THOMSON, Joseph John (1856-1940). Conduction of Electricity through Gases. Cambridge: University Press, 1903. 8o (217 x 140 mm). Original green cloth, gilt-lettered spine and front cover. Provenance: Hugh Fletcher Moulton (ownership inscription). FIRST EDITION. "The theory of the atom as the basis of the physical world was dissolved on ... April 29, 1897, when Thomson ... announced that cathode rays consisted of negatively charged particles of a mass no greater than a thousandth part of that of a hydrogen atom, the smallest atom recognized up to the time" (Dibner). His discovery was later modified by Lorentz, who emphasized the electrical character of this concept of matter, against Thomson's emphasis on the corpuscular nature. Dibner Heralds of science 165; PMM 386d; Norman 2076. -- Applications of dynamics to physics and chemistry. London and New York: Macmillan, 1888. 8o (182 x 122 mm). 1 leaf of undated publisher's advertisements bound in. Original maroon cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Provenance: William Henry Bragg, physicist (signature on title); William Lawrence Bragg, physicist (bookplate). The Braggs were the only father and son who have both won the Nobel Prize, which they did jointly in 1915 (see lot 950). FIRST EDITION. "A treatise based upon the problem of the transformation of energy. One of the principal investigations discussed was of the action of an electrified atom in causing water vapor to condense around it, a problem that had bearings on Thomson's future work" (Norman). Also included is the suggestion that electricity flows in metals and in electrolytes, which was to be of importance for his electron theory of metals. Norman 2074. (2)

Details

THOMSON, Joseph John (1856-1940). Conduction of Electricity through Gases. Cambridge: University Press, 1903. 8o (217 x 140 mm). Original green cloth, gilt-lettered spine and front cover. Provenance: Hugh Fletcher Moulton (ownership inscription). FIRST EDITION. "The theory of the atom as the basis of the physical world was dissolved on ... April 29, 1897, when Thomson ... announced that cathode rays consisted of negatively charged particles of a mass no greater than a thousandth part of that of a hydrogen atom, the smallest atom recognized up to the time" (Dibner). His discovery was later modified by Lorentz, who emphasized the electrical character of this concept of matter, against Thomson's emphasis on the corpuscular nature. Dibner Heralds of science 165; PMM 386d; Norman 2076. -- Applications of dynamics to physics and chemistry. London and New York: Macmillan, 1888. 8o (182 x 122 mm). 1 leaf of undated publisher's advertisements bound in. Original maroon cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Provenance: William Henry Bragg, physicist (signature on title); William Lawrence Bragg, physicist (bookplate). The Braggs were the only father and son who have both won the Nobel Prize, which they did jointly in 1915 (see lot 950). FIRST EDITION. "A treatise based upon the problem of the transformation of energy. One of the principal investigations discussed was of the action of an electrified atom in causing water vapor to condense around it, a problem that had bearings on Thomson's future work" (Norman). Also included is the suggestion that electricity flows in metals and in electrolytes, which was to be of importance for his electron theory of metals. Norman 2074. (2)