Essay on the Theory of the Earth

New York: Kirk & Mercein, 1818

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.

“In paleontology, catastrophism reached an apogee in Georges Cuvierʼs... ʻEssay on the theory of the earth.” Cuvier did not present his Essay as a textbook of catastrophism, but as a statement about the roles that paleontology and geology should play in unravelling the history of the earth. Nonetheless, Cuvierʼs Essay exposes all characteristic features of catastrophism as a science, and illustrates the incompatibility of this geologi- cal approach with Darwinʼs prerequisites for natural selection as a chief agent of macro-evolutionary pattern.” - Stephen Jay Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory

Octavo. Complete with half-title and 8 engraved plates. Modern 1/4 calf over early marbled boards. Scattered foxing; glean throughout. A handsome copy.

$700

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An essay towards solving a problem in the Doctrine of Chances

First edition of Thomas Bayes's extremely influential work on the concept of "inverse probability", the basis of modern statistical inference.Bayes's paper marked “a truly Copernican revolution in statistical concept ... [It] served to embed his name in what has become ... one of the most widely known eponyms in all of science, Bayesian inference ... The ideas this essay contains have been of vast influence” (S. M. Stigler, The History of Statistics).''Bayes, a Nonconformist minister, published only two works during his lifetime: Divine Benefits (1731), a religious treatise; and Introduction to the Doctrine of Fluxions (1736), in which he responded to Bishop Berkeley's attack on the logical foundations of Newton's calculus. For the latter work he was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1742. In 1763, two years after Bayes's death, Richard Price, a fellow Nonconformist minister, economist, and actuary to whom Bayes had bequeathed his papers, found Bayes's Essay and submitted it to the Royal Society for publication. The arguments in Bayes's paper were adopted by Laplace, who saw in them the basis for statistical inference; they were later challenged by George Boole in his Laws of Thought.“Bayes’s Essay contains the first statement of Bayes's Theorem for calculating 'inverse probabilities', which forms the basis for methods of decision analysis, statistical learning machines, and Bayesian networks. Bayesian networks are complex diagrams that organise the body of knowledge in any given area by mapping out cause-and-effect relationships among key variables and encoding them with numbers that represent the extent to which one variable is likely to affect another. Programmed into computers, these systems can automatically generate optimal predictions or decisions even when key pieces of information are missing. Bayesian or subjective decision theory is arguably the most comprehensive theory of decision-making; however, until the late 1980s, it had little impact due to the stupefying complexity of the mathematics involved. The rapid advances in computing power and the development of key mathematical equations during the late 1980s and early 1990s made it possible to compute Bayesian networks with enough variables to be useful in practical applications" (Hook & Norman).With the advent of the Internet, Bayesian networks have been applied extensively to fundamental search structures. "Search giant Google and Autonomy, a company that sells information retrieval tools, both employ Bayesian principles to provide likely (but technically never exact) results to data searches. Researchers are also using Bayesian models to determine correlations between specific symptoms and diseases, create personal robots, and develop artificially intelligent devices that 'think' by doing what data and experience tell them to do" (Michael Kanellos, "18th-century theory is new force in computing").Only one other mathematical contribution of Bayes has come down to us, which appears on pp. 269-71. It is referred to by Price on p. 401 of the Essay in connection with the evaluation of factorials needed for the second rule. In this paper Bayes considers the series for log n! given by Stirling and de Moivre. He makes the important observation that "at length the subsequent terms of this series are greater than the preceding ones, and increase in infinitum, and therefore the whole series can have no ultimate value whatsoever" (p. 270). This was contrary to de Moivre's view that the series "converged, but slowly". Bayes was, in fact, the first to appreciate the asymptotic character of Stirling's series: there is now an extensive theory of such 'asymptotic series'. The present volume also contains a paper by Ferguson on the anticipated 1769 transit of Venus, which prompted Captain Cook's voyage to Tahiti, and led to the first accurate measurement of the sun's distance, illustrated with a fine large folding engraved plate.An essay towards solving a problem in the Doctrine of Chances. By the late Rev. Mr. Bayes F.R.S. Communicated by Mr. Price in a Letter to John Canton, A.M. F.R.S. in Philosophical Transactions, Vol. LIII (1763), pp. 370-418. London: L. Davis and C. Reymers, Printers to the Royal Society, 1764. With 26 engraved plates, mostly folding. Quarto, contemporary full calf rebacked. The entire volume, #53 for 1763 offered. "Belfast Society" in gilt on front board. Moderate wear to contemporary boards with renewed corners and edges; interior fine.

$8,750

Introductio in Analysin Infinitorum

FIRST EDITION of Euler's foundational work on mathematical analysis. "In his 'Introduction to Mathematical Analysis' Euler did for modern analysis what Euclid had done for ancient geometry. It contains an exposition of algebra, trigonometry and analytical geometry, both plane and solid, a definition of logarithms as exponents, and important contributions to the theory of equations. He evolved the modern exponential treatment of logarithms, including the fact that each number has an infinity of natural logarithms. In the early chapters there appears for the first time the definition of mathematical function, one of the fundamental concepts of modern mathematics. From Euler's time mathematics and physics tended to be treated algebraically, and many of his principles are still used in teaching mathematics" (PMM 196). Without the engraved portrait of the dedicatee Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan, possible indicating that this is an early issue. Titles in red and black with engraved vignettes, frontispiece by Soubeyran after De la Monce; with directions to the binder and 40 folding engraved plates in rear (largely unopened), woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces and chapter vignettes. Quarto, original blue wrappers with paper labels; custom cloth box. Two volumes. A few leaves with light dampstaining in outer margin, otherwise a fine, crisp uncut copy; extremely rare in original wrappers.

$12,000

Earth In the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

"A global environmental crisis threatens to overwhelm our children's generation. Mitigating the crisis will require a planetary perspective, long-term thinking, political courage and savvy, eloquence and leadership––all of which are in evidence in Al Gore's landmark book."–Carl SaganFIRST EDITION, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AL GORE: "For the grandchildren of Sally and Paul Robinson". A fine copy in the original dust jacket.

$225

[Conics] Conicorum Libri Quattuor. Una Cum Pappi Alexandrini Lemmatibus, et Commentariis Eutochii Ascalonitae

FIRST EDITION of the first four books of Apollonius's Conics; the first printing of any of his work. "Of the school of Euclid in Alexandria, Apollonius applied to conic sections the discipline that Euclid had given to geometry" (Dibner 101).Apollonius was “known by his contemporaries as ‘the Great Geometer,’ whose treatise Conics is one of the greatest scientific works from the ancient world. Most of his other treatises are now lost, although their titles and a general indication of their contents were passed on by later writers, especially Pappus of Alexandria (fl. c. AD 320). Apollonius's work inspired much of the advancement of geometry in the Islamic world in medieval times, and the rediscovery of his Conics in Renaissance Europe formed a good part of the mathematical basis for the scientific revolution.“The first four books of the Conics survive in the original Greek, the next three only from a 9th-century Arabic translation, and an eighth book is now lost. Books I–IV contain a systematic account of the essential principles of conics and introduce the terms ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola, by which they became known" (Britannica).Beautifully printed with diagrams on nearly every page. Bound with: SERENUS OF ANZI (fl. 4th century). Libri duo. Unus de sectione cylindri, alter de sectione coni. All texts translated from Greek into Latin and edited by Federico Commandino (1509-1575). Bologna: Alessandro Benacci, 1566. Bologna: Alessandro Benacci, 1566, Folio, early full vellum with silk ties, old tape repair to top of spine, some soiling to binding, ties frayed, evidence of signature removal at top of title, bookplate of Franz Joseph, Count of Kuenberg. Text exceptionally clean with wide margins.

$14,000

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

FIRST EDITION, SECOND ISSUE. “One batch of material proved too bulky for incorporation in the Descent of Man and Darwin held it over for separate treatment. This derived from his research into human and animal expressions...Though much of his analysis has been superseded, and was for modern scientific purposes marred by much unconscious anthropomorphism, he was convinced that an evolutionary continuity existed between the expressions (and hence mental life) of animals and humans, and that animals experience traces of every human emotion, including the moral feelings. In this sense,The Expression of the Emo- tions in Man and Animals completed his great cycle of evolutionary writings.” –Oxford Dictionary of National BiographyOctavo. Original green cloth. First edition, second issue with ʻhtatʼ for ʻthatʼ at top of page 208. Publisherʼs ads dated Nov. 1872. Spine ends rubbed, corners bumped; split at inner hinge. Clean throughout. An attractive copy.The Expression of Emotions describes how humans and animals express and signal their emotions to others. Darwin based his conclusions on worldwide questionnaires, photographs of actors, babies, and “imbeciles” in an asylum, as well as his own observations based on the grief expressed following a family death.

$800

Nova Stereometria doliorum vinariorum

SCARCE FIRST EDITION of one of the most significant works in the prehistory of calculus. With the rare errata leaf present in two variant states."The task of writing a complete treatise on volumetric determination seems to have been suggested to Kepler by the prosaic problem of determining the best proportions for a wine cask. The result was the Nova stereometria, which appeared in 1615. This contains three parts, of which the ﬁrst is on Archimedean stereometry, together with a supplement containing some ninety-two solids not treated by Archimedes. The second part is on the measurement of Austrian wine barrels, and the third on applications of the whole" (Boyer, The History of the Calculus).Kepler's basic method was to regard the circle as a polygon with an inﬁnite number of sides and its area as being composed of an inﬁnite number of inﬁnitesimal triangles with vertex at the centre of the circle and base one of the sides of the polygon. Similarly, the volume of a sphere was made up of an inﬁnite number of pyramids, the cone and cylinder of inﬁnitely thin circular discs or of inﬁnitesimal wedge-shaped segments radiating from the axis. "Kepler then extended his work to solids not considered by the ancients. The areas of the segments cut from a circle by a chord he rotated about this chord, obtaining solids which he designated characteristically as apple or citron-shaped, according as the generating segment was greater or less than a semi-circle... Kepler's Doliometha... exerted such a strong inﬂuence in the inﬁnitesimal considerations which followed its appearance, and which culminated a half century later in the work of Newton, that it has been called [by Moritz Cantor] the source of inspiration for all later cubatures" (Boyer).Kepler's book on integration methods also contains the germ of the differential calculus. "The subject of the measurement of wine casks had led Kepler to the problem of determining the best proportions for these. This brought him to the consideration of a number of problems on maxima and minima ... he showed, among other things, that of all right parallelepipeds inscribed in a sphere and having square bases, the cube is the largest, and that of all right circular cylinders having the same diagonal, that one is greatest which has the diameter and altitude in the ratio of [square root of 2]:1. These results were obtained by making up tables in which were listed the volumes for given sets of values of the dimension ... He remarked that as the maximum volume was approached, the change in volume for a given change in the dimensions became smaller" (Boyer). Kepler had noted, in modern terms, that when a maximum occurs the rate of change becomes zero, a basic principle of the differential calculus that is usually credited to Fermat later in the century.Nova Stereometria doliorum vinariorum, in primis Austriaci, ﬁgurae omnium aptissimae; et usus in eo virgae cubicae compendiosossimus & plane singularis. Accessit Stereometriae Archimedae Supplememtum. Folio, contemporary calf sympathetically rebacked. With two errata leaves, woodcut on H3v shaved at foot as usual, ocassional foxing, small closed tears to final leaf; a very good crisp copy. RARE.

$45,500

On a New Series of Organic Bodies Containing Metals

"From novel and highly obscure compounds he had discovered one of the great principles of all chemistry, which came to be known as valency. Although others, particularly August Kekulé, claimed priority for this discovery, Frankland was certainly the first to articulate the concept of what he called ‘combining power’. The results he later communicated to the Royal Society, and they were read to the society's meeting on 10 May 1852. This important paper was subsequently published as ‘On a new series of organic bodies containing metal’ (PTRS, 142, 1852, 417–44)" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Frankland's research on "combining power" revolutionized modern structural chemistry and established his reputation as one of the most important theoretical chemists in the world.IN: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 142 pp. 417-444, 1852. First edition. Fine extract bound beautifully in aged leather and boards.

$500

Ondes et Mouvements [Waves and Motions]

FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS of de Broglie’s presentation of his revolutionary theory of the wave-particle duality of matter. PMM 417.De Broglie’s work “served as the basis for developing the general theory nowadays known by the name of wave mechanics, a theory which has utterly transformed our knowledge of physical phenomena on the atomic scale.”Octavo, original printed wrappers; custom cloth box. Modest bookplate on inside front wrapper; tape repair to initial blank. Minor discoloration to wrapper edges; an excellent copy.

$2,500

Instauratio magna [Novum organum]

FIRST EDITION of Bacon’s argument for and development of the scientific method. PMM 119.Bacon “insisted on experiment in determining truth in nature and the above book is a proposed method for the assessment of all knowledge. The accumulation of observation and fact must be the basis of a new philosophy and not the authority of Aristotle or anyone else... Bacon’s inspiration led directly to the formation of the Royal Society. The famous engraved title-page showing a ship boldly sailing beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the limits of the old world) is interpreted to represent the bold spirit of adventure and research of the new age of science” (Dibner 80). “Bacon conceived a massive plan for the reorganization of scientific method an gave purposeful thought to the relation of science to public and social life. His pronouncement ‘I have taken all knowledge to be my province’ it he motto of his work... The frontispiece to his magnum opus shows a ship in full sail passing through the Pillars of Hercules from the old to the new world. It symbolizes the vision of its author whose ambitious proposal was: ‘a total reconstruction of sciences, arts and all human knowledge... to extend the power and dominion of the human race... over the universe’” (PMM 119). Second issue (as usual) with “Billium” only (omitting Bill Norton) in colophon and added errata. With engraved title by Simon van de Passe. Folio, contemporary full calf rebacked with original spine laid-down; custom box. Some soiling to binding and repairs to corners. Title page with early signature and notation in top margin, a few scattered rust spots, tiny tear to corner of B2. Overall, text extremely clean and crisp with wide margins.

$40,500

Experimenta circa effectum conflictus electrici in acum magneticam

FIRST PUBLISHED EDITION of one of the rarest and most important papers of modern science: Oersted's discovery of the connection between electricity and magnetism. Preceded only by the legendarily rare privately-printed pamphlet (of which only a few copies are known to exist, only one in private hands), the first journal printing is exceedingly scarce. Text in the original Latin."The 'Experimenta...' opened a new epoch in the history of physics. From it followed the creation of electrodynamics by Ampere and Faraday's 'Experimental Researches in Electricity" (DSB)."It was after lecturing to students in his own rooms in the Noerragade, Copenhagen, in 1819 or 1820 that [Oersted] invited a few of them to stay on to witness an experiment- the possible deflection of a compass -needle by an adjacent electric current. The experiment was successful; but only just; and Oersted repeated it many times before venturing on 21 July to proclaim the identity of magnetism and electricity in this four-page paper entitled 'Experiments relative to"The 'Experimenta...' opened a new epoch in the history of physics. From it followed the creation of electrodynamics by Ampere and Faraday's 'Experimental Researches in Electricity" (DSB). the Effect of the Contiguity of Electricity to a Magnetic Needle'."The results were as important as they were widespread. Oersted's paper was within the year reprinted in England, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark. In 1823 Ronalds and in 1833 Gauss and Weber constructed the first practical electric telegraphs. Faraday's momentous experiments with the sequels by Clerk Maxwell, Hertz and others bore further witness to its significance" (Printing and the Mind of Man, 282).Printed in the July, 1820 issue of Schweigger's Journal für Chemie und Physik. Less than a year later, "in 1821, volume 31 of the prestigious Journal für Chemie und Physik opened with an editorial announcing a change in format 'in part because a new epoch in chemistry and physics appears to have begun with Ørsted's important discoveries on the connection between magnetism and electricity.' A contributor wrote: 'Orsted's experiments regarding magnetism are the most interesting ones performed in more than a thousand years'" (Physics in Denmark, nobelprize.org).WITH: Neuere electro-magnetische Versuche, Oersted's succeeding paper on the interactions between an electric current and a magnetic field. In: Journal für Chemie und Physik. Hrsg. v. Schweigger u. Meinecke, Vol. 29, pp. 275-281 (Oersted in July issue); Neuere electro-magnetische Versuche, pp. 364-369. Nuremberg: Schrag, 1820. The whole volume offered. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter green morocco, marbled boards. Some wear to edges of binding, text clean. Provenance: with library and de-accession stamps on series title from the prestigious Gmelin Institute (after 1996, part of the Max Planck Institute). SCARCE.

$23,500

Opere di Galileo Galilei Nobile Fiorentino Accademico Linceo

Second edition of Galileo's collected works; an important edition containing a wealth of material (nearly all of volume 3) not included in the 1655-56 first collected edition. The first two volumes are essentially a reprint of the 1655-56 Bologna edition, while the third volume contains previously unpublished material. Sometimes referred to as the "first complete edition", although this edition does not include the Dialogo nor the Letter to the Grand Duchess Cristina, both of which were still on the Index Prohibitorum. Edited by Tommaso Buonaventuri.Quarto, contemporary full vellum with leather labels; edges speckled red. Three volumes. With engraved frontispiece portrait of Galileo, engraved vignette with view of Florence on first title page with title page printed in red and black, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, woodcut diagrams, folding engraved plate. A few cosmetic cracks to vellum at joints. Faint evidence of stamp removal on title pages, two small spots of dampstaining on top margin of first few leaves of vol 1; tiny worming on first few leaves of vol 3. Text extremely clean with wide margins. A beautiful set.

$5,900

“Space-Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics“ (Reviews of Modern Physics 20 pp. 367-387, 1948)

Feynman's path integral formulation of quantum mechanics. Also contains "A Generalized Theory of Gravitation" by Albert Einstein (pp. 35-39).Volume beautifully bound in cloth and boards in pristine condition inside and out.

$900

CUVIER, GEORGES