AN ESSAY ON COMETS IN TWO PARTS PART I. CONTAINING AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE PHAENOMENA OF THE TAILS OF COMETS, AND TO ACCOUNT FOR THEIR PERPETUAL OPPOSITION TO THE SUN, UPON THE PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES. PART II. POINTING OUT SOME IMPORTANT ENDS FOR WHICH THESE TAILS WERE PROBABLY DESIGNED: WHEREIN IT IS SHEWN, THAT, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THESE CURIOUS APPENDAGES, COMETS MAY BE INHABITED WORLDS, AND EVEN COMFORTABLE HABITUATIONS; NOTWITHSTANDING THE VAST EXCENTRICITIES OF THEIR ORBITS. THE WHOLE INTERSPERSED WITH OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE SUN AND PRIMARY PLANETS; the sun, upon the philosophical principle
Published by Printed and sold by Samuel Hall, near the exchange, Salem [Mass] New-England, 1772
- First Edition
- Used
Seller: Aardvark Rare Books, EUGENE, OR, U.S.A.Aardvark Rare Books
AbeBooks seller since October 31, 1996
Condition: Used - Good
£ 984.85
Quantity:Â 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
ORIGINAL Stitched Pamphlet (8 3/8 in. x 5 1/2 in. [vi] pp. 87. Andrew Oliver proposed that comet tails were made up of air, and that life could exist in such air. 87 pp. INCLUDES FOLDING PLATE.(here detached but present) comprising Figures 1 through 6 illustrating his theses about the nature of comets. Inked ciphering (addition problems) to v, 1, 86 and rear panel. Inked name (David Thompson?) to p. 86. Moderate toning to text block, which is printed on thick laid bond. Lacks half-title. Erratum present on pp. vi. The author writes (in his Preface): "The reader will find (in the introduction) that the consideration of the subject, in this light, was first started by Hugh Williamson, M.D. of Philadelphia, in a treatise that was published in one of the weekly papers; which, as it contained some new thoughts, the pursuit of which (it was judged) would tend to the improvement of natural philosophy, first induced the author to undertake the following Essay, upon a subject indeed which, till then, he had but little attended to." Andrew Oliver (1731-1799) was an American jurist and scientist. his father (Andrew Oliver Sr.), though of somewhat mixed loyalties, was nontheless the infamous and unfortunate British official assigned to Massachusetts Bay Colony, to enforce the extremely unpopular Stamp Act, and who was later burned in effigy, his offices and homes attacked and burnt. Oliver Jr., attended Harvard college, graduating in 1749 before continuing his studies and earning master's degrees at Yale (1751) and Harvard (1752). After marrying, Oliver relocated to his wife's hometown of Salem. He held minor public offices before becoming a county judge in 1761 and a representative of Salem to the Massachusetts General Court the following year. When the [American Revolution] broke out, his loyalist family went into hiding while he remained in Salem, not for any political reason, but rather to continue his scientific inquiries into the nature of air. Inspired by Benjamin Franklin and other contemporaries, he also asserted that electricity permeates air and studied its role in causing thunderstorms. .Oliver attempted to explain the direction of the comet s tail by the pressure of the sun s atmosphere . . . (Excerpted from Wikipedia). Jean-Sylvain Baily, the French astronomer, thought enough of Oliver s introduction of electricity into the problem to translate his pamphlet into French. (quote from Auction record). NOTE: No actual physical copies of these Essays located on WorldCat. The item has sold at auction twice in 55 years.…
Seller Inventory # 87818
Bibliographic details
- Title
- AN ESSAY ON COMETS IN TWO PARTS PART I. CONTAINING AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE PHAENOMENA OF THE TAILS OF COMETS, AND TO ACCOUNT FOR THEIR PERPETUAL OPPOSITION TO THE SUN, UPON THE PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES. PART II. POINTING OUT SOME IMPORTANT ENDS FOR WHICH THESE TAILS WERE PROBABLY DESIGNED: WHEREIN IT IS SHEWN, THAT, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THESE CURIOUS APPENDAGES, COMETS MAY BE INHABITED WORLDS, AND EVEN COMFORTABLE HABITUATIONS; NOTWITHSTANDING THE VAST EXCENTRICITIES OF THEIR ORBITS. THE WHOLE INTERSPERSED WITH OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE SUN AND PRIMARY PLANETS; the sun, upon the philosophical principle
- Author
- Oliver, Andrew (Jun. Esq.)
- Publisher
- Printed and sold by Samuel Hall, near the exchange, Salem [Mass] New-England
- Publication year
- 1772
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Stitched Pamphlet
- Edition
- First Edition.
- Seller catalogs
- Physical and Earth Science
Aardvark Rare Books
EUGENE, OR, U.S.A.
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