Theoria motuum planetarum et cometarum. Continens methodum facilem ... orbitas cum planetarum cum cometarum determinandi, una cum calculo, quo cometae, qui annis 1680 et 1681... motus verus investigatur by EULER, Leonhard - 1744

Berlin: Ambrosius Haude, 1744. 1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Soft cover. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 4to (228 x 188 mm). [3] 4-187 (i.e. 186) pp., engraved frontispiece by F.H. Fritsch, engraved device on title, woodcut head- and tailpieces, 4 folding engraved plates bound at end; bound without the cancel leaf A4 as in most copies. 18th century marbled paper wrappers (minor rubbind to extremities, short tear at head of lower wrapper). Minor mostly marginal spotting and browning. Very good, wide-margined copy. ----

FIRST EDITION OF EULER'S FIRST TREATISE ON ASTRONOMY and "a fundamental work on calculation of orbits" (DSB). Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) drew up lunar tables in 1744, clearly already studying gravitational attraction in the Earth, Moon and Sun system. In his "Theoria" he calculates the orbits of planets and comets, later refined by Lagrange. "With regard to the theory of perturbed motion of celestial bodies, Euler formulated the perturbation theory in general terms so that it can be used to solve the mathematical problem of dynamic models and particular problems of theoretical astronomy . . . He gave an extensive mathematical treatment of the problem of improving approximations of orbits within the framework of the two-body problem and taking perturbations into account. In his Theoria motuum planetarum et cometarum . . . Euler gave a complete mathematical treatment of the two-body problem consisting of a planet and the Sun." (Debnath). References: Houzeau/Lancaster 11948; Honeyman 1063; Eneström "Euler" 66; DSB IV, p.471; Roller-G. I, 375; Debnath, The Legacy of Leonhard Euler, p.364. - Visit our website to see more images!