory and evolution in the early 19th century. He was a staunch opponent of the 'romantic' in natural philosophy see his later work Uber Naturforschung and an indefatigable teacher and researcher. A little known and important work. See Cole; Poggendorff I 964 -`5; NDB VII 211. I J Lentner hardcover books
2001ref. 22873Moscow: Nauka 2001. First edition. Hardcover. vg. Lg 4to. White paper dust-jackets over faux leather boards with gilt lettering on front and spine. Color-coordinated by year. Yearly publication by the Russian Academy of Sciences reporting on Literature Art and Archeology research projects performed by the members of the Academy. Each year's work is summarized in 1 volume replete with ample b&w illustrations photographic reproductions and charts. Research areas for the most part centered around Western and Eastern Russia Central Asia former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe but also occasionally incorporating Western Europe. Research includes a wide cross-section of both ancient and modern topics for example the 1992 topics range from Chekhov to Meyerhold to Machiavelli to ancient archaeology of the Solovetsky Islands off the coast of Archangel. 10 vols total between 1989-2001. Missing years: 1991 1998 1999. Text in Russian. Corners of dust jackets and boards slightly bumped Interiors in fine. 1990 missing dust-jacket. Set overall in near fine condition. Nauka hardcover books
1831ref. 54248Philadelphia: Stoddart and Atherton 1831. Second edition. Three octavo volumes 22cm. Contemporary marbled calf with leather spine labels; engraved extra-title present in each volume; xvi7-362;330;264pp; engraved frontispiece v.1 and 48 inserted leaves of plates; text illus. Faint scattered foxing to text but plates generally clean; bindings exhibit moderate external aging and wear with small losses to leather at spine ends and corners. A complete structurally sound Good or better set. Early ownership signature of a Benj. Webb Jr. on endpaper and extra-title of v.1. A quite presentable set of Godman's treatise on the mammals of North America including some ethnographic notes on Native Americans and a lengthy discussion of the fossil record with special attention given to the Giant Mastodon. Much of the third volume is devoted to a description of the American whale fishery. Godman 1794-1830 was trained as a physician and was for some time the director of the Philadelphia Anatomical Rooms a private medical college where he achieved considerable renown as an anatomist. American Natural History described as "the first systematic treatise on the subject" DAB was first published in Philadelphia from 1826-1828; two "Second Editions" appeared in 1831 this one under the Stoddart & Atherton imprint and another by Key & Mielkie. Sabin and Imprints Bruntjen & Bruntjen note only the latter but OCLC records suggest that the two editions are collected with equivalent frequency. Neither Sabin nor Imprints supply a plate count for the Second Edition but our copy conforms to that at the Smithsonian Institution the only OCLC member institution to provide a collation. SABIN 27663. B&B 7271. Stoddart and Atherton unknown books
1971ref. 29191Moskva: Nauka 1971. First edition. Cloth with gilt titles in shades of gray cream and blue. A very good set some browning to leaves on a few volumes otherwise clean unmarked one volume with damp stain to boards and a few leaves at the inner margin. Illus. 8vo. The complete run of the publications of the 7th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences held in Moscow in 1964. Contributions in Russian English French German Italian or Spanish. Hard to find in a complete run. Nauka hardcover books
1760ref. 14266Amsterdam 1760. Boards. Good. Four volumes in uniform period leather bindings. 12mo 6 1/2 x 4 inches. Spines with gilt decorations raised bands and leather labels. Clean internally. Bindings are worn but fundamentally sound. Tome Premier: III-XVI 727 pages. Tome Second: 2 743 pages. Tome Troisieme: 2 648 pages. These three volumes comprise a set and contain the indices of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris for the years 1699-1734 inclusive. Headband of Tome Second torn. Marbled pastedown endpapers with plain flyleaves. Published in 1741 by Chez Pierre Mortier. These three volumes contain a general table of the matters contained in the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris from 1699 to 1734 inclusive. Tome Quatrieme: 8 404 XXXVI 372 2 III-VIII 256 pages. This volume has a paper label with manuscript notations at the head of the spine. Marbled endpapers. Published in 1760 by Chez J. Schreuder Et Chez Pierre Mortier le Jeune. The first section 8 404 pages is a general table of the matters contained in the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris from 1735-1751 inclusive. BOUND WITH XXXVI 372 pages the "Histoire de L'Academie Royale Des Sciences Centie'me ou Dernier Volume De La Premiere Centurie. Contenant un Abregd Historique de chaque Sceince. Avec une liste generale des Memoires de Mathematique & de Physique jusqu'a l'annee 1751. inclusivement." History of the Royal Academy of Sciences Hundredth or Last Volume of the First Century. Containing an Historical Summary of each Science. With a general list of Memoirs of Mathematics & Physics up to the year 1751 inclusive. BOUND WITH III-VII 256 pages "Memoires de L'academie Royale Des Sciences. Jusqu'a L'Année MDCCLI. Inclusivement. Contenus dans la premiere Centurie des Volumes de l'Edition de Hollande." Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Up to the Year MDCCLI. Inclusively. Contained in the First Century of Volumes of the Holland Edition. This last section has no title page. Boards. unknown books
1910ref. 231321910. Women in STEM Women's scientific and technical employment photo archive documenting female laboratory labor from the early twentieth century through the 1940s historically significant for showing how women entered academic industrial and commercial research settings in roles that ranged from student and aide to biologist technician and physician at a period when scientific work remained overwhelmingly male and women's access to professional authority was still sharply constrained. The group includes five press photographs and three non press photographs with women pictured not as incidental clerical staff but as active operators of instruments handlers of test animals readers of charts and participants in experimental procedure establishing direct visual evidence of women's expanding place within the infrastructure of American science industrial testing and laboratory employment. Photo archive of 8 silver gelatin photographs ranging from 3.5 x 5.5 to 8 x 10 inches various U.S. locations circa 1910 to 1940s. The archive spans classroom laboratory and industrial interiors. One 1910 photograph shows two men and one woman standing in a laboratory identified as "three scientists or science students" an early image of mixed gender scientific training. A 1937 press photo titled "aviation biologist works with hatchlings" shows Dr. Manisera in a lab coat hand feeding two week old canaries with a third bird perched on her head turning animal handling and experimental care into a public image of female scientific expertise. Another press photo shows Sally Wulff identified on the verso as an engineering aide with a science degree from the University of Iowa seated at a control bench calibrating experimental instruments at Wright Field. A 1938 non press image shows Dr. Marie D'Amour and Fred D'Amour studying a chart before a blackboard covered with formulas and technical notations linking the photograph to mammalian physiology research. A Hoboken New Jersey press photo depicts a female technician in the chemical division of the United States Testing Company operating a Fisher titrimeter "for performing volumetric analyses by electronic means" while a 1939 press photo from Newton Massachusetts shows a laboratory worker testing newly developed Permatron tubes used in high frequency welding and power transmission. Another press image captioned "A 'noise machine' used in experiments in the Colgate laboratory" shows a woman and man positioned on either side of the apparatus and a separate 1940s laboratory group photograph places a single woman among five men before a long demonstration bench and blackboard diagrams underscoring both women's presence and their numerical isolation within technical settings. Several versos retain typed caption slips editorial markings and reference stamps consistent with press photo circulation. Across the first half of the twentieth century women entered scientific work through normal schools universities wartime research demand industrial laboratories and auxiliary technical appointments yet their advancement was often channeled into subordinate or specialized designations even when their work required substantial training. This archive makes that structure visible through named and captioned examples of women conducting measurement instrument calibration physiological research electronics testing and experimental animal work across corporate academic and applied research environments. Minor residue on versos from former press labels or caption attachments; otherwise clean and well preserved. Overall very good condition. As a record of women's early technical labor the archive supplies concrete visual evidence of the pathways limits and visibility of women's participation in American scientific work before the full opening of postwar professional opportunity. unknown books
1813ref. 45481Philadelphia: Kimber & Richardson 1813. First Edition. Two volumes; octavo 21.5cm.; Vol. I bound in slightly later half calf over marbled boards black gilt spine label Vol. II in full contemporary sheep red gilt spine label; 4506; 6484pp.; engraved title pages 25 leaves of plates including eight folding. Evidence of previously removed library bookplates to Vol. 1 pastedowns some scuffing to boards more heavily so to Vol. II some light foxing one leaf trimmed close with slight loss of text a couple of closed tears to folding leaves else Very Good and sound overall. Attractive engraved pictorial bookseller ticket to rear pastedown of Vol. II. Complete first and second volumes of the New Series edited by the Anglo-American chemist Thomas Cooper. Though not a particularly brilliant scientist Cooper's "greatest service to science was undoubtedly the dissemination of information" Dictionary of Scientific Biography III p. 400. The present collection includes detailed articles on sugar from beets and grapes "Comparative Height of Mountains on the Earth the Moon and Venus" turnpike roads making "fine Cutlery" foreign and homemade wines criminals from 1805 to 1811 and "the uses of a dead horse by the editor." SHAW & SHOEMAKER 28226. Kimber & Richardson unknown books
1900ref. 235831900. Women in laboratory sciences photo archive circa 1900 to 1946 documenting women's movement into chemistry bacteriology hospital medicine and classroom experiment at a time when scientific training and professional advancement remained largely organized around men with barriers of entry for women. The group begins with a pharmacological laboratory where one woman stands among men predating suffrage in the United States and continues through school laboratories hospital laboratories press photographs and postwar images of young women handling test tubes and glassware. World War I drew women chemists into schools universities analytical laboratories and war work while World War II accelerated laboratory demand again through bacteriology antibiotics and industrial drug production. Photo archive of 11 mixed phtoographic mediums including albumen silver gelatin and real photo postcard photographs various sizes ranging 5 x 4 inches to 8 x 10 inches United States and Europe early 20th century. The images show women and girls conducting experiments at benches lined with burners flasks pipettes test tubes reagent bottles and laboratory stands; a large pharmacological classroom with nearly all male staff and students and one woman present; high school girls in an early science classroom; two nuns or a nun and nurse working in a laboratory at Saint Anthony's Hospital Rockford Illinois identified on verso as early 1930s; and a bacteriological laboratory scene dated October 2 1923. A 1926 Acme press photograph identifies "Miss Virginia Trelease chemist student at Northwestern University Evanston Ill." using liquid oxygen from a Heylandt liquefier to fry an egg over "burning ice." Other images show two young women captioned "Resa Yusko and Bla Pesala" in 1946 smiling while handling laboratory equipment and a 1927 press photograph of Mrs. August Rus Oppenheim Mrs. Oswald Jimenis and Mrs. Arthur Bunker of the Southern Women's Educational Alliance posting a Metropolitan Opera benefit notice evidence of women's educational fundraising alongside the scientific scenes. The photographs trace women's scientific labor from gendered access to instruction into wartime necessity and postwar professional visibility. In the early twentieth century women who entered chemistry and medicine often worked through teaching nursing hospital laboratories and applied science fields that admitted them more readily than elite research posts while still relying on their technical skill. During World War II penicillin moved from laboratory microbiological study in 1940 to mass production by 1945 a shift that depended on fermentation work laboratory handling and industrial coordination rather than discovery alone. Light surface wear toning occasional creasing press stamps captions and handling marks; some images faded or rubbed. Overall good condition. A concentrated visual record of women learning demonstrating and performing laboratory science across the decades when modern medicine and chemistry increasingly required their work while still limiting their recognition. unknown books
1951ref. 12896New York: New York Council of the Arts Sciences and Professions 1951. Three items stapled together at top left corner together with a separate leaflet totaling seven pages. Minor edge wear one item with a short closed tear. Overall very good. A group of four printed items pertaining to an effort by New York arts professionals to encourage equality for African American arts professionals in midcentury United States where the lower half of the country was still mired in Jim Crow laws. The most notable of these items is a four-panel program detailing the conference with introductory text describing the ways in which racism limits the opportunities of Black artists and scientists and the failure to put recent anti-racist court decisions into actual practice. The program for the conference lists such themes as the effects of Jim Crow policy on the arts and representation of Black subjects the deleterious effects of racism on health and welfare and how cultural standards are lowered and violence encouraged by discrimination. According to the speakers list on the fourth page of the program participants in the conference included Oliver Harrington Jacob Lawrence Julian Mayfield Paul Robeson and other artists educators scientists and musicians. Attached to this program are two handbills; one is an invitation to an opening night event featuring new works of ballet chorus calypso and drama the night before the conference. This performance took place at the Pythian on November 9 1951. The other handbill announces the program for the Annual Convention of the New York Council which appears to have been a more general event on the day after the conference on equal rights. The text on this handbill notes the suppression of free speech under McCarthyism. The last item is an 8.5-x-14-inch handbill probably a press release of sorts announcing the conference also titled "A Call to a Conference on Equal Rights for Negroes in the Arts Sciences and Professions." The language of this handbill is the same as the second page of the four-page brochure but is dated a month before the conference in October 1951. Some of the language in the program introduction and handbill merit quoting here: "In the sciences and professions the majority of Negroes are deprived of equal educational opportunities by segregation and quota systems denied employment in the professions restricted to the most menial occupations confined to ghetto areas for their private practice and thus prevented from making a full contribution to the welfare of the nation. Blacklisting character assassination political inquisitions and other forms of censorship against white artists scientists and professionals cannot be ended - so long as discrimination against Negroes and other minority group members is maintained For those who violate the Constitution and foster a policy of discrimination against Negroes are the very same persons who are responsible for censorship blacklisting and the debasement of our science and culture. It is they who tolerate and promote the campaigns of violence and brutality against the Negro people as exhibited in Cicero in the bombing of the home of a world-renowned Negro chemist in the refusal of platforms to the most outstanding American Negro artists in the ‘legal lynchings’ of many young men guilty of nothing more than being Negroes. American culture Cannot live in the face of such terror against a large segment of our people. Standards of truth and humanism cannot be maintained in our cultural media so long as the truth of the Negro people's lives is denied expression. Nor can there be decent standards for white professionals in many fields so long as a reservoir of Negro unemployed is used to depress salaries and rates." Surprisingly OCLC is silent on any material from the conference though we doubt this group of ephemera is a unique survival. New York Council of the Arts, Sciences and Professions unknown books
1899ref. 246396Washington: The Academy. Very Good. 1899-1911. Complete in 13 volumes 1899-1911 some with several parts ; most in original wrappers with vols 4 5 6 & 7 bound in maroon cloth. In 1911 the name was changed to "Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences" with a new vol. 1 no. 1 issued on July 19 1911. . The Academy hardcover books
1951ref. 004685Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press 1951. Book. Very Good. Cloth. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHORS. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Presentation Copy SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHORS "Eleanor Maccoby with the sincere regards of Talcott Parsons Clyde Kluckhorn S.A. Stouffer Robert R. Sears Gordon W. Allport Harry Murray" A unique Association Copy Eleanor Maccoby was a noted psychologist best known for her contributions to developmental psychology and the psychology of sex differences. The signees were a Who's Who of eminent sociologists psychologists and anthropologists. Talcott Parsons career was entwined with the development of sociology as an academic discipline at Harvard and in this book he was refining his "general theory of action". In 1931 Parsons was one of the inaugural faculty members in the Dept. of Sociology at Harvard. Gordon W. Allport is known as one of the founding figures of personality psychology and along with Harry Murray were faculty in the Psychology Dept. at Harvard. Robert R. Sears was head of the Psychology Dept. at Stanford University Samuel Stouffer a Professor of Sociology at Harvard and Clyde Kluckhorn a Professor of Anthropology at Harvard. Book is Very Good no dustjacket corner crease bottom corners last 10 pages of book and top corners title page into contents page cloth a bit rubbed. The signatures of all 6 of these gentlemen are SCARCE individually and as a group along with the Association to Eleanor Maccoby this represents a RARE and unique opportunity in the academic collecting world !. Harvard University Press Hardcover books
1742ref. SS13441London:: Printed for John and Paul Knapton. . . 1742-53. 1742. 5 volumes. 8vo. Vol.1: 4 x 11-456 16; Vol.2: 2 407 15 10; Vol.3: 2 422 16; Vol.4: 2 410 14 11-26; Vol.5: 2 426 14 pp. The first 10 pages of the "Addenda" are bound at the end of vol.2 pp.11-26 are bound at the end of vol.4. 44 of 45 engraved plates mostly folding I: 17; II: 6; III: 6; IV: 6; V: 9 of 10 plates pl. 10 supplied in facs. see p. 422 TOTAL: 44 2 folding tables vol. I tables some folding addenda indexes; 2nd wasp plate vol. V with small scrape effecting some of the image. Original speckled calf; rebacked and with later endleaves vols. I III & V with joints gently mended with kozo. PROVENANCE: Bookplates of Henry and Carol Faul mounted on top of the following engraved bookplate for the American Academy of Arts & Sciences: "Sub libertate Florent" dated 1780 "The Gift of . . ." -- also with their gilt-stamp applied to the foot of the later spines "American Academy"; Rubber stamps discarded of the Linda Hall Library Kansas City MO. Very good. HENRY FAUL'S COPY -- WORKED FOR ENRICO FERMI & BIKINI ATOLL TEST. A collection of early scientific papers from leading figures all belonging to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris the French equivalent to the Royal Society of London. The abridged papers all appeared between 1699 and 1720 and include diverse topics such as anatomy apiculture astronomy incl. Moon chemistry electricity entomology gases geography geology herpetology invertebrates magnetism medicine meteorology mineralogy monsters music mollusks natural history optics physics scientific instruments including the barometer microscope zoology and more. / AMONG THE NUMEROUS CONTRIBUTORS OR NOTABLES MENTIONED: Agricola Amontons Baert Juan de Barros Bernoulli Bignon Borelli Bouvet Robert Boyle Carre Cassini Chazelles Chevalier Coronelli Dampier Descartes Dodart Fermat Fontenay Fontenelle Galileo Gandolphe Gassendi Gesner Gouye Halley Van Helmont de la Hire du Hamel Huygens Jeaugeon Kepler Kircher Leibnitz Lemery Leuwenhoek Malpighi de Marca Mariotte Mollard Gregory Nazianzen Isaac Newton de Nointel Ortelius Parent Picard Renau Riccioli Sanctorius Strabo Tournefort Varignon etc. PROVENANCE: 1 American Academy of Arts & Sciences bookplate: The Academy seal features Minerva the goddess of wisdom science and trade and the arts. Her temple on the Aventine Hill was a meeting place for skilled craftsman writers and actors. She is also depicted as a warrior a symbol appropriate for an organization created in the midst of the American Revolution. Around Minerva are representations of the new country—on her right a field of Indian corn a stand of oaks and the outline of a town; at her feet a hoe a plow and a sickle; on her left a quadrant and a telescope a ship heading for shore and the sun completely risen above the cloud. Over the whole is the motto SUB LIBERTATE FLORENT which suggests that arts and sciences flourish best in. -- 2 Rubber stamps discarded of the Linda Hall Library Kansas City MO. -- 3 Henry and Carol Faul. Henry Faul was a geologist working on Enrico Fermi's team at the University of Chicago. He was responsible for prospecting uranium ore in Colorado and Utah. He also travelled to Manhattan Project sites at Los Alamos and in Washington DC. Following the war Faul continued to work on nuclear projects and participated in the Bikini Atoll test. He received his M.S. from the University of Chicago during the war and went on to get his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ESTC T131275. Printed for John and Paul Knapton. . . , 1742-53. unknown books
1940ref. 006910Helsinki Finland: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura 1940. Book. Fine. Cloth. First Edition. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. Two volumes in original dustjackets. Both volumes are Fine Vol.I dustjacket Very Good 1 1/2" triangular chip bottom edge at spine tears at spine folds and 2 tears horizontally at spine Vol. II jacket Near Fine small chips bottom edge of spine. List of donors laid in. One folding plate map index 15 folding maps at rear Vol. II. Numerous black and white photographs in text. A classic scholarly text ''In the spring of 1906 I received orders from the Russian General Staff to undertake a journey from Russian Turkestan through Chinese Turkestan and Western China and the provinces of Kan Su Shensi and Shansi to Peiping as the final goal. The object of this expedition was to study the conditions in the interior of Northern China collect statistical materials and perform various tasks of a military nature'' Preface. Mannerheim also collected archaeological and ethnographic materials and manuscripts and studied little-known peoples and tribes in Norther China. Mannerheim later became the 6th President of Finland after serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish armed forces during WWII. Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura Hardcover books
ref. 18077FIRST EDITIONS. Publisher’s cloth many covered in protective brown paper. From the library of Robert S. Mullikan 1896-1986 winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize for chemistry. He was primarily responsible for the early development of molecular orbital method of computing the structure of molecules. His signature appears in Volumes 29-39. First printings. The biographical memoirs include a photograph and short biography of recently-deceased members of the National Academy of Sciences. Columbia University Press printed the Memoirs on behalf of the Academy through 1974; thereafter the Academy’s own press in Washington began publishing the books. Biographies of all members that passed away are included; we find such luminaries as Enrico Fermi Thomas Hunt Morgan Robert Andrew Millikan Leo Loeb William Castle Arthur Compton Robert Yerkes Herbert Hoover Leo Szilard Edwin Hubble Ernest Lawrence Herbert Evans Herbert Spencer Jennings Harlow Shapley Vannevar Bush and even Albert Einstein. All were members of the Academy. unknown books
1734ref. D4425Paris: Par La Compagnie des Libraires 1734. Hardcover. Very Good. Three volumes comprising Vol. III parts I to III of Memoires de lAcadémie Royale des Sciences depuis 1666 jusquà 1699. Paris: Par La Compagnie des Libraires 1733-1734. Part I: 231pp.; Part II: 294pp.; Part III: 215pp. 97 engraved folding plates depicting animals and skeletal diagrams. Engraved portrait frontispiece of Claude Perrault in first volume. Contemporary French calf spines gilt edges red; some occasional browning; repairs to joints some rubbing. Unidentified armorial bookplate to front pastedown beneath monogrammed bookplate D.P. with chipmunk and two mice. A later reduced format edition of Perraults Memoires of 1671-1676 Perraults study of this nature was first published in 1669 with the results of investigations of five animals and later expanded with studies of over forty animals. Prior to 1670 most descriptions of animals paid little attention to their internal structure and there were very few images in natural history encyclopedias that depicted skeletons or muscles. That changed with the establishment of the Académie des Sciences in Paris in 1666 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert with the approval of King Louis XIV. The Academy functioned with neither statutes nor regulations until 1699. At that time the Academy used the term mathématique to encompass the fields that are now called astronomy mathematics and physics and the term physique to encompass the fields that are now called anatomy botany zoology and chemistry. In January 1699 Louis reorganized the Academy giving it first regulations. The effect was to give the King more control over their activities in exchange for becoming an official institution under his protection with the new name Académie Royale des Sciences. One of the original academicians the physician Claude Perrault organized regular sessions at which participants could dissect deceased animals from Louis XIVs royal menagerie and record all they observed. Lions chameleons bears gazelles wolves ostriches crocodiles monkeys eagles tigers porcupines and salamanders among some were all laid open by the academics scalpels. These superb folding plates record in great detail the pioneering work at the Academy. These three volumes in three parts focus on the transformative and foundational years of the French Royal Academy of Sciences and Claude Perraults efforts which had made comparative anatomy a vital tool for the classifying naturalist. Par La Compagnie des Libraires hardcover books
1740ref. 14160Paris: de L’Imprimerie Royale 1740. Complete with errata’s and original blank leaves two of three finely engraved frontispieces chapter vignettes ornamental head and tail pieces and 82 folding plates. Full mottled calf rebacked the corners a bit worn. Interior is lightly toned with some browning on the preliminaries and last leaves. Generally this is an excellent set. First editions of these three volumes from a series published by the Academy of Sciences. It is a summary of the activities and inventions that have been made and contains the most important discoveries of the time. These periodicals which were at the forefront of scientific development during the Enlightenment contain works produced by an elite class of French scientist for the years 1722 1731 and 1740. Each volume provided an overview of advancements in math and science for each year and the writings therein shaped the world’s understanding of physics mathematics astronomy anatomy and other fields of science. They further provide invaluable historical data such as meteorological and astrological records for each year. The memoirs for 1722 include data recorded on both a lunar and solar eclipse as well as other astronomical observations by Jacques Cassini 1677-1756 best know for completing his fathers work on determining the meridian of Paris. The distinguished astronomer provided further research on lunar eclipses in the memoirs of 1731 where he is in great company alongside distinguished mathematicians Alexis-Claude Clairaut 1713-1765 Pierre Bouguer 1698-1758 known for his work in physics photometry and hydrography and the foremost proponent of the Newtonian movement in France Pierre de Maupertuis 1698-1759. Of special note in the 1731 memoirs is Maupertuis’s ballistic arithmetic which was used to try to better understand the movement of the earth and its gravity. Too an article by Clairaut on new formulas for finding the center of gravity. These articles contributed greatly to a better understanding of the earth’s shape and the mechanics of its rotation particularly Bouguer’s essay on the tendency of objects set in motion to move in a curvilinear fashion. The 1740 edition contains Cassini De Thury’s De la Maridienne de Paris. which was an important step in the process of mapping the shape of the earth. Cassini 1714-1784 representing the third generation of the distinguished family of astronomers was the first to question Picard’s measurements which had been used to map the Maridian of Paris. Clairaut’s essay on integral calculus in the same volume which established the existence of an integrating factor for linear differential equations was an important step in the history of mathematics and Mairan’s treatise on reflection and refraction of light and the human eye was essential to the advancement of optics. Mairan 1678-1771 would set the foundation for optical theory with this treatise. de L’Imprimerie Royale unknown books
