DETERMINING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ATOMS AND MOLECULES by AVOGADRO, Amedeo - 1837: Fisica de corpi ponderaili

Four volumes. 8vo. [iv], xxxi, 910; [iv], xv, 980; [iv], xiii, 932; [iv], xiii, 926, liii pp., including index. Complete with half-titles, 18 folding plates, errata and all blank leaves. Uniformly bound in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards. An exceptionally fine and clean set.

First and only edition of Avogadro's major work, and the first systematic compendium of theoretical physics to be published in Italy. This monumental work was expanded from the author's memoir, which appeared in the Journal de physique (1811). The famous hypothesis which bears his name provided the key to distinguishing between atoms and molecules. Avogadro's law still governs chemical research, and is an indispensable aid in the determination of the molecular weights of many chemical compounds (see Zeitlinger).

Avogadro (1776-1856) held the first chair of mathematical physics in Italy. He was largely responsible for the introduction of the metric system in Piedmont, but he and his work were for the most part unknown to the rest of Europe. Complete sets of this work are now of great rarity.

Gregory, Short History of Atomism, pp. 108-10; Partington, IV, 213-17; Zeitlinger, S1, 3018.