Details
LIEBIG, Justus von (1803-1873). Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwending auf Agricultur und Physiologie. Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1840.
8o (224x 142 mm). Half-title, errata leaf at end, 11 leaves publisher's prospectuses at end. (Sewing loose, errata leaf and a few leaves of ads detached.) Original printed wrappers, uncut, a few quires partly unopened (backstrip torn at bottom, minor fraying at top of upper cover).
First Edition in German and first separate edition of "one of the most important books in the history of scientific agriculture" (DSB). An exceptionally versatile chemist, Liebig's lasting contributions to organic chemistry lay as much in his development of a methodology and in the standards that he set for reliability and thoroughness of analyses as in his many individual discoveries. In this work Liebig challenged the then current belief that plant growth was dependent almost exclusively on the organic products of decayed matter. From exhaustive analyses of the chemical composition of plants and extensive reading in the literature on the subject he concluded that the nutrient substances of plants are derived exclusively from the atmosphere and the mineral content of the soil. Although this extreme view was later proven incorrect, Liebig's insistence on the need to manufacture artificial fertilizers to improve productivity of agricultural land was of vital importance for the development of European agriculture. His book "completely changed the nature of the problem of scientific agriculture. Before 1840 it was generally believed that both plant and animal life were dependent on the circulation of an organic, previously living material. Now...[it was] agreed that the nutrient substances of plants were inorganic. That change...transformed the objectives of agriculture, for...in the new view an unbounded increase in organic life seemed possible" (DSB). Liebig's book, which had first appeared in a French translation four months earlier as the first volume of a Trait de chimie organique, aroused enormous interest throughout Europe and America -- 17 editions in various languages appeared within the decade. PMM 310a; Norman 1350.
[With:]
LIEBIG. Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Physiologie und Pathologie. Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1842.
8o (203 x 130 mm). Half-title, errata leaf at end. (Occasional foxing.) Contemporary half patterned cloth (slight wear to extremities).
FIRST EDITION. "With this book Liebig introduced the concept of metabolism into physiology" (Garrison-Morton). Liebig envisioned his book, titled Die Thierchemie in later editions, as a complement to his researches into the chemistry of plants. In it he showed, "like Lavoisier, that animal heat is not innate, but the result of combustion, introduced the concept of metabolism (Stoffwechsel); and classified animal foodstuffs as fats, carbohydrates and proteins according to their function. He thus became the founder of the modern science of nutrition" (PMM). The work aroused "sharply divergent reactions... Even those who reacted against it, however, began to view the chemical phenomena of life differently than they had before, for Liebig had provided one of the first comprehensive pictures of the overall meaning of the ceaseless chemical exchanges which form an integral part of the vital processes... As with his agricultural chemistry, Liebig's physiological writings provided an impetus which outlasted the refutation of some of his specific theories" (DSB). Garrison-Morton 677; PMM 310b; Waller 5796; Wellcome III, p. 515; Norman 1351. (2)
8o (224x 142 mm). Half-title, errata leaf at end, 11 leaves publisher's prospectuses at end. (Sewing loose, errata leaf and a few leaves of ads detached.) Original printed wrappers, uncut, a few quires partly unopened (backstrip torn at bottom, minor fraying at top of upper cover).
First Edition in German and first separate edition of "one of the most important books in the history of scientific agriculture" (DSB). An exceptionally versatile chemist, Liebig's lasting contributions to organic chemistry lay as much in his development of a methodology and in the standards that he set for reliability and thoroughness of analyses as in his many individual discoveries. In this work Liebig challenged the then current belief that plant growth was dependent almost exclusively on the organic products of decayed matter. From exhaustive analyses of the chemical composition of plants and extensive reading in the literature on the subject he concluded that the nutrient substances of plants are derived exclusively from the atmosphere and the mineral content of the soil. Although this extreme view was later proven incorrect, Liebig's insistence on the need to manufacture artificial fertilizers to improve productivity of agricultural land was of vital importance for the development of European agriculture. His book "completely changed the nature of the problem of scientific agriculture. Before 1840 it was generally believed that both plant and animal life were dependent on the circulation of an organic, previously living material. Now...[it was] agreed that the nutrient substances of plants were inorganic. That change...transformed the objectives of agriculture, for...in the new view an unbounded increase in organic life seemed possible" (DSB). Liebig's book, which had first appeared in a French translation four months earlier as the first volume of a Trait de chimie organique, aroused enormous interest throughout Europe and America -- 17 editions in various languages appeared within the decade. PMM 310a; Norman 1350.
[With:]
LIEBIG. Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Physiologie und Pathologie. Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1842.
8o (203 x 130 mm). Half-title, errata leaf at end. (Occasional foxing.) Contemporary half patterned cloth (slight wear to extremities).
FIRST EDITION. "With this book Liebig introduced the concept of metabolism into physiology" (Garrison-Morton). Liebig envisioned his book, titled Die Thierchemie in later editions, as a complement to his researches into the chemistry of plants. In it he showed, "like Lavoisier, that animal heat is not innate, but the result of combustion, introduced the concept of metabolism (Stoffwechsel); and classified animal foodstuffs as fats, carbohydrates and proteins according to their function. He thus became the founder of the modern science of nutrition" (PMM). The work aroused "sharply divergent reactions... Even those who reacted against it, however, began to view the chemical phenomena of life differently than they had before, for Liebig had provided one of the first comprehensive pictures of the overall meaning of the ceaseless chemical exchanges which form an integral part of the vital processes... As with his agricultural chemistry, Liebig's physiological writings provided an impetus which outlasted the refutation of some of his specific theories" (DSB). Garrison-Morton 677; PMM 310b; Waller 5796; Wellcome III, p. 515; Norman 1351. (2)