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Small 8vo. (180 x 120 mm). 56, [2] pp. Advertising slip for lantern slides illustrating Huggin's lecture and 2-page advertisement at end. 18 ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS MOUNTED IN TEXT SHOWING diagrams of spectrums, sketches of nebulae, and "Apparatus for the Measurement and Comparison of Stellar Spectra". Original plum flexible blind-stamped cloth, gilt-lettered on front cover (neatly rebacked, preserving original yellow endleaves). Provenance: Armorial bookplate of Sir William Crookes, D.Sc., F.R.S.; rubber stamp of H.B. Rumrill, Tredyffrin Observatory, Berwyn, Pennsylvania; Owen Gingerich (his bookplate). INSCRIBED "With the Publisher's Compliments" [to Crookes]. FIRST EDITION OF HUGGINS' SCARCE PHOTOGRAPHICALLY-ILLUSTRATED SCIENTIFIC WORK explaining his pioneering use of the spectroscope and his method of analyzing the results of his observations. New discoveries in astronomic research in the 19th century necessitated the advancement of instruments used by scientists for observations. Working in collaboration with his friend William Allen Miller (1817-1870), a professor of chemistry at King's College, London, and an experienced spectroscopist and photographer, Huggins was able to perfect a spectroscope attached to his telescope that brought the spectral lines of bright stars into view. Huggins' developments pushed the boundaries of astronomical research, and he is generally considered the founder of celestial spectroscopy. THE SIR WILLIAM CROOKES & OWEN GINGERICH COPY. / HUGGINS PIONEERING STUDIES IN SPECTROSCOPY WAS THE ROSETTA STONE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AS IT LEAD DIRECTLY TO THE BIG BANG THEORY RELATING TO THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE. By the of both the measurement of star spectroscopy and their individual chemical make-up, these first spectrographic analysis of the stars lead directly to a new understanding of how the universe was created. / "Huggins perfected a spectroscope which, attached to his telescope, brought the prominent spectral lines of the brighter stars into view. Huggins's star spectroscope enabled astronomers to ask new questions and undertake new mensuration, and ultimately altered the boundaries of acceptable astronomical research" â " ODNB. / Ladd, the publisher, appears to have also been a manufacturer and retailer of spectroscopes and apparatus. / PROVENANCE: [1] SIR WILLIAM CROOKES (1832-1919), this is a publisher's presentation copy to Crookes. Crookes and Huggins both pioneered the use of spectroscopy. He also invented the Crookes vacuum tube in 1875; [2] Rubber stamp of HARRY BARLOW RUMRILL (1867-1951) of the TREDYFFRIN OBSERVATORY, Berwyn, Pennsylvania (privately built), who was known for his recorded observations of sunspots; [3] OWEN GINGERICH (1930-), Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution; [4] David BLOCK, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, Professor Emeritus, School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. / RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, only one other copy has sold in the last 30 years: the Plotnick copy, sold Christie's New York, October 4, 2002, lot 138. Bonhams, sold another Dec 5, 2012, lot 5. / Huggins, Sir William (1824-1910), was President of the Royal Society. Huggins started as an amateur astronomer, but he soon devoted his career to the field. He built his own observatory on his own property, at Tulse Hill, London, in 1856. "And when spectrum analysis made its way, Huggins was among the first to apply it to astronomy. His pioneering work in celestial spectroscopy, which involved the technique of splitting starlight into its various wavelengths, brought him fame in the 1860s." â " Ganesh. See: Leila Belkora, Minding the Heavens: The Story of our Discovery of the Milky Way; Becker, Barbara J. Unravelling Starlight: William and Margaret Huggins and the Rise of the New As.
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