An Inquiry concerning the Source of the Heat which is excited by Friction. In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 88, Part I, for the year 1798, pp. 80-102, 1 folding engraved plate by THOMPSON, Benjamin [COUNT RUMFORD] - 1798

London: Peter Elmsly, 1798. 1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Soft cover. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 4to (292 x 235 mm). Entire volume (part I) offered: vi, 199 [1], 26 pp., 7 folding engraved plates and folding table. All pages uncut. Original blue wrappers, spine hand-lettered in ink (paper dust-soiled and spotted, paper over spine heavily rubbed and chipped towards spine ends, edges slightly frayed, corners dog-eared). Text and plates with light even browning, minor dust-soiling to outer margins, occasional pale dampstaining at outer margins, more pronounced on first 8 pages of The Meteorological Journal appendix (not affecting the paper by Thompson). Provenance: Benjamin Hyett Esq. (signature on front wrapper). A very good, completely unsophisticated copy. ----

Dibner Heralds of Science 151, Sparrow Milestones of Science 189, Norman 2073 - FIRST EDITION. Rumford discovered for the first time by experiment that heat is induced by friction, and he worked out a surprisingly accurate figure of coefficiency. This was the first blow to the current theory of heat as an 'igneous fluid' called 'caloric,' and foreshadowed the conclusions summed up in Tyndall's phrase 'heat as a mode of motion.' Also in this vol.: Herschel, William, On the Discovery of Four Additional Satellites of the Georgium Sidus, pp.47-79, 2 folding engraved plates.
"Born in colonial Massachusetts, Thompson became a count and minister of war in Bavaria, later the founder of the Royal Institution in London and the Bavarian Academy in Munich. His major contribution was in the theory of heat. Observing the heat created in the boring of cannon, he measured the thermal capacities of the chips and boring bars. He then set up controlled experiments simulating the boring operation, using a Steel borer and brass cylinder, all placed in a wooden box holding a known volume of water. By observing the rise in temperature of the water, from cold to boiling; the heat produced could be read by this calorimeter. Since the amount of heat generated depended only on constant friction, the old concept of a body's 'calorie' was destroyed; a mechanical interpretation became valid. Heat became not matter, but motion" (Dibner).
Also in this volume: Herschel, William, On the Discovery of Four Additional Satellites of the Georgium Sidus, pp. 47-79, 2 plates. - Visit our website to see more images!