OF THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS: An Essay; Also, a Diaglogue on the Same Subject by [Whewell, William] - 1854

Francoforti: Ex officina Petri Brubachii, 1549 An extremely rare work. Johannes Sacrobosco’s Tractatus de Sphaera, first written around 1230 and first printed around 1472, set the framework for European understanding of astronomy for 400 years. Based on the work of Ptolemy Alfraganus, and using more recent Arabic sources, he presented a vision of the heavens as a series of enveloping spheres. The tables in his work are an almanac relating the 'rising' and 'setting' of celestial spheres with respect to the calendar. As this work presented the stars in terms of constellations, it also became of value to astrologers. In this setting the Earth is also a sphere, at the centre of the universe, around which the spheres of the heavens rotate. It was copied many times in the 15th and 16th centuries - sometimes as a whole text, and sometimes in the form of 'Quaestiones'. This version by Hartmann Beyer is in the latter form. Beyer (1516-1577) was a mathematician, theologian and… Read More

Peterborough, NH: McGraw-Hill, 1980. First edition. Hard cover in original cloth and dust jacket. Published Peterborough, NH: McGraw-Hill, 1980, first printing. 8vo., 7 1/2" x 9 1/4", 235pp., illustrated with color and b/w plates. A seminal work by a pioneer in computer graphics and cinema techniques. Near fine, clean and bright, in a very good dust jacket with edgewear and a short, closed tear. . 1st. Hard. Near Fine/Very Good. 8vo.

LEIDEN, GEORGE WISHOFF, 1753. WITH LUCUBRATIUNCULA DE FORMATIONE, CREMENTO ET COLORIBUS TESTARUM, TENTAMEN.... 177 PAGES, PLUS INDEX. ALSO, QUAE SUNT COCHLIDUM ET CONCHARUM (44 PAGES). ALSO COMMENTARIOLUM IN LOCUM PLINII (16 PAGES). 12 PLATES OF SHELLS. BOUND IN FULL LEATHER WITH RAISED BANDS. ARMORIAL BOOKPLATE. THE BOARDS ARE PITTED AND THE PAGES ARE VERY BROWNED. NEVERTHELESS, COMPLETE AND TIGHTLY BOUND.

Washington D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution, 1896. Hardcover. Excellent. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Large octavo. Original green cloth, titles to upper board gilt, yellow coated endpapers. Corners and tail of spine bumped slightly affecting leaves, else a very fresh copy in excellent condition. First separate edition, first printing of the first publication on the discovery of argon, which led to Nobel Prizes for its co-discoverers. "Few discoveries have been as dramatic as the discovery of argon in the atmosphere by Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay, professor of chemistry at University College, London. The discovery of argon involved a bitter public dispute concerning the legitimacy of a chemical element whose most important characteristic was its inertness, and which forced the chemists to reassess the very notion of a chemical element." Rayleigh had begun work to determine the densities of atmospheric gases in 1882. In 1892 he uncovered a strange discrepancy between the atomic weight of… Read More

The Geological Society of America, 2006. Paperback. Used- Very good condition. Book is clean and tight. Book shows light shelf wear. One small crease on the top middle of back cover. No creasing on the spine. No markings on the inside of the book. Special paper maps in pocket at back of book. Photos are of the book we have here at Barbed Wire Books. Note: ISBN printed in book may apply to other books, as well.

Paris: Des Ventes De La Doué, 1767. Hardcover. Very Good. Folding copperplates (18) illustrating scientic experiments. . Two Volumes duodecimo contemporary marbled calf, 5 raised bands, spine compartments and titles gilt (tips and spine-edges rubbed & 4cm patch of leather missing from font cover of Vol I) marbled end-papers & armorial bookplates with eagle & sailing-ships, top corner of 1st EP torn off All Edges Marbled. Sporadic light spotting and traces of light marginal waterstain to first 30 pages, otherwise very clean & crisp throughout, [1]Half-title & Avis au Relieur +[2]1st titlepage & blank +xv (inc 2nd titlepage) +[1] +424 +[2]pp errata +12 folding copperplates, [4](inc Vol II titlepage) +501 +[3]pp +6 folding copperplates. *Sigaud de Lafond was a pupil of the Abbé Nollet who produced an earlier work with the same title. Splendid folding copper-plates in pristine condition all illustrating scientific experiments.

Lynn, MA. 1915: Thos. P. Nichols & Son Co. First Edition. Quarto. In two Volumes. Lowell was an American astronomer who predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune. He published a series of "Memoirs of the Lowell Observatory" containing theoretical researches of his personal studies of a "Trans-Neptuneian Planet" and of the structure of "Saturn's Rings". In volume one he attributed certain irregularities to the action of an unseen planet beyond Neptune and calculated its probable position. In 1905 he organized a systematic search for the planet by the staff of his observatory, and in 1915 he published his Memoir on a Trans-Neptunian Planet. Fourteen years after his death the search culminated in the discovery of Pluto. Volume two contains his observations and calculations of Saturn's rotation and the density of its rings. Volume 1, No. 1: 105pp. with nine plates (two double-page) situated at the rear, bound in original printed wraps with stripes (off-setting from cardboard box but… Read More

Amsterdam. (amstelodami): Amstelodami, Apud Andream Frisum. Very Good. 1686. First Edition. Hardcover. Bound in vellum . Stain on rear cover. Interior of text is tight, clean & intact. A few pages slightly age darkened. Eight engraved illustrations of which five are fold outs. Front and rear paste-down endpaper have hand-written notes from long ago. Printed book on the subject of glass making technology. This recipe book contains over a hundred different preparations that range from the commonplace to the spectacular. It became the bible of glass makers throughout Europe. Glass, Science & Technology ; Engraved illustrations; 24mo 5" - 6" tall; 455pp pages .

ORIGINAL 1865 First Edition, 498pp. Report on the first systematic survey of the geology of the state of California. Historic document suitable for a library archive, bespoke gift, or investment.This classic work presents the results of the comprehensive investigations of California geology. Clarence King was a member of the Geologic Corps under Whitney's direction as State Geologist. The full-page woodcut plates show scenery in the Sierras and Yosemite. The plates were made from drawings by Whitney and C. F. Hoffman, and from Yosemite photographs by Carleton Watkins. The Yosemite illustrations are some of the earliest published views of the future National Park. Chap. 1: Introduction.Chap. 2: The Monte Diablo Range.Chap. 3: The Peninsula of San Francisco.Chap. 4: The Coast Ranges North.Chap. 5: The Coast Ranges South.Chap. 6: The Coast Ranges from the Vicinity of Los Angeles South.Chap. 7: The Region between Cañada de Las Uvas and Soledad Pass..PART II: Geology of the Sierra Nevada.Chap.… Read More

New York City: Bell Telephone Laboratories, [no date stated]. Wraps. Very Good. [1]-5 pages. 10 7/8 x 8 3/8 inches. Typescript carbon on thin paper printed recto only. Paperclip affixed upper left with older rust stains visible. Provided WITH the final paper in offprint form: 90-93 pages. 10 x 7 1/8 inches. Publisher's original printed blue wrappers. Stapled. Wraps. First published in American Mathematical Monthly, Vol 57, (Feb. 1950), pp 90-93. Offered here is an undated typescript carbon of that paper. While we don't understand the mathematics here, one comment is fun: "If we were using this notation, department stores would find it much more difficult to camouflage the price of goods with $.98 labels." The typescript carbon in Shannon's files finishes there. But the final paper [ as offered here ] includes additional material, including a final paragraph explaining one reason for this notation: "Symmetrical notation offers attractive possibilities for general-purpose computing machines of the… Read More