The History of the Barometer

Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1964. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. Large octavo size, 509 pp. The first complete history of the barometer as a scientific instrument. "Even long before the barometer came into common use, its invention contributed powerfully to the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century by making obsolete the idea of the physical impossibility of a vacuum" (n.b., from jacket flap).

The work opens with "The Scientific Background", then continues with "The Mercury Barometer as an Instrument" with the following chapters: A General Survey, The Expansion of the Scale, The Search for Portability, The Corrections to the Mercury Barometer, The Improvement of Accuracy, Barometers of High Accuracy, Mercury Barographs and Related Apparatus, The Mercury Barometer in North America, and Luminescence in the Barometer; this section followed by "Barometers Other Than Mercury Barometers". Lavishly illustrated with charts and diagrams.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full teal cloth over boards, blue lettering stamped onto the spine, frontis portrait a black-and-white reproduction of a depiction of Evangelista Torricelli from the seventeenth century; large octavo size (9.75" by 6 7/8"), pagination: [i-viii] ix-xx, [1-2] 3-489. In the publisher's dust jacket, illustrations of various barometers in black and blue over a green ground on both panels, white lettering on the front, white and black lettering on the spine, summary of the book on both panels, short author bio on back panel.

___CONDITION: Volume near fine, with clean boards, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; the jacket has been price-clipped and has some overall edgewear, most noticeable at the head and tail of the spine.

___POSTAGE: Please note that this is an unusually heavy book and additional postage; please inquire for details.

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