The electron microscope: its development, present performance and future possibilities. 1st & 2nd editions in collector's box, together with the first American edition

Gabor, Dennis (1900-1979). (1) The electron microscope. 104pp. Text illustrations. London: Hulton Press, 1945. 216 x 141 mm. Original printed wrappers, spine a bit worn and chipped.

(2) The electron microscope. Second edition. 106, [2]pp. Text illustrations. London: Published from the offices of "Electronic Engineering," 1948. 216 x 141 mm. Original printed wrappers.

(3) The electron microscope. viii, 164pp. Text illustrations. Brooklyn, NY: Chemical Publishing Co., 1948. 204 x 136 mm. Original cloth, dust-jacket (slightly worn). Stamp of Ladislaus L. Marton (1901-79) on the dust-jacket and front free endpaper. Together 3 items; the first two boxed. Very good.

First, second, and first American editions of Gabor's monograph on the electron microscope, intended "to be both an introduction to the electron microscope and a critical contribution to its theory" (Foreword). In the 1920s Gabor invented the cathode-ray oscilloscope, the basic technology behind the electron microscope, but made no effort at the time to develop the technology further. When Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll invented the first electron microscope in 1931, Gabor felt that he missed an important opportunity, and much of his subsequent scientific work was spent trying to make up for this lapse. In 1947, while searching for ways to improve the electron microscope, Gabor invented holography, for which he received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1971.

The first American edition contains a new foreword by Gabor, and an index not present in the second English edition. Our copy of this edition (no. [3]) is from the library of physicist Ladislaus L. Marton, known for his pioneering work in electron microscopy, electron optics and electron interferences and scattering. Gabor cited several of Marton's papers in the bibliography to The Electron Microscope. Marton was the author of Early history of the electron microscope (1968).