Handbuch Der Physiologischen Optik [Physiological Optics]

Leipzig: Leopold Voss, 1867. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Leipzig: Leopold Voss 1867. First Edition. Rebound in modern black cloth faux leather with red and gilt spine label, new endpapers and rear pocket for the plates. xiv (i - blank, ii - series half-title), 874, [1] pp. 11 plates, loose, stored in pocket; first 5 are paper, last 6 are thin board. All plates clean and complete except plate 1 is in 2 pieces with small loss at center, and plate 4 is lacking and reproduced in facsimile. The group also contains the original title page for the Atlas, volume 2, laid down on paper with loss at the right margin affecting the 'IK' in 'OPTIK' with fraying. Pages clean and in good state except for very marginal dampstaining to the book's top edge, only touching a few lines of the text in the last 150 pages or so. Trimmed when rebound, inner margins a bit tight but readable. Previous owner's bookplate, and autograph note pasted onto one of the new endpapers. Garrison/Morton 1513 notes that the first edition, published in 1867, is "One of the greatest books on physiological optics. It includes Helmholtz's revival of the Young theory of color vision." Heirs of Hippocrates Online notes that Helmholtz was "One of the scientific giants of his age [he] made fundamental advances in both physiology and physics, including the establishment of the first law of thermodynamics [he] became the first to measure the speed of a nerve impulse [his] extensive investigations into physiological optics led to his invention of the ophthalmoscope, now one of the most common and useful tools in clinical medicine." "Because Helmholtz's name is linked so closely with physics and electrophysiology, it is sometimes forgotten that he was a physician who held posts at a number of prominent medical schools. It was during his tenure at Heidelburg that this monumental treatise [referring to Handbuch der physiologischen Optik] on optics was written. Originally issued in parts between 1856 and 1866, the work provided the first real description of optical physiology including the mechanism of accommodation, the phenomenon of color vision, and the measurement of lens curvature." We offer here the first book edition, published in 1867. Garrison & Morton 1513; Grolier-Horblit 49b; Heirs of Hippocrates Online 1887; Norman 1046. * 003745