Details
ALEMBERT, Jean le Rond d' (1717-1783). Trait de dynamique. Paris: David l'an, 1743.
4 (215 x 162mm). Engraved title vignette and 4 copper-engraved folding plates. (Light spotting and browning.) Later German half calf, flat spine (small wormholes at spine). Provenance: Italian War Ministry (19th-century library stamp); Bibliothek des Technischen Militr-Comit (library stamps and release stamp on title-page and dedication leaf).
FIRST EDITION OF D'ALEMBERT'S FIRST BOOK AND A LANDMARK IN THE HISTORY OF MECHANICS. In the Trait de dynamique, one of his most famous scientific works, d'Alembert recognised that a scientific revolution had occured and set out to formalise the new science of mechanics -- an accomplishment often mis-attributed to Newton. d'Alembert discusses his three laws of motion: inertia, the parallelogram of motion, and equilibrium. The Trait 'reduced the laws of the motion of bodies to a law of equilibrium. Its statement that "the internal forces of inertia must be equal and opposite to the forces that produce the acceleration" is still known as 'd'Alembert's principle'. This principle is applied to many phenomena and, in particular, to the theory of the motion of fluids. It has become useful in the solution of many technical and mechanical problems" (PMM). Norman 31; Wellcome II, p.28; PMM 195.
4 (215 x 162mm). Engraved title vignette and 4 copper-engraved folding plates. (Light spotting and browning.) Later German half calf, flat spine (small wormholes at spine). Provenance: Italian War Ministry (19th-century library stamp); Bibliothek des Technischen Militr-Comit (library stamps and release stamp on title-page and dedication leaf).
FIRST EDITION OF D'ALEMBERT'S FIRST BOOK AND A LANDMARK IN THE HISTORY OF MECHANICS. In the Trait de dynamique, one of his most famous scientific works, d'Alembert recognised that a scientific revolution had occured and set out to formalise the new science of mechanics -- an accomplishment often mis-attributed to Newton. d'Alembert discusses his three laws of motion: inertia, the parallelogram of motion, and equilibrium. The Trait 'reduced the laws of the motion of bodies to a law of equilibrium. Its statement that "the internal forces of inertia must be equal and opposite to the forces that produce the acceleration" is still known as 'd'Alembert's principle'. This principle is applied to many phenomena and, in particular, to the theory of the motion of fluids. It has become useful in the solution of many technical and mechanical problems" (PMM). Norman 31; Wellcome II, p.28; PMM 195.