Göttingen: Dieterich, 1811, 1813, 1816, 1820, 1828. First editions, journal issues, of thirteen important papers by Gauss, including works on the fundamental theorem of algebra, number theory, hypergeometric functions, approximation theory, differential geometry, gravitation, and celestial mechanics. “Gauss ranks, together with Archimedes and Newton, as one of the greatest geniuses... More about Thirteen important papers by Gauss contained in five volumes of Commentationes societatis regiae...
Item #4298

London: Harrison and Sons, 1909. A fine copy, in the original wrappers, of the famous Geiger-Marsden experiment (or gold foil experiment) which demonstrated for the first time the existence of the atomic nucleus, leading to the downfall of Thomson’s plum-pudding model of the atom, and the development of the Rutherford..... More about On a Diffuse Reflection of the alpha-Particles
Item #3587

Salem, Mass. Salem Press, 1886. First edition, very rare offprint issue. “One of Gibbs’ most famous papers was entitled ‘On Multiple Algebra.’ It was given as an ‘Address before the Section of Mathematics and Astronomy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, by the Vice-President’ and was published..... More about On multiple algebra: an address before the Section of Mathematics and Astronomy of the American...
Item #4433

Paris: Chez l'autheur, 1663. Rare first edition of this very important chemistry text, which went through some thirteen editions between 1663 and 1710. It is one of the earliest attempts to strip chemistry from its alchemical mysticism and to describe chemical preparations in an unambiguous manner. "The work is divided... More about Traite de la Chymie. Enseignant par une brieve et facile methode toutes ses plus necessaires...
Item #3412

Leipzig & Berlin: B.G. Teubner, 1931-33. First editions, and a fine set in the original printed wrappers, of these rare proceedings to which Gödel contributed thirteen important papers and remarks on the foundations of logic and mathematics (see below for a complete annotated listing). The most important are perhaps ‘Über..... More about Thirteen papers, all first editions, in Ergebnisse eines mathematischen Kolloquiums, unter...
Item #3707

[Leyden]: in bibliopolio Commeliniano sumptibus viduae Joannis Comelini, 1620. First edition, extremely rare, of one of the earliest modern works on atomism. “Gorlaeus is counted among the founders of modern atomism, which he proposed as an alternative to Aristotelian matter theory. Because of his notion of atomic compounds, he is... More about Exercitationes philosophicæ quibus universa fere discutitur philosophia theoretica, et plurima...
Item #4573

Naples: Matthaeus Nuccius, 1627. First Italian edition, very rare, of Grassi’s counter-polemic against Galileo’s Il saggiatore (1623). This is the concluding work in the series of publications which document the “controversy of the comets,” one of the most infamous polemics in the history of science. According to Drake, these texts..... More about Ratio ponderum librae et simbellae: In qua quid e Lothario Sarsii libra astronomica, quidque e...
Item #4009

Oxford: Sheldonian Theatre, 1695. First edition of this rare work, famous today for its suggestion that an achromatic compound lens might be formed by combining simples lenses of different media. The use of ‘achromatic doublets’ was a crucial step in the further development of telescopes and microscopes. From Marischal College..... More about Catoptricae et dioptricae sphaericae elementa
Item #3190

Amsterdam: Johanned Jansson Waesberge, 1672. First edition of this book “of prime importance in electrical discovery, air-pressure and the vacuum pump.” The Experimenta nova (1672) ranks next to Gilbert’s De magnete (1611) in the number and importance of electrical discoveries described” (Sparrow). ❧Dibner, Heralds of Science 55; Evans, First Editions..... More about Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio Primùm à R.P. Gaspare Schotto . . ....
Item #3763

Berlin: Walter de Gruyter und Co., 1939 [1942, 1944]. First edition, offprint issues, of the three fundamental papers on nuclear fission which eventually lead to the creation of the atom bomb. “…experiments conducted in 1938 at Berlin by Hahn and Strassman [sic] were reported to Lise Meitner, an Austrian scientist... More about ‘Uber das Zerplatzen des Urankernes Durch Langsame Neutronen.’ [TOGETHER WITH:] HAHN,...
Item #4152

Paris: J. Anisson, 1694. First edition, rare, of Hartsoeker's first and most important work, in which he reviewed the principles of optics as far as they were known by the end of the 17th century. In addition to the physics of light and the physiology of vision, the book also... More about Essay de dioptrique
Item #4518

London: William Dugard, for Octavian Pulleyn, 1651. John Evelyn’s copy, and possibly the unique copy containing the portrait of Harvey, of the first edition of “the most important book on [embryology] to appear during the seventeenth century” (Garrison-Morton). In this work, “he rejected the prevailing doctrine of the preformation of..... More about Exercitationes de generatione animalium. Quibus accedunt quaedum de partu: de membranis ac...
Item #4785

Berlin: Springer, 1926. First edition of the explanation of the anomalous Zeeman effect on the basis of matrix mechanics. “By including the spin property of the electron, Heisenberg and Jordan obtained perhaps the greatest triumph of matrix mechanics: they were able to derive all observed phenomena connected with the anomalous... More about Anwendung der Quantenmechanik auf das Problem der anomalen Zeemaneffekte
Item #3528