Search Results: Titles starting with A from SOPHIA RARE BOOKS

New York: American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 1948. First edition. THE INVENTION OF INFORMATION THEORY. First edition, journal issue, of "the most famous work in the history of communication theory" (Origins of Cyberspace, 880), and rare in such fine condition. "Probably no single work in this century has more profoundly altered man's understanding of communication than C. E. Shannon's article, 'A mathematical theory of communication', first published in 1948" (Slepian). "Th[is] paper gave rise to 'information theory', which includes metaphorical applications in very different disciplines, ranging from biology to linguistics via thermodynamics or quantum physics on the one hand, and a technical discipline of mathematical essence, based on crucial concepts like that of channel capacity, on the other" (DSB). On the first page of the paper is the first appearance of the term 'bit' for 'binary digit.' "A half century ago, Claude Shannon published his epic paper 'A Mathematical Theory of… Read More

New York: The Association for Symbolic Logic, Inc, 1936. First edition. Hardcover. THE 'DECISION PROBLEM' IS UNSOLVABLE. First edition, journal issue in the original printed wrappers, of Church's solution to the 'Entschedungsproblem' ('decision problem'). "Church's paper, submitted on April 15, 1936, was the first to contain a demonstration that David Hilbert's Entscheidungsproblem - i.e., the question as to whether there exists in mathematics a definite method of guaranteeing the truth or falsity of any mathematical statement - was unsolvable. Church did so by devising the 'lambda-calculus.' A few months earlier, Church had earlier shown the existence of an unsolvable problem of elementary number theory [although this was published later than the present paper], but [the offered] paper was the first to put his findings into the exact form of an answer to Hilbert's 'Entscheidungsproblem.' Church's paper bears on the question of what is computable, a problem addressed more directly by Alan Turing in… Read More

Lancaster, PA & Corning, NY: American Physical Society, 1923. First edition. Hardcover. DISCOVERY OF THE COMPTON EFFECT. First edition, journal issue in original printed wrappers, of the 'Compton effect,' which demonstrated the existence of quanta of electromagnetic radiation, later called photons. "This discovery 'created a sensation among the physicists of the time.' There were the inevitable controversies surrounding a discovery of such major proportions. Nevertheless, the photon idea was rapidly accepted. Sommerfeld incorporated the Compton effect in his new edition of Atombau und Spektrallinien with the comment, 'It is probably the most important discovery which could have been made in the current state of physics'" (Pais, Subtle is the Lord, p. 414). "Arthur Holly Compton will always be remembered as one of the world's great physicists. His discovery of the Compton effect, so vital in the development of quantum physics, has ensured him a secure place among the great scientists" (DSB). The… Read More

[Edinburgh: N.p., 1785. First edition. INSCRIBED PRESENTATION COPY OF THE EXTREMELY RARE ABSTRACT. First edition, inscribed presentation copy from Hutton to Matthew Boulton, of one of the great rarities in the history of science, Hutton's first announcement of his revolutionary view that our earth was shaped by slow, steady forces acting over a long period of time - the doctrine of uniformitarianism. According to Victor Eyles, "10 or at most 12" copies of this Abstract exist (photocopy of letter from Eyles to a previous owner laid in; Eyles is the author of a published bibliographical account of the Abstract, and of the DSB article on Hutton). "Hutton's theory, or 'System of the Earth,' as he called it originally, was first made public at two meetings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, early in 1785. The society published it in full in 1788, but offprints of this paper were in circulation in 1787, and possibly in 1786. The theory first appeared in print in condensed form, in a thirty-page pamphlet… Read More

Edinburgh; London: Sutherland and Knox, Princes Street; Samuel Highley, 32 Fleet Street, 1847. First edition. THE DISCOVERY OF CHLOROFORM ANAESTHESIA - PRESENTATION COPY OF THE EARLIEST OBTAINABLE PUBLICATION . Second edition, extremely rare first issue, inscribed presentation copy, of the first use of chloroform as an anaesthetic. This is the earliest obtainable version of Simpson's discovery - the first edition, published two or three days earlier, is known in only two copies, both in institutional collections. "While searching for an anaesthetic less irritating than ether, Simpson discovered the advantages of chloroform, and was the first to apply it as a painkiller during labor and childbirth. Simpson first used chloroform in an obstetrical case on 8 November 1847, when he administered it to a woman with a previous history of difficult labor; the baby was born without complications about twenty-five minutes after the first inhalation. Simpson reported his success in an address delivered at the… Read More

London: Printed for the author's children and sold by A. Millar, et al., 1748. First edition. Hardcover. MACLAURIN ON NEWTON - LARGE-PAPER COPY. First edition, large-paper copy, of Maclaurin's statement of Newtonian theory, one of the three "most outstanding popular introductions to Newtonian science of the eighteenth century" (I. B. Cohen, Franklin and Newton, 1956, p. 209). "Though a number of other general expositions of Newton's thought were published during the eighteenth century, Maclaurin's Account has long been recognized as the leading authoritative statement of mainstream Newtonianism" (DNB). "Gifted with a genius for geometrical investigation second only to Newton's... Maclaurin, the one mathematician of the first rank trained in Great Britain in the [18th] century, confirmed Newton's exclusive influence over British mathematics" (ibid.). Maclaurin's most his most important work, Treatise of Fluxions (1742), was "the earliest logical and systematic publication of the Newtonian methods. It… Read More

Hafniae [Copenhagen]: Peter Haubold, 1672. First edition. A COMPLETE RUN OF ONE OF THE FIRST MEDICAL JOURNALS CONTAINING TEN CONTRIBUTIONS BY NIELS STENSEN. First edition, a rare complete run, of one of the first medical journals, and Denmark's first scientific journal. While Garrison (p. 301) lists three previous journals, two of these were published for just one issue; only the Giornale dei letterati (Parma, 1668-88) predates this. Among the many significant contributions in these volumes, including more than 100 by Bartholin himself, are the last published scientific works of Niels Stensen. Stensen returned from Italy to Denmark in 1672 to accept an appointment at the University of Copenhagen under Bartholin. During his stay he carried out a number of experiments, two of which are published in vol. I: 'Embryo monstro as finis Parisiis dissectus' (pp. 200-203) and 'Uterus Leporis Proprius, foetum resolventis' (pp. 203-207). During his stay in Italy, however, Stensen converted to Catholicism and… Read More

Modena: Bartolomeo Soliani, 1653. First edition. CASSINI'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK - PROVING THAT COMETS ARE CELESTIAL PHENOMENA. First edition, exceptionally rare, of the remarkable first publication of the great observational astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini, in which he demonstrated for the first time by observing their parallax that comets are celestial phenomena and not, as Aristotle had claimed, ignited exhalations from the earth (the comet is now designated C/1652 Y1). We have been unable to trace any other copy of this work in commerce, and only a handful of institutional copies. In 1652, just before Christmas, a comet was observed approaching the Earth, and it remained visible through the first week of January 1653. Cassini was then a guest in the astronomical observatory of his patron, the Marquis Cornelio Malvasia, inside the Villa di Panzano, near Castelfranco Emilia. Here, together with Malvasia and, occasionally, the Duke of Modena, Cassini spent many cold winter nights… Read More

Frankfurt: Claudius Marnius & heirs of Johannes Aubrius, 1604. First edition. THE FOUNDATION WORK OF MODERN OPTICS. First edition, an excellent copy, of the foundation work of modern optics. "Working within the perspectivist tradition of Alhazen, Roger Bacon, Witelo, John Pecham, and others, Kepler accepts that sight is possible due to rays emitted from visible objects, with these rays emitted in all directions from each point on the object's surface. He overcomes a major shortcoming of the earlier theories by establishing a logically acceptable one-to-one correspondence between the points on the observed portion of the object and the points on the image produced on the surface of the eye's retina; instead of rejecting all rays hitting the eye non-perpendicularly, as Alhazen had done, Kepler argues that all the rays incident on the eye from any specific point on the object will arrive at a single point on the retina after refraction in the eye's humours. In consequence, the retina receives an… Read More

Evanston, IL: The Library Living Philosophers, 1949. First edition. LIMITED EDITION SIGNED BY EINSTEIN. First edition, number 629 of 760 numbered copies signed and dated by Einstein. This important volume contains Einstein's autobiography, specially written for the book, and itself an important scientific contribution. It also includes a bibliography of his works, twenty-five scientists' discussions of Einstein's work and achievements, with Einstein's response in his 'Remarks Concerning the Essays Brought Together in this Co-Operative Volume'. Contributors of essays include Niels Bohr, Max Born, Wolfgang Pauli, and Kurt Gödel. Nobel laureate Isidore Rabi's review hailed this as a most important and significant volume: "It is most difficult to get scientists to write simply and clearly about the fundamentals of their science and the leading philosophical ideas that guide them. Yet these very attitudes, preferences, and tastes are the fundamental ingredients which give quality, differentiation, and… Read More

Lancaster, PA: American Physical Society, 1949. First edition. GÖDEL ON TIME TRAVEL. First edition, journal issue, in original printed wrappers, of Gödel's 'time-travel paper,' 'one of the most important [papers] on relativity since my own original paper appeared' (Einstein to Morgenstern, 1952). "In the 1920s and 1930s, the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological models had been introduced as the simplest solutions of the equations of Einstein's general theory of relativity that were consistent with the observed red-shift of distant galaxies. These models were spatially homogenous and isotropic, and were expanding but were non-rotating. Gödel was the first to consider models that were rotating. The possible rotation of the universe has a special significance in general relativity because one of the influences that led Einstein to the theory in 1915 was Mach's principle. The exact formulation of the principle is rather obscure, but it is generally interpreted as denying the existence of absolute… Read More

Paris: L'imprimerie Royale; Jean Boudot, 1700. First edition. Hardcover. THE FIRST BOOKS ON DIFFERENTIAL AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS. A fine sammelband comprising the first editions of the first books on the differential and integral calculus, respectively. "In France it was through the Oratorian circle of Nicolas Malebranche that Johann Bernoulli introduced in 1691 the Leibnizian calculus. His lessons to the Marquis de l'Hôpital led to the draft of the first treatise of differential calculus (1696), and it was under the influence of Malebranche that some years later appeared the first works on the integral calculus by Louis Carré in 1700 and Charles René Reyneau in 1708. The spread and acceptance of the Leibnizian calculus was transferred in this way to the wide public" (Landmark Writings, p. 56). "The importance of L'Hospital's work lay in its dissemination throughout Europe of the concepts and early development of the calculus, whose cause L'Hospital advanced as well through his many contacts; these… Read More

London: printed for Jacob Tonson, 1734. First edition. 'GHOSTS OF DEPARTED QUANTITIES'. First edition, a spectacular copy, and one of the first issued (see below), of Berkeley's famous attack on the calculus of Newton and Leibniz, which the historian Florian Cajori described as "the most spectacular event of the century in the history of British mathematics" (History of the Calculus, p. 57). "The Analyst is a criticism of the calculus, in both its Newtonian and Leibnizian formulations, arguing that the foundations of the calculus are incoherent and the reasoning employed inconsistent. Berkeley's powerful objections provoked numerous responses, and the task of replying to them set the agenda for much of British mathematics in the 1730s and 1740s" (Jesseph, p. 121). Perhaps the most famous passage in the book (p. 59), and a vivid example of Berkeley's wit, is his response to the idea that fluxions could be defined using ultimate ratios of vanishing quantities: 'It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that… Read More

London: Printed by Francis Leach, 1653. First edition. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF DE MOTU CORDIS. First edition in English of De motu cordis (1628), in which was described the discovery and proof of the circulation of the blood; this is the very rare first issue with uncancelled title and this leaf unclipped by the printer (see below). Harvey's discovery and experimental proof of the circulation of the blood created a revolution in physiology comparable to the Copernican revolution in astronomy: it was to become "the cornerstone of modern physiology and medicine" (Garrison-Morton). De motu cordis "is probably the most important book in the history of medicine. What Vesalius was to anatomy, Harvey was to physiology; the whole scientific outlook on the human body was transformed, and behind almost every important medical advance in modern times lies the work of Harvey" (Heirs of Hippocrates). It should also be regarded as "the first record of a complete biological investigation, giving a clear and… Read More

Berlin: Springer, 1926. First edition. Hardcover. EXPLANATION OF THE ANOMALOUS ZEEMAN EFFECT. First edition of the explanation of the anomalous Zeeman effect on the basis of matrix mechanics. "By including the spin property of the electron, Heisenberg and Jordan obtained perhaps the greatest triumph of matrix mechanics: they were able to derive all observed phenomena connected with the anomalous Zeeman effect" (Rechenberg, p. 211). When an atom is placed in a magnetic field, its spectral lines split into a series of equidistant lines - always an odd number - whose separation is proportional to the field strength. This, the normal Zeeman effect, was explained in 1916 by Debye and Sommerfeld in terms of the 'old' quantum theory: the splitting was due to the interaction between the magnetic field and the orbital magnetic moment of the electrons in the atom. However, there is also an anomalous Zeeman effect, observed particularly in atoms with odd atomic number, in which the lines split in a more complex… Read More

Paris: Antoine Bertier, 1644. First edition. THE LAW OF UNIVERSAL ATTRACTION . First edition, exceptionally rare, of Roberval's cosmology, in which he expresses, covertly, his support for Copernicus, and also formulates for the first time the law of universal attraction - that any two material bodies in the universe attract each other. This principle is normally ascribed to Robert Hooke, who published it three decades later, and to Newton in the Principia (1687). Roberval (1602-75) was one of the most brilliant members of Mersenne's circle. He developed indivisibles independently of Cavalieri, invented an original method of drawing tangents, and solved many of the problems on the cycloid that were formulated and solved by Pascal two decades later. However, since almost nothing of his work was published in his lifetime, he was for long eclipsed by Fermat, Pascal, and, above all, by Descartes, his irreconcilable adversary. In fact, Roberval himself published only two works, the Traité de mécanique… Read More

Turin: Bocca Brothers, 1889. First edition. Hardcover. THE PEANO AXIOMS. First edition, and a fine copy in the original printed wrappers, of Peano's most important work, which contains the first statement of the famous 'Peano axioms' for the natural numbers and which remains of seminal importance to mathematics and mathematical logic. "Peano's most important contribution to the development of the theory and practice of the axiomatic method was his system of axioms for the arithmetic of the natural numbers... On the basis of his axiomatization, Peano constructed the entire theory of natural numbers. In particular, he showed how the elementary theorems of arithmetic can be obtained from his axioms" (Styazhkin, History of Mathematical Logic from Leibniz to Peano, 1969, pp. 278-9). "... with the publication of Arithmetices principia, nova methodo exposita, Peano not only improved his logical symbolism but also used his new method to achieve important new results in mathematics; this short booklet… Read More

Cambridge; London: Typis Academicus; Benjamin Tooke, 1707. First edition. Hardcover. NEWTON'S TREATISE ON ALGEBRA. First edition of Newton's treatise on algebra, or 'universal arithmetic,' his "most often read and republished mathematical work" (Whiteside). "Included are 'Newton's identities' providing expressions for the sums of the ith powers of the roots of any polynomial equation, for any integer i [pp. 251-2], plus a rule providing an upper bound for the positive roots of a polynomial, and a generalization, to imaginary roots, of René Descartes' Rule of Signs [pp. 242-5]" (Parkinson, p. 138). About this last rule for determining the number of imaginary roots of a polynomial (which Newton offered without proof), Gjertsen (p. 35) notes: "Some idea of its originality ... can be gathered from the fact that it was not until 1865 that the rule was derived in a rigorous manner by James Sylvester." Provenance: Jesuit College at Ghent (ink inscription 'Bibliotheca Collegii Gandavensis Soc[ietatis]… Read More

London: Benji & Sam. Tooke, 1722. Second edition. NEWTON'S ALGEBRA - THE FIRST EDITION AUTHORISED AND EDITED BY NEWTON. Second edition, but the first authorised and edited by Newton (probably with the assistance of John Machin - see below), of his treatise on algebra, or 'universal arithmetic,' his "most often read and republished mathematical work" (Whiteside, Papers V, p. xiv). "Included are 'Newton's identities' providing expressions for the sums of the ith powers of the roots of any polynomial equation, for any integer i [pp. 251-2], plus a rule providing an upper bound for the positive roots of a polynomial, and a generalization, to imaginary roots, of René Descartes' Rule of Signs [pp. 242-5]" (Parkinson, p. 138). About this last rule for determining the number of imaginary roots of a polynomial (which Newton offered without proof), Gjertsen (p. 35) notes: "Some idea of its originality ... can be gathered from the fact that it was not until 1865 that the rule was derived in a rigorous manner… Read More

[Venice: Tacuino, 1519. First edition. Hardcover. THE BLACK TULIP OF ALCHEMICAL AND CHEMICAL LITERATURE. First edition of one of the greatest rarities in the alchemical and chemical literature; this is an exceptionally interesting copy, bound with twelve leaves of contemporary script conveying an all-encompassing 'tree of human endeavours', charting the features and visually suggesting the relative position of human faculties and of most fields of knowledge, an extraordinarily wide-ranging array that includes disciplines such as economics and politics amongst more traditional trivium and quadrivium 'artes', and of course alchemy. "Pantheus wrote against spurious alchemy and he deals partly with the assay of gold and partly with the chemical preparation of various substances which were made at Venice in his time and were used in the arts. He describes, for example, the manufacture of white lead and of an alloy for mirrors. Pantheus was a priest at Venice, but seems nevertheless to have been devoted to… Read More