Chemische Analyse durch Spectralbeobachtungen. (Erste-) Zweite Abhandlung. In: Annalen der Physik und Chemie, vol. 110, pp. 161-89, plates V, VI + vol. 113, pp. 337-81, plates III, V, VIII by KIRCHHOFF, Gustav Robert & BUNSEN, Robert - 1860

Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1860. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 1860-1861. Entire volumes, 8vo (208 x 128 mm); IX [1], 668 pp., 8 folding plates; X, 660 pp., 8 folding plates. Uniformly bound in contemporary polished half-calf and marbled boards, gilt-lettered morocco labels, marbled edges (extremities slightly rubbed, corners partly bumped). Text and plates with occasional minor foxing, otherwise crisp and clean throughout. A very good set in untouched original bindings. ----

FIRST PRINTING OF THE TWO FOUNDING PAPERS OF SPECTRUM ANALYSIS. In 1860, Gustav R. Kirchhoff and Robert W. Bunsen discovered in their Heidelberg laboratory that the light of heated chemical elements passed through a prism produces characteristic lines. These lines allow unambiguous remote identification of the substances involved. The two researchers published their discovery in the Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Kirchhoff and Bunsen demonstrated that the presence of certain spectral lines can clearly be used to infer the presence of the chemical element in question, regardless of the specific compound in which the element is present.
"The perfection of the spectroscope has made possible other great forward strides. In 1861, Kirchhoff and Bunsen discovered two new elements - caesium and rubidium" (PMM 278b).
The second volume also contains "Vorschlag eines reproducirbaren Widerstandsmaasses" by Werner Siemens (Darmstaedter 604), a paper "Ueber die Ringbildung in Flüssigkeiten" by E. Reusch, "Ueber die Bestimmung des galvanischen Leitungswiderstandes" by H. W. Schröder van der Kolk, and contributions by Gustav Zeuner, Gustav Quincke, G. vom Rath, Heinrich Rose, H. W. Dove, and others.
References: Poggendorff III, 721; Darmstaedter 587; PMM 278b (remark). - Visit our website to see more images!