Two Essays: One Upon Single Vision With Two Eyes; the Other on Dew by William Charles Wells - 2012-01-10

New.

Paperback / softback. New.

paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.

Hardback. New.

paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.

paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.

hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.

hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.

London and Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; Archibald Constable and Co. 1818, 1818. First and only collected edition. 8vo (225x135mm). pp. [viii, versos blank], vii-lxxiv, [i] bl., 439, (1) imprint. Occasional light spotting, some early leaves with light dampstain at upper inner margin. Uncut and partly unopened. Blue grey paper covered boards, backed with beige paper and with paper label on spine. ffep has the ownership inscription of G (?) Falconer, Edinburgh, 1825. A very good copy. Wells's "Two essays" contains important contributions in the fields of ophthalmology, meteorology, ventilation, and evolution. "In his "Essay upon single vision with two eyes", originally published in 1792, Wells presents a new theory of binocular vision based on the concept of visible direction and experimental evidence on the duration of impressions on the retina. Wells's theory of visible direction had a great influence on the science of spectacle making in the… Read More

1818. London, Archibald Constable and Co, 1818. 8vo. Bound uncut in a nice recent half calf binding with five raised bands with gilt lettering and ornamentation to spine. A very nice and clean copy. (6), (I)-LXXIV, (2), 439, (1) pp. First appearance of Well's important work, which constitutes the first clear pioneering statement about natural selection. He applied the idea to the origin of different skin colours in human races, but from the context it seems he thought it might be applied more widely. Charles Darwin said: "[Wells] distinctly recognises the principle of natural selection, and this is the first recognition which has been indicated". (Darwin, Charles 1866. The origin of species by means of natural selection. 4th and subsequent editions, in the preliminary 'Historical sketch')In 1813, Wells read a paper to the Royal Society of London, occasioned by a white female patient with splotches of dark skin. In his paper, Wells speculated about the origin of skin color variations in humans. He… Read More