‎Lettre d'un Inconnu à un Inconnu à l'occasion de la fameuse dispute entre Mr. Maupertius et Mr. Koenig (+) Academie des Graces Par Mr. L. Le Me***. - [""PERHAPS THE UGLIEST OF ALL FAMOUS SCIENTIFIC DISPUTES"" ]‎

‎(No place, nor printer), 1753 & Paris, Aux depens de la Societe, 1755. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with four raised bands with gilt lettering and ornamentation to spine. Traces from old paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Light wear to extremities, boards with scratches. Previous owner's name in contemporary hand to title-page. Internally nice and clean. [Academie... :] XVI, 142 pp. [Lettre d'un Inconnu... :] 44 pp.‎

‎Rare first edition of this work related to the 'König affair,' the renowned controversy over the principle of least action, described as ""perhaps the ugliest of all the famous scientific disputes"" (DSB VII: 442). The main figures in this highly publicized affair, which led to numerous pamphlets supporting one side or the other, were the mathematicians and scientists P. L. Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759), then head of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and Johann Samuel Koenig (1712-1757), a member of this Academy. In 1751 Koenig presented his ""Law of least Action"". The law states that the kinetic energy of a system of mass points is equal to the sum of the kinetic energy of the motion of the system relative to the center of gravity and of the kinetic energy of the total mass of the system considered as a whole, which moves as the center of gravity of the system. ""While still in Franeker, Koenig wrote the draft of his important essay on the principle of least action, which was directed against Maupertuis. The controversy touched off by this work, which was published in March 1751, resulted in perhaps the ugliest of all the famous scientific disputes. Its principal figures were Koenig, Maupertuis, Euler, Frederick II, and Voltaire" and, as is well known, it left an unseemly stain on Euler’s otherwise untarnished escutcheon. The quarrel occupied Koenig’s last years almost completely" moreover, he had been ill for several years before it started. Koenig emerged the moral victor from this affair, in which all the great scientists of Europe—except Maupertuis and Euler—were on his side. The later finding of Kabitz testifies to Koenig’s irreproachable character.""(DSB).‎

‎MAUPERTUISIANA-- EDITION ORIGINALE -- BEL EXEMPLAIRE –16 PARTIES reliées en un volume‎

‎Hambourg, 1753, un volume in 8 relié en plein veau marbré, dos orné de fers dorés, tranches rouges (reliure de l'époque), (un coin légèrement émoussé), 1 feuillet non chiffré blanc, 1 feuillet non chiffré (titre : MAUPERTUISIANA - verso blanc), 2 feuillets non chiffrés (avertissement - Pièces conenues dans ce recueil, pp. 7 à 48pp., 26pp., 192pp., (1), 65pp., 56pp., 40pp., (1), 41pp., 74pp., 32pp., 16pp., 8pp., 8pp., 8pp., (4), 88pp., 16pp., 19pp.. – Soit 16 parties reliées en un volume‎

‎---- EDITION ORIGINALE ---- BEL EXEMPLAIRE ---- TRES RARE RECUEIL PUBLIE PAR KOENIG dans lequel sont réunies les diverses publications qui ont paru à l'époque concernant la célèbre polémique relative au principe de moindre action qui opposa Maupertuis à Koenig. Euler et Voltaire prirent part au débat et publièrent à cette occasion : "Dissertation sur le principe de moindre action avec l'examen des objections de Mr. Le Professeur Koenig faites contre ce principe" (Euler), "Diatribe du Docteur Akakia, médecin du pape..." (Voltaire). Ces deux écrits sont au nombre de ceux réunis dans ces deux volumes ---- Pour plus de détails au sujet de cette célèbre querelle voir M. Gueroult : "Dynamique et métaphysique leibnitizienne" et plus particulièrement la note "Sur le principe de moindre action chez Maupertuis", pp. 215/235 ---- "Maupertuis clearly was successful in attracting to Berlin scientific luminaries who greatly enhanced the luster of the new Academy. Euler, one of the greatest mathematicians of the day, was already there. Matters were going well, when the celebrated "affaire Koenig" erupted : Samuel Koenig, a protégé of Maupertuis... submitted a dissertation attacking the validity of the principle of least action and then - most strangely for a devoted adherent of Leibnitz - ascribed the discredited law to the latter, citing a letter from Leibnitz to Hermann... The controversy touched off by this work, resulted in perhaps the ugliest of all the famous scientific disputes. Its principal figures were Koenig, Maupertuis, Euler and Voltaire. Maupertuis demanded that the letter be produced. Koenig produced a copy but stated that the original was in the hands of a certain swiss named Henzi... After exhautive search no trace of the letter was found in Henzi's belongings. Maupertuis then demanded that the Academy take action against Koenig... When it became clear that the original could not be found, Euler published, with the approval of the Academy "Exposé concernant l'examen de la lettre de M. De Leibnitz", where, among other things, he declared the letter a fake. The conflict grew critical when, later in the same year, Voltaire published his Diatribe du Docteur Akakia, defending Koenig and making laughingstocks of both Maupertuis and Euler...". (DSB IV, VII et XI) ---- COLLATION ET PIECES CONTENUES DANS CE RECUEIL :. - 1 feuillet blanc non chiffré, 1 feuillet non chiffré : titre (MAUPERTUISIANA - verso blanc), 2 feuillets non chiffrés : avertissement, Pièces contenues dans ce recueil (pp. 1-6 non chiffrées). 1. Lettre de Mr. T*** à Mr. *** S tirée du magasin français ; Seconde lettre de Monsieur T*** à Mr s*** ; Réponse d'un Académicien de Berlin à un Académicien de Paris ; Extrait d'une lettre de Berlin du 15 Août 1752 ; Lettre que Mr. EULER a fait mettre dans la Gazette de Berlin en date du 2 Septembre 1752 ; Lettre de Mr. De VOLTAIRE à Mr. ROQUES, Conseiller ecclésiastique du sérénissime Landgrave de Hesse Hombourg, mise à la tête du supplément au siècle de Louis XIV. (pp. 7-48). 2. Jugement de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres ; (2 feuillets non chiffrés : titre et avertissements - pp. 5-26 : Exposé). 3. KOENIG. Appel au Public du jugement de l'Académie Royale de Berlin sur un fragment de lettre de Mr. Leibnitz, cité par Mr. Koenig (exposé de l'origine de la controverse entre MM. De Maupertuis et Koenig - Remarques littérales sur le fragment dont Mr. De Maupertuis conteste l'authenticité - Examen des droits de l'Académie et de la conduite de ses membres). Appendice contenant les lettres écrites par Mess. De Maupertuis et Formey d'une part et Mr. Koenig de l'autre - Lettres de Mr. De Leibnitz) - Leyde, de l'Imp. d'Elie LUZAC, 1753, 6 pp. non chiffrées, pp. 7-192. 4. KOENIG. Défense de l'appel au public ou réponse aux lettres concernant le jugement de l'Académie de Berlin addressée à Mr. De Maupertuis par Mr. Koenig ; 2 pp. non chiffrées, pp. 1-63. 5. Lettres concernant le jugement de l'Académie ; 2pp. non chiffrées, pp. 3-56 contenant : lettre de Mr. Euler à Mr. Merian - Lettre de Mr. De Maupertuis à Mr. Euler - Lettre de Mr. Merian à Mr. Euler) . 6. Lettre de Mr. Le Marquis de L*** N** à Mme La Marquise A** G** sur le procès intenté par Mr. Moreau Maupertuis contre Mr. Koenig devant l'Académie Royale de Berlin - 2pp. non chiffrées, pp.3-40. 7. Réponse de l'Académicien de Paris à l'Académicien de Berlin ; 2pp. non chiffrées, pp. 1-41. 8. Eloges de trois philosophes ; 2pp. non chiffrées, pp. 1-74 comprenant : l'éloge de Monsieur JOURDAN, l'éloge du Sieur LA METTRIE, Lettre d'un Académicien de Berlin à un Académicien de Paris - Réponse de l'Académicien de Paris à l'Académicien de Berlin. 9. (VOLTAIRE) - Diatribe du Docteur Akakia, médecin du pape - Decret de l'inquisition et rapport des professeurs de Rome au sujet d'un prétendu Président - 4 pp. non chiffrées ; pp.5-32. 10. Extrait d'une lettre de Berlin du 12 Novembre 1752 - Lettre d'un savant à Mr. Le Marquis L** N** - 2pp. non chiffrées, pp.3-16. 11. Extrait d'une lettre d'un Académicien de Berlin à un membre de la Société Royale de Londres - 2 pp. non chiffrées, pp.3-8. 12. (VOLTAIRE). Séance mémorable - 2pp. non chiffrées, pp. 3-8. 13. L'art de bien argumenter en philosophie réduit en pratique par un vieux capitaine de cavallerie travesti en philosophe (lettre de Mr. De Maupertuis à Mr. De Voltaire - Réponse de Mr. De Voltaire à Mr. De Maupertuis) - 2pp. non chiffrées, pp. 3-8. 14. EULER. Dissertation sur le principe de moindre action avec l'examen des objections de Mr. Le Professeur Koenig faites contre ce principe par M. Euler, Directeur de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres de Berlin. Traduction. Leyde, de l'imp. d'Elie LUZAC, 1753 comprenant : Dissertation sur le principe de la moindre action - examen de la dissertation de Mr. Le Professeur Koenig insérée dans les actes de Leipzig et Addition - 8pp. non chiffrées, pp. 1-88. 15. La berlue remarquable des deux philosophes les plus clair voyans de ce siècle par un étudiant en philosophie de l'Université de Wittemberg. Wittemberg, 1753, 2pp. non chiffrées pp. 3-16. 16. Traité de paix conclu entre Mr. Le Président De Maupertuis et Mr. Le Professeur Koenig. Berlin, 1753 - 2pp. non chiffrées, pp. 3-19**8753/ARB5 ‎

‎Accord de Differentes Loix de la Nature qui avoient jusqui'ici paru incompatibles (15 Avril 1744).‎

‎Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1748. 4to. Recent blue boards. Issued in ""Histoire de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, Année 1744, Paris"", pp. 417-426. Bound with the engraved frontispiece and titlepage to the volume.‎

‎First edition. In this importent paper ""Agreement of several Laws that had hitherto seemed to be incompatible"" he showed that the behavior of light during refraction - when it bends on entering a new medium - was such that the total path it followed, from a point in the first medium to a point in the second, minimised a quantity which he again assimilated to action. These results were instances of his later (1748) formulated ""The principle of least action"".‎

‎ANNALES DE L'INSTITUT DE PHYSIQUE DU GLOBE‎

‎ANNALES DE L'INSTITUTDE PHYSIQUE DU GLOBE DE L'UNIVERSITE DE PARIS ET DU BUREAU CENTRAL DE MAGNETISME TERRESTRE : PUBLIEES PAR LES SOINS DE Ch. MAURAIN In folio, 96pp et 2 planches hors texte, demi cuir très bon état édition originale‎

‎ANNALES DE L'INSTITUT DE PHYSIQUE DU GLOBE DE L'UNNIVERSITE DE PARIS ‎

‎ ET DU BUREAU CENTRAL DE MAGNETISME TERRESTRE TOME XVIII LES PRESSES UNIVERSITAIRES DE FRANCE 1940LOUIS ERLE :Observations faites à Chambon la foret pendant l'année 1938E. TABESSE :observation magnetique faite à l'observatoire de Nantes pendant l'année 1938 CH. POISSON : observations magnetiques faites à l'observatoire de Tananarive(1938) ED.SALLES : observations du champ electrique de l'atmosphere à l'observatoire de Chambon la Foret 1938mesure de la conductibilité electrique de l'atmosphere C.E BRAZIER L. GENAUX : resumé des observations seismologiques faites à l'observatoir du parc ST MAUR BRAZIER :resumé des observations meteorologiques faites au parc ST MAUR en 1938 Resumé des observations actinometriques toujours au parc ST MAUR 1938 principales perturbations magnetiques en 1938 ‎

‎parfait etat pour un public d'initié Ray E6* ‎

‎Etude pratique des rayonnements solaire, atmosphérique et terrestre (méthode et résultats)‎

‎Gauthier-Villars Broché 1937 In-8 (16.5x25 cm), broché, 188 pages ; une pliure et deux étiquettes au dos insolé, plats en partie insolés (partie supérieure), une étiquette sur le 4e plat, des tampons d'inventaire et un tampon du Ministère de l'Agriculture sur la page de titre, et quelques annotations, intérieur frais, bon état. Livraison a domicile (La Poste) ou en Mondial Relay sur simple demande.‎

‎De l'ultraviolet à l'infrarouge‎

‎Paris, Éditions textile et technique, 1951. 2 tomes in-8 de 216 x 140 mm, 659 pp. pour les deux avec (x) pp. de table des matières en fin de second volume. Brochés avec nom d'auteur, titre, tomaison, non d'éditeur et année sur le dos. Signature au stylo bleu de 1957 sur les pages de titre. Publicités en début d'ouvrages. "Aux physiciens, techniciens de l'optique, spécialistes de la physiologie de l’œil et des sensations visuelles ainsi qu'aux éclairagistes, il faut aujourd'hui joindre un cinquième groupe, celui formé par les industriels et les ingénieurs, spécialement ceux du textile et de la teinture, qui ont eux aussi maintenant à s'occuper de ces rayons, visibles et invisibles. Il nous a paru utile de rassembler à l'intention de ceux-là un guide sommaire des acquisitions faites en ce domaine par leurs prédécesseurs des quatre rubriques ci-dessus, qui ont en effet accumulés les matériaux d'étude et pénétrés sans cesse plus avant dans le domaine étrange et passionnant de la lumière et du rayonnement. L'ingénieur textile trouve de fait une voie toute préparée où il ne lui reste plus qu'à glaner... nous avons cherché à en rassembler les éléments dans le présent ouvrage afin de rendre service à l'industrie du textile et de la peinture et à ses praticiens." (Introduction) Avec de nombreuses figures, graphiques, tableaux et calculs.‎

10 Images

‎La première page de chaque chapitre premier est tachée en raison de la publicité en revers. Sinon, intérieur frais et coutures en bon état.‎

‎Pourquoi ça vole ?‎

‎ECHOS LE LIVRE DE PARIS / HACHETTE. 1987. In-12. Relié. Etat d'usage, Couv. convenable, Dos satisfaisant, Intérieur frais. 75 pages. Nombreuses illustrations en couleur, dans et hors texte. Texte sur deux colonnes. Petit accroc en coiffe de tête.. . . . Classification Dewey : 530-Physique‎

‎Illustrations de jean francois PENICHOUX et patrick MORIN. Palais de la decouverte. Classification Dewey : 530-Physique‎

‎"D'Imhotep à Copernic : Astronomie et mathémathiques, des origines orientales au Moyen Age; Actes du colloque international, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 3-4 novembre 1989; lettres orientale 2, cahiers d'Altaïr."‎

‎Louvain, Editions Peeters, 1992. 16 x 24, 158 pp., 8 illustrations en N/B, broché, très bon état.‎

‎Structure atomique de la matière introduction à la physique quantique‎

‎Armanc Colin collection collection U. in 8. Sans date. reliure d'éditeur.‎

‎Bon état‎

‎Les RAYONS COSMIQUES‎

‎Un ouvrage de 211 pages, format 110 x 165 mm, illustré, broché, publié en 1962, Armand Colin, collection "Section Physique", bon état, peu courant‎

‎Astudent’s guide to Maxwell’s equations.‎

‎Cambridge University Press, 2008, in-8vo, IX + 134 p., cartonnage original.‎

‎On a Method of making a Direct Comparison of Electrostatic with Electromagnetic Force" with a Note on the Electromagnetic Theory of Light. (Read June 18, 1868). - [THE INTRODUCTION OF THE ""ELECTRICAL FORMULATION"" OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY OF LIGHT.]‎

‎(London, Taylor & Francis, 1869) Large 4to. In recent blue wrappers with the title-page to vol. 158. Extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London."", Vol. 158. Maxwell's paper: pp. 643-657. Clean and fine.‎

‎First appearance of this major paper on electromagnetic dynamics, in which Maxwell improves the groundbreaking equations he had set forth in his famous paper of 1865, the ""A dynamical Theory of Electro-Magnetic Fields"". In the paper offered here, he for the first time proposed to base the electromagnetic theory of light solely on 2 equations. The paper is one of Maxwell's 5 most importent contributions to electromagnetism.""Formulas for the forces between moving charged bodies may indeed de derived from Maxwell's equations, but the action is not along the line joining them and can be reconciled with a dynamical principle only by taking into account the exchange of momentum with the field. Maxwell remarked that the equations might be condensed, but ""to eliminate a quantity which expresses a useful idea would be rather a loss than a gain in this stage of our enquiry."" he had in fact simplified the equations in his fifth major paper, the short, but importent ""Note on the Electromagnetic Theory of Light."" (1868), writing them in an integral form without the function A, based on four postulates derived from electrical experiments. This may be called the electrical formulation of the theory, in contrast with the original dynamical formulation."" (C.W.F. Everitt in DSB).‎

‎On Faraday's Lines of Force. - [MAXWELL'S VERY FIRST PAPER ON ELECTROMAGNETISM]‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1864. 4to. In plain white paper-wrappers with title-page of journal volume pasted on to front wrapper. In ""Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society"", Volume 10. Fine and clean. Pp. (27)-83, (1) + the pasted on title-page.‎

‎First appearance of Maxwell's landmark - and his very first published on electromagnetism - paper in which he anticipates many of the fundamental ideas presented in his famous four-part paper ""On Physical Lines of Force"" (1861-2) in which he derived the equations of electromagnetism. The present paper ushered in a new era of classical electrodynamics and catalyzed further progress in the mathematical field of vector calculus. Because of this, it is considered one of the most historically significant publications in the field of physics and of science in general.Maxwell began his researches on electromagnetism following the completion of his studies at Cambridge in 1854. They were aimed at constructing, at a theoretical level, a unified mathematical theory of electric and magnetic phenomena that would express the methods and ideas of Faraday as an alternative to the theory of Weber."" This programme was announced in his first article, 'On Faraday's lines of force', in 1856, and continued in two other major texts, 'On physical lines of force' in 1861-1862 and 'A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field' in 1865. According to a famous passage in its preface, the Treatise (1873) represented the outcome of this programme"" (Landmark Writings, p. 569). ""Maxwell's first paper, ""On Faraday's Line of Force"" (1855-1856), was divided into two parts, with supplementary) examples. Its origin may he traced in a long correspondence with Thomson, edited by Larmor in 1936. Part 1 was an exposition of the analogy between lines of force and streamlines in an incompressible fluid. It contained one notable extension to Thomson's treatment of the subject and also an illuminating opening discourse on the philosophical significance of analogies between different branches of physics. This was a theme to which Maxwell returned more than once. His biographers print in full an essay entitled ""Analogies in Nature,"" which he read a few months later (February 1856) to the famous Apostles Club at Cambridge" this puts the subject in a wider setting and deserves careful reading despite its involved and cryptic style. Here, as elsewhere, Maxwell's metaphysical speculation discloses the influence of Sir William Hamilton, specifically of Hamilton's Kantian view that all human knowledge is of relations rather than of things. The use Maxwell saw in the method of analogy was twofold. It crossfertilized technique between different fields, and it served as a golden mean between analytic abstraction and the method of hypothesis. The essence of analogy (in contrast with identity) being partial resemblance, its limits must be recognized as clearly as its existence" yet analogies may help in guarding against too facile commitment to a hypothesis. The analogy of an electric current to two phenomena as different as conduction of heat and the motion of a fluid should, Maxwell later observed, prevent physicists from hastily assuming that ""electricity is either a substance like water, or a state of agitation like heat. ""The analogy is geometrical: ""a similarity between relations, not a similarity between the things related."""" (DSB)The 1856 paper has been eclipsed by Maxwell's later work, but its originality and importance are greater than is usually thought. Besides interpreting Faraday's work and giving the electrotonic function, it contained the germ of a number of ideas which Maxwell was to revive or modify in 1868 and later an integral representation of the field equations (1868),the treatment of electrical action as analogous to the motion of an incompressible fluid (1869, 1873), the classification of vector functions into forces and fluxes (1870), and an interesting formal symmetry in the equations connecting A, B, E, and H, different from the symmetry commonly recognized in the completed field equations. The paper ended with solutions to a series of problems, including an application of the electrotonic function to calculate the action of a magnetic field on a spinning conducting sphere.‎

‎""On the Dynamical Theory of Gases."" Received May 16, - Read May 31, 1866. - [THE ""MAXWELL-DISTRIBUTION""S FINAL FORM - A MAIN PAPER IN 19TH CENTURY PHYSICS.]‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1867. 4to. Extracted and rebound in recent green plain wrappers. Title-page of vol. 157 pasted on to front wrapper. A fine copy. Pp. 49-88.‎

‎First appearance of this seminal paper (in its full version from ""Transactions""), representing the announcement of Maxwell's final ""Theory of Gases"" and introduces the ""Maxwell Distribution"" in its final form, a statistical means of describing aspects of the kinetic theory of gases, a theory, together with his electromagnetic theory, are considered to be SOME OF THE GREATEST ADVANCES IN PHYSICS OF ALL TIMES. Everett considers this paper (1868) to be Maxwell's greatest single paper. Maxwell's discoveries laid the foundations of special relativity and quantum mechanics.One of Maxwell's major investigations was on the kinetic theory of gases. Originating with Daniel Bernoulli, this theory was advanced by the successive labours of John Herapath, John James Waterston, James Joule, and particularly Rudolf Clausius, to such an extent as to put its general accuracy beyond a doubt" but it received enormous development from Maxwell, who in this field appeared as an experimenter (on the laws of gaseous friction) as well as a mathematician.In 1866, he formulated statistically, independently of Ludwig Boltzmann, the Maxwell-Boltzmann kinetic theory of gases. His formula, called the Maxwell distribution, gives the fraction of gas molecules moving at a specified velocity at any given temperature. In the kinetic theory, temperatures and heat involve only molecular movement. This approach generalized the previously established laws of thermodynamics and explained existing observations and experiments in a better way than had been achieved previously. Maxwell's work on thermodynamics led him to devise the Gedankenexperiment (thought experiment) that came to be known as Maxwell's demon.‎

‎On the Induction of Electric Currents in an Infinite Plane Sheet of Uniform conductivity.‎

‎(London, Taylor and Francis, 1872). 8vo. In the original printed wrappers. In ""Proceedings of the Royal Society"", Vol. XX [20], No. 132. Entire issue offered. Wrappers with light soiling and minor chipping with some loss to extremities, not affecting text. Fine and clean. Pp. 160-17. [Entire volume: 135-197].‎

‎First printing of Maxwell's paper in which he seeks to: ""determine the currents which are induced in an infinite plate of uniform conductivity and infinitethickness, and in a sphere or spherical shell of any thickness when in the presence of a varying magnetic system: and in any of these bodies When rotating near a constant magnetic system, round an axis which is normal to the faces of the plate or passes through the centre"" (From the introduction to the present paper"". ‎

‎On the Theory of Compound Colours, and the Relations of the Colours of the Spectrum. - [MAXWELL ON THE RELATIONS OF COLOURS]‎

‎(London, Taylor and Francis, 1860). 8vo. In the original printed wrappers. In ""Proceedings of the Royal Society"", Vol. X [10], No. 39. Entire issue offered. Wrappers with a few brown spots, fine and clean. Pp. 404-408. [Entire issue: Pp. 319-494].‎

‎First printing of Maxwell's paper on a method of exhibiting the relations of colours.""Maxwell worked on the generation of white light by mixing different colors and in 1860, published the paper On the Theory of Compound Colours and its Relations to the Colours of the. In this paper, he extended the work of Thomas Young who first postulated only three colors, red, green and violet are necessary to produce any color including white and not all the colors of the spectrum are necessary as first illustrated by Newton. He also incorporated Hermann G?nther Grassman's concept that there are three variables of color vision (spectral color, intensity of illumination and the degree of saturation). Maxwell showed that these color variables can be represented on a color diagram based on three primary colors. While Newton distinguished his principal colors from the painters triad of primary colors (red, yellow and blue), he supposed the identity of mixing rule for lights and pigments. Even though Helmholtz explained that the mixture of color lights is an additive process while the mixture of pigments is a subtractive process as illustrated in Figure 2, Maxwell made experiments and developed a complete theory to explain how this happens by creating a color triangle which was originally suggested by James David Forbes and illustrated that any color can be generated with a mixture of any three primary colors and that a normal eye has three sorts of receptors as illustrated in his 1861 paper On the Theory of Three Primary Colours. He chose the three primary colors as red, green, and blue."" (Sarkar, Pp. 4-5). From 1855 to 1872, Maxwell published at intervals a series of valuable investigations concerning the perception of colour, colour-blindness and colour theory, for the earlier of which the Royal Society awarded him the Rumford Medal. The instruments which he devised for these investigations were simple and convenient to use. For example, Maxwell's discs were used to compare a variable mixture of three primary colours with a sample colour by observing the spinning ""colour top."".‎

‎On the transformation of surfaces by bending.‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1856. 4to. Extracted and rebound in recent green plain wrappers. In ""Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. 9"" Title-page of vol. 9 withbound. Title-page with traces after removed stamp. Pp. (2), 445-470.‎

‎First appearance Maxwell's important paper on the transformation of surfaces by bending in which there are clear links between this paper and his geometrical representation of 'lines of force' in his first paper on the theory of the electromagnetic field 'On Faraday's lines of force' which ushered in a new era of classical electrodynamics and catalyzed further progress in the mathematical field of vector calculus. Because of this, it is considered one of the most historically significant publications in the field of physics and of science in general.‎

‎On the Transformation of Surfaces by Bending.‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1856. 4to. In plain white paper-wrappers with title-page of journal volume pasted on to front wrapper. In ""Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society"", Volume 9. Fine and clean. Pp. (445)-470 + the pasted on title-page.‎

‎First appearance Maxwell's important paper on the transformation of surfaces by bending in which there are clear links between this paper and his geometrical representation of 'lines of force' in his first paper on the theory of the electromagnetic field 'On Faraday's lines of force' which ushered in a new era of classical electrodynamics and catalyzed further progress in the mathematical field of vector calculus. Because of this, it is considered one of the most historically significant publications in the field of physics and of science in general.‎

‎""On the Dynamical Theory of Gases."" Received May 16, - Read May 31, 1866.‎

‎London, Taylor and Francis, 1867. 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"", Vol. 157 - Part I. Titlepage to volume 155 and pp. 49-88. Titlepage with minor light browning at corners. Internally clean. A small stamp on verso of titlepage.‎

‎First appearance of this seminal paper (in its full version from ""Transactions""), representing the announcement of Maxwell's final ""Theory of Gases"" and introduces the ""Maxwell Distribution"" in its final form, a statistical means of describing aspects of the kinetic theory of gases, a theory, together with his electromagnetic theory, are considered to be SOME OF THE GREATEST ADVANCES IN PHYSICS OF ALL TIMES. Everett considers this paper (1868) to be Maxwell's greatest single paper. Maxwell's discoveries laid the foundations of special relativity and quantum mechanics.One of Maxwell's major investigations was on the kinetic theory of gases. Originating with Daniel Bernoulli, this theory was advanced by the successive labours of John Herapath, John James Waterston, James Joule, and particularly Rudolf Clausius, to such an extent as to put its general accuracy beyond a doubt" but it received enormous development from Maxwell, who in this field appeared as an experimenter (on the laws of gaseous friction) as well as a mathematician.In 1866, he formulated statistically, independently of Ludwig Boltzmann, the Maxwell-Boltzmann kinetic theory of gases. His formula, called the Maxwell distribution, gives the fraction of gas molecules moving at a specified velocity at any given temperature. In the kinetic theory, temperatures and heat involve only molecular movement. This approach generalized the previously established laws of thermodynamics and explained existing observations and experiments in a better way than had been achieved previously. Maxwell's work on thermodynamics led him to devise the Gedankenexperiment (thought experiment) that came to be known as Maxwell's demon.‎

‎A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. 2 vols.‎

‎New York, Dover Publ., 1954. Paperback. 1006 pp.‎

‎Die Elektrizität in elementare Behandlung. Herausgegeben von William Garnett. Ins Deutsche übertragen von L. Graetz. Mit in den Text eingedruckten Holzstichen.‎

‎Braunschweig, Vieweg und Sohn, 1883. Contemp. hcalf. Gilt spine with gilt lettering. First inner hinge weakening. XVI,224 pp., textillustrations and 4 plates. Some scattered brownspots.‎

‎First German edition of Maxwell's ""Elementary Treatise on Electricity"", 1881.‎

‎La Chaleur. Lecons Élémentaires sur la Thermometrie, la Calorimétrie, La Thermodynamique, et la Dissipation de L'Énergie. Edition francaise, d'apres la huitieme edition anglaise., par Georges Mouret. Prècédée d'une préface par M.A. Potier.‎

‎Paris, Gauthier-Villars (as a paperlabel pasted on B.Tignot), (1891). Uncut in orig. printed wrappers. Unopened. Sewing broken on back. Nearly all of backstrip preserved. (4),IV,432 pp.Textillustrations. Scattered brownspots, mainly marginal. A good copy.‎

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‎First French edition of ""Theory of Heat"" from 1871. The work contains the description of the so-called ""sorting demon"", a member of a class of ""very small BUT lively beings incapable of doing work but able to open and shut valves which move without friction and inertia"", and thereby defeat the second law of thermodynamics. The demon points to the statistical characyer of the law. (DSB IX, p. 227).‎

‎Matter and Motion.‎

‎London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1876. Small8vo. Original blind stamped brown cloth. End papers renewed and first two leaves reinforced in margin. Repair to lower part of title-page affecting year of printing and small label ( ""S.L.M."") to p. 128. Extremities slightly rubbed, internnaly fine and clean. Pp. viii, (9)-128, (4).‎

‎Rare first edition of Maxwell's ""masterpiece of natural philosophy, notable especially for introducing into physics the term relativity in a passage that combines strenuous scientific insight with a mystical awareness (...)"" (Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, p. 209). ""Maxwell's Matter and Motion first appeared in 1876 and was reprinted before the year was out. The first American edition was printed in 1878. Following several reprints on both sides of the Atlantic, Sir Joseph Larmor added notes and appendices to produce a new edition in 1920. This edition was reprinted in 1925 and at least half-a-dozen times since 1952"" (Flood, McCartney & Whitaker, James Clerk Maxwell: Perspectives on his Life and Work (2014), p. 27). ""More light is thrown on Maxwell’s own opinions about the problem of relative and absolute motion and the connection between dynamics and other branches of physics by the delightful monograph Matter and Motion, published in 1876."" (DSB)‎

‎On Double Refraction in a Viscous Fluid in Motion.‎

‎(London, Taylor and Francis, 1873). 8vo. Uncut in the original printed wrappers. In ""Proceedings of the Royal Society"", Vol. XXII [22], No. 148. Entire issue offered. Wrappers with light soiling, spine lacking upper and lower part of paper, otherwise fine and clean. Pp. 46-47. [Entire issue: 51 pp.].‎

‎First printing of this important paper in which Maxwell describes an attempt to establish the relaxation time: ""In 1866 I made some attempts to ascertain whether the state of strain in a viscous fluid in motion could be detected by its action on polarized light"" (from the present paper.)‎