Berlin: Springer, 1927. First edition, extremely rare offprint, of this important paper, in which Jordan introduces his approach to quantum field theory, independent of Dirac’s, and also gives his formulation of Fermi-Dirac statistics, which he had developed earlier than both Fermi and Dirac. “Pascual Jordan is the unsung hero among..... More
Item #5424

Linz: Hans Blanck, 1616. First edition, a considerably revised, rearranged and augmented version of Kepler’s Nova Stereometria published the year before, a work which is “generally regarded as one of the significant works in the prehistory of the calculus” (Gingerich in DSB). “Desiring to outfit his new household with the..... More
Item #5003

Frankfurt: Erasmus Kempfer for Godefrid Tampach, 1621-1622. Second, enlarged, edition of the Mysterium cosmographicum (first, 1596), Kepler’s first scientific book, “the first unabashedly Copernican treatise since De revolutionibus itself” (Gingerich in DSB), which laid “the foundation of his vast later astronomical work [and] immediately made him famous in scientific circles..... More
Item #5861

Ulm: Jonas Saur, 1627. First edition, a copy with contemporary annotations, of this great scientific classic, “the chief vehicle for the recognition of his astronomical accomplishments” (DSB). “The tables are extraordinarily important, for they document in a unique way Kepler’s great contributions to astronomy” (Gingerich). This was Kepler’s last lifetime..... More
Item #5639

Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Soner, 1904. First edition, extremely rare offprint issue, inscribed by the author to Fredholm, of von Koch’s paper, which contains the first examples of geometric fractals, the famous ‘Koch curve’ and ‘Koch snowflake’. The term ‘fractal’ was coined much later, by Benoit Mandelbrot in his 1975..... More
Item #3660

Paris: Desaint & Saillant, 1764. First edition, a fine set from the library of Erik Prosperin, of this major work by the celebrated French astronomer, which served as the introductory text for a generation of astronomers. “Next to his indefatigable efforts to improve astronomical tables, Lalande’s greatest contribution was as..... More
Item #5787

Paris: Maradan, Seconde Année de la République, [1794]. First edition of the first of Lamarck’s full-length treatise on chemistry, a copy with extensive near-contemporary annotations. “With the publication of the Recherches, Larmarck brought together the various strands of his work in physics and chemistry, and his views on the differences..... More
Item #5660

Augsburg: Christoph Peter Detleffsen for the widow of Eberhard Klett, 1760. First edition, very rare, of this cornerstone of modern optics, with applications which touch on astronomy and photography; this is one of the rarest of modern science books of this stature. Lambert’s discoveries “are of fundamental importance in astronomy..... More
Item #5810

[Vols. I & II:] Brescia; [Vol. III:] Parma: Brescia: G. M. Riccardi; H. Rosati, 1684-86; 1692. First editions of two important works from the library of the distinguished Riccati family of mathematicians and physicists. The Prodromo, Lana’s most famous work, contains his design for an air-ship kept aloft by means..... More
Item #5640

Münich: F. Straub for the Verlag der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1912. First edition, very rare offprint issue, of Laue’s Nobel Prize-winning report of “one of the most beautiful discoveries in physics” (Einstein). X-rays had been in wide use since their discovery in 1895 but their exact nature as..... More
Item #4852

Milan: Imprimerie Bernardoni de C. Rebeschini, 1902. First edition, very rare, of “Lebesgue’s great thèse” (Burkill, p. 484), describing his new theory of integration, now known as the ‘Lebesgue integral’. “The Lebesgue integral is one of the great achievements of modern real analysis” (Britannica). “It cannot be doubted that this..... More
Item #5821

Berlin: Johann Christian Papen, 1710. First edition, the Macclesfield copy, of this milestone in computer history, Leibniz’s description of his famous calculating machine, the first stepped-drum calculator, and the first machine that could perform multiplication and division. “Leibniz studied Morland’s and Pascal’s various designs and set himself the task of..... More
Item #5781

Paris: chez l’Auteur, 1675. First edition, very rare, of the author’s famous chemical textbook. “Lemery’s highly successful Cours de chymie, which served as the textbook to his popular courses on chemistry, brought French chemical teaching out of the quasi-mystical Paracelsian tradition into the mainstream of Cartesian and atomistic natural philosophy..... More
Item #5402