Search Results: Titles starting with R from Atticus Rare Books

London: Macmillan & Sons, 1934. 1st Edition. JOURNAL ISSUE, FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT IN ENGLISH BY FERMI OF RADIOACTIVITY INDUCED BY SLOW NEUTRONS. The letter marks the beginning of Fermi's experimental researches in nuclear physics. In 1938 Fermi was awarded "for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons." When news reached Fermi "of the Joliot-Curies' discovery of new radioactive isotopes, which were produced by the bombardment of light elements with particles, it occurred to Fermi that neutrons would be useful projectiles because they are not repelled by the electric charge of the nucleus and should be able to enter even the heaviest nuclei" (Brandi, The Harvest of the Century, 239). "In March, Fermi demonstrated that neutrons were the most effective inducers of radioactivity in elements heavier than phosphorus. The finding enhanced the Italian physicist's fame as… Read More

Paris: Mallet-Bachelier, 1863. 1st Edition. 1st EDITION OF WIBERG'S EXTENSIVE 1863 REPORT ON HIS MODIFICATION, PRAISED AS ‘INGENIOUS' BY THE FRENCH ACADEMY, OF THE SCHEUTZ DIFFERENCE ENGINE. ALSO, 1st EDITION OF THE NEURO RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTS WHICH LED TO SECHENOV'S PIONEERING BOOK ON CEREBRAL REFLEX ACTIVITY. ALSO, 1st EDITION OF KELLER & KELLER'S WAVE MODEL USING A LE SAGE TYPE MECHANISM IN COMBINATION WITH LONGITUDINAL WAVES OF THE AETHER. Martin Wiberg was a Swedish "computer pioneer" (Wikipedia). Interested in printing, he wanted to develop a ‘composing' machine. To raise funds to begin Wiberg "decided to publish a set of interest tables, hoping to use the machine of his compatriot Scheutz for computing and printing" (History of Computers Portal; Origins of Cyberspace 82). Scheutz's machine, however, had already been sold, so Wiberg set out to build his own calculating machine - one similar to Scheutz's but considerably smaller. Wiberg's machine had the same capacity as did Scheutz's -… Read More

Leipzig: F.W. Vogel, 1909. 1st Edition. Bound first edition of the FIRST PUBLISHED ACCCOUNT OF MINKOWSKI'S SPACETIME HYPOTHESIS "THE NOTION THAT MADE POSSIBLE THE EXPANSION OF THE RELATIVITY THEORY OF EINSTEIN FROM ITS SPECIFIC (1905) TO ITS GENERAL FORM (1916). "The laws of physics were written in the language of the geometry of this four dimensional space ... Physics had become geometry, and it was a stunning achievement" (Gerber, The Language of Physics, pp. 358). Minkowski's hypothesis was first presented as a lecture in Cologne on his theory of four-dimensional spacetime, with this text of the lecture published the following year. "Raum und Zeit" was first published in this 1909 printing of Verhandlunge of the Deutscher Naturforscher und Aertze, 80 Versammlung zu Cöln. 20. - 28. September 1908. Any printing other than this Leipzig: Vogel publication (as offered here) is not the true first publication. The paper was also later reprinted in Jahresbericht der Deutschen. "Minkowski's space-time… Read More

Berlin: Julius Springer, 1918. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS OF EINSTEIN'S REVIEW OF WEYL'S SEMINAL WORK, RAUM-ZEIT-MATERIE [SPACE-TIME-MATTERS] -- WEYL'S STUDY OF THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY, written after spending a year with Einstein as the latter was working out the details of his theory. Weyl's work is still considered "the standard treatise on the general theory of relativity" (Nature). In the very favorable review offered here, Einstein writes "every page shows the amazingly steady hand of the master who has penetrated the subject matter from the most diverse angles... [Weyl] understood how to combine mathematical rigor with graphic intuition" (Einstein, 373). Weyl's work includes "an exposition and examination of Einstein's general theory of relativity and the concomitant theory of gravitation. A detailed investigation follows devoted to gravitational waves, a rigorous solution of the problem of one body, laws of conservation, and the energy of gravitation" (Stanford… Read More

Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1848. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF PASTEUR'S REVOLUTIONARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCOVERY OF MOLECULAR ASSYMETRY. "Pasteur's discovery counts among the most important advances in chemistry and constitutes the foundation of stereochemistry" ("Pasteur's Award-Winning Publication", BHS, 2013). PASTEUR: As said, this is Pasteur's announcement of his discovery, but because he wrote two more detailed papers later, there has always been an academic argument as to which paper is of the greatest import and should serve as the official citation [note that we also the more detailed version of the same title and published in the same year, but appearing in Annales de Chimie et de Physique (and which we offer separately). In 2013, the American Chemical Society wanted to award the Citation for Chemical Breakthrough award, an award given to a particularly seminal work. After performing a full assessment of each paper, this reported in the Bulletin of the History of Chemistry in 2013, it… Read More

Paris: Victor Masson, 1848. 1st Edition. HANDSOMELY BOUND OF PASTEUR'S 1st FULL EXPOSITION OF HIS REVOLUTIONARY DISCOVERY OF MOLECULAR ASSYMETRY. "Pasteur's discovery counts among the most important advances in chemistry and constitutes the foundation of stereochemistry" ("Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Awards: Choosing Pasteur's Award-Winning Publication" in Bull. Hist. Chem., 38, 2013). Note that we separately offer Pasteur's brief ANNOUNCEMENT of his discovery earlier in 1848 and in Comptes Rendus. Pasteur's discovery was ‘announced' in the same year in a four page publication of the same title, "Recherches sur le dimorphisme" in Comptes Rendus. Note that we separately offer that announcement. Technically, the announcement, though short, is more highly valued, but with respect to substance, this offering, the Annales de Chimie et de Physique publication, is Pasteur's first full treatment of his discovery as well as his first published paper (the Comptes publication being regarded as only an… Read More

Paris: Victor Masson, 1850. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF PROVOSTAYE & DESAINS PHOTOMETRIC EXPERIMENT & FORMULA FOR CALCULATING THE AMOUNT OF LIGHT TRANSMITTED THROUGH (OR REFLECTED FROM) A PILE OF PLATES. In optics, a set of flat transparent plates mounted at some angle to incident light functions as a simple polarization device. To date, most references that contain an expression for the degree of polarization of a pile of plates utilize the formula of Provostaye and Desains presented in this paper. The formula presented by French thermo-chemists Frédéric Hervé de La Provostaye and Paul Desains assumes an "infinite series of multiple reflections between all surfaces, i.e., multiple reflections within and between plates" (Bennett, Polarisation, 5.16). Provostaye and Desains "found the degree of polarization P of the transmitted rays related to the intensities of the reflected and refracted rays and can be calculated by a formula with refractive index n of the slabs staked m times"… Read More

Paris: G. Masson, 1887. 1st Edition. In 1887, the French chemist Henri Moissan achieved a significant milestone in the field of chemistry by isolating the element fluorine. Fluorine is a highly reactive and corrosive gas, making its isolation a challenging task. Moissan developed a method involving electrolysis of potassium bifluoride, which he had prepared by reacting potassium fluoride with hydrogen fluoride. Moissan's work on isolating fluorine earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1906 for isolating and investigating the chemical element fluorine and for introducing the electric furnace into the service of science - exploits whereby he has opened up new fields for scientific research and industrial activity. His achievement not only advanced the understanding of fluorine but also contributed to the development of new methods in the field of chemistry. Moissan's pioneering efforts in isolating fluorine played a crucial role in expanding the knowledge of the periodic table and the… Read More

Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1891. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS OF A VERY EARLY PAPER ON AERONAUTICS. "As a result of his observations, Mr. Langley announced in 1891 that it was possible to construct machines which would give such a velocity to inclined surfaces that bodies indefinitely heavier than the air could be sustained upon it and moved through it with great velocity" (National Academy of Biographical Memoirs, Vol. VII, 252). Samuel Pierpont Langley was an astronomer and aeronautical pioneer known for his curious and expansive mind. In 1887 and while working at Pennsylvania's Allegheny Observatory, he built a large whirling table and began a series of experiments on ‘aerodynamics'. By later that same year, Langley was Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian. Working with assistants at the institution, "in 1889 he tested stuffed birds on the whirling table; a frigate bird, a California condor and an albatross, with the result that none of them would lift as a live bird ought"… Read More

Lancaster: American Institute of Physics, 1924. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF THE 1924 PAPER IN WHICH COMPTON & HUBBARD FIRST CONFIRM & OBSERVE THE PARTICLE NATURE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION (OR THE COMPTON EFFECT) USING WILSON'S NEW CLOUD CHAMBER METHOD. In a 1923 paper, Arthur Compton explained the Compton effect -- the increase in wavelength of X-rays scattered by collisions with electrons. The Compton effect, "the quantum theory of scattering suggested by Compton... assumes that each directed X-ray quantum is scattered by a single electron" (Compton and Hubbard, 1924, 449). Compton ends his 1923 paper by saying that 'the electrons which recoil in the process of the scattering of ordinary X-rays have not been observed'. In this 1924 paper, Compton and John Charles Hubbard, "in order to decide between Darwin's theory and the light-quantum theory... proposed to analyze the maximum energy of the recoil electrons and the relative number of observed recoil electrons to photoelectrons. They… Read More

First edition folio with 17 tables and an atlas of 17 engraved plates. Eugene Spee (1843-1924) was appointed astronomer at the Observatory of Bruxelles [Brussels], where he was especially concerned with solar physics. This work is obviously on the solar spectrum. CONDITION & DETAILS: Folio. [xvii], 1, [3], 49, [1], 2, [17], 1. 17 tables and an atlas of 17 engraved plates. Tightly and solidly bound in half-calf over marbled paper boards. Very slight toning within. Two pages with tears. Handsome wide borders. Very good condition.

Lancaster: American Institute of Physics, 1951. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS OF THE BETHE-SALPETER EQUATION, A PARTICULARLY GROUNDBREAKING QUANTUM FIELD THEORETICAL TOOL THAT CAN BE APPLIED IN ANY QUANTUM FIELD THEORY & MOST AREAS OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS. The Bethe-Salpeter equation describes the "bound states between two or more elementary particles on a fully covariant relativistic footing. The work was stimulated in part by two papers by Tamm and Dancoff, but then mainly by a series of seminal papers by Feynman and by Dyson on quantum electrodynamics, which started in 1949" (Salpeter, Scholarpedia, 3 (11), 2008, p. 7483). The equation itself is in fact a direct application of the Feynman rules. Earlier in 1951, the authors had written a paper announcing the concept of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, but that paper was without either derivations or calculations. The paper offered here puts forth the derivations and calculations specific to the theory and is thus considered the first… Read More

New York: Hartsdale, 1947. The ownership signature, address of Buckminster Fuller appear on the front pastedown. Fuller also dated his entry (March 12th, 1948).This is his personal copy. Buckminster Fuller was a renowned inventor, philosopher, futurist architect, writer, social activist, designer, inventor, "intellectual outlaw," and author of more than thirty books (The New Yorker, In the Outlaw Area, Tomkins, 12.31.1965). Among many honors, Fuller (1895-1983), was selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. EINSTEIN'S WRITING OF THIS BOOK: "After submitting the final version of his general theory of relativity in November 1915, Einstein began to write a comprehensive summary of the theory for the scientific community. At that time he was already thinking about writing a popular book on relativity—both the special and the general—as he indicated in a letter to his close friend Michele Besso, quoted in the epigraph.… Read More

London: Taylor & Francis, 1900. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF RAYLEIGH'S FORMULA TO DESCRIBE THE INTENSITY DISTRIBUTION OF BLACKBODY RADIATION. Also included: two papers in which Rutherford 1st described the phenomenon of half-life as well as a 2nd in which he further describes those experiments, one of which provided the first indication that the emanation might be a gas by determining that the emanation could be dispersed by a flow of air. RAYLEIGH "The claim that black-body radiation should conform to the distribution law that has since been variously attributed to Rayleigh and Jeans was not made until 1905. But the main conceptual foundations for that claim can be found in a two-page note published by Rayleigh in the June 1900 issue of the Phil Mag [this paper]" (Kuhn, Black-Body Theory, 144). Here Rayleigh argued "that, at least for long wavelengths, the spectral energy density should rise linearly with temperature for fixed wavelengths" (Brandt, Harvest of the Century, 31). At the end of… Read More

Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1875. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST OF MENDELEEV'S PREDICTED ELEMENTS TO BE IDENTIFIED, thereby confirming "the validity of the periodic system of elements" Mendeleev had designed (Niaz, Critical Appraisal of Physical Science, 62). "The confirmation of this prediction may certainly be called the culminating point in the history of the periodic system" (ibid). In 1869 "Mendeleev published a periodic table. Mendeleev also arranged the elements known at the time in order of relative atomic mass, but he did some other things that made his table much more successful. He realised that the physical and chemical properties of elements were related to their atomic mass in a 'periodic' way, and arranged them so that groups of elements with similar properties fell into vertical columns in his table. "Sometimes this method of arranging elements meant there were gaps in his horizontal rows or 'periods'. But instead of seeing this as a problem, Mendeleev thought it simply… Read More

Lancaster: American Physical Society, 1957. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS of the existence of the KL Meson. The long-lived neutral kaon is called the KL ("K-long") and decays primarily into three pions. In particle physics, a kaon also called a K meson and denoted K is any one of a group of four mesons distinguished by the fact that they carry a quantum number called strangeness. In the quark model they are understood to contain a strange quark (or antiquark), paired with an up or down antiquark (or quark). CONDITION & DETAILS: Lancaster: American Physical Society 105, March 15, 1957. Very slight and small scuff on rear wrap; small spot on front wrap. Very good condition.

London: Fleetway Press, 1927. Excerpt from this 'Report': "My purpose in the present report has been to give a comprehensive account of the development and present state of our knowledge of the regularities in spectra, as deduced from the spectra themselves, with but little regard to theories of their origin. The report is in two parts, the first of which gives a general account of spectral series, excluding those which occur in band spectra, while the second is intended to include the most authentic experimental data available in April, 1921. It is hoped that the tables of series lines, together with the references to lines which have not yet been classified, will suggest and facilitate further investigations. The system Of numeration Of the series lines which has been adopted is that of Rydberg and Hicks, but if it should be found convenient to modify this numeration on theoretical grounds there should be no difficulty in making the desired alterations" (Fowler, v). 4to. (10.25 x 7.25 inches). [8],… Read More

Lancaster: American Physical Society, 1985. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPS OF A REPORT ON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ACCIDENTS PREPARED BY A STUDY GROUP OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION. The Reviews of Modern Physics published this issue, a special one hundred-fifty page supplement, to present the results of the study. Note that the attached images show the full content pages in more detail. "The American Physical Society (APS) formed a study group on radionuclide release from severe accidents at nuclear power plants to "review the adequacy of the technical base upon which the phenomenological models for radionuclide release from postulated severe reactor accidents are constructed, the adequacy of the models themselves, and the correct use of the complex computer codes that incorporate these models in the analyses of accident sequences. The impetus to the existing research came from the observation that much less radioactive… Read More

1st Edition. FIRST EDITIONS IN ORIGINAL PAPER WRAPS OF PART II ONLY OF ALLAN CORMACK'S SEMINAL INVENTION OF A MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUE FOR COMPUTER-ASSISTED X-RAY TOMOGRAPHY (CAT Scans) - TOGETHER, THESE TWO PAPERS DOCUMENT THE INVENTION OF THE CAT SCAN. Cormack's work produced the most revolutionary development in the field of radiography since the discover of the x-ray by Rontgen in 1895. In 1979, Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work in "the development of computer assisted tomography" (Nobel Prize Committee). "This was the first time that researchers trained not in the medical sciences but in mathematics and engineering received the Nobel Prize in Medicine" (Grolier Medical Hundred, 365). Cormack's work as a theoretical physicist with a special interest in computer tomography and math drove his interest in and invention of a mathematical technique for computer-assisted X-ray tomography. Cormack's papers contain the first description of the… Read More

London: Royal Society. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITIONS OF FIVE PAPERS (Parts I through V) BY LOCKYER DETAILING HIS SPECTRUM ANALYSIS OF THE SUN. Offered is a Sammelband (a book comprising a number of separately printed works that are subsequently bound together) of extracts in fine condition inside and out; in this case the extracts have been finely bound. The five papers include 13 large fold-out plates, including spectral photographs. Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920) was an English scientist and astronomer. In the 1860s and while still an ‘amateur astronomist," Lockyer grew intrigued by the burgeoning field of electromagnetic spectroscopy - using the spectrograph as an analytical tool for determining the composition of celestial objects. He decided to apply his interest in the field to the study of the Sun. In 1868 and after having adapted his 6-inch telescope to utilize a spectroscope, he was able to carry out electromagnetic spectroscopic observations of the sun during an eclipse. While… Read More