Authors listed alphabetically:

The Mark I: the first large-scale automatic calculator

AIKEN, Howard Hathaway and Grace Murray HOPPER. The automatic sequence controlled calculator. In Electrical Engineering. Three parts. Original printed wrappers. WITH: Tables of the modified Hankel functions of order one-third and of their derivatives. Original cloth. First edition of the famous three-part article on the Mark I. WITH: The first published tables calculated by the Mark I and therefore the first published mathematical tables calculated by a programmed automatic computer.

$2400
(details)

Important volume documenting the scientific advances of early America, in original boards

[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]. Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Volume I, parts I-III. Boston: Adams and Nourse, 1785. Quarto, original publisher's drab boards and paper spine. First edition of the inaugural volume of the Memoirs one of the United States's most important and influential intellectual societies. 

$1450
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Babbage's first published book

BABBAGE, Charles. BABBAGE, Charles. A comparative view of the various institutions for the assurance of lives. London: printed for J. Mawman and sold by J. Booth, 1826. First edition of Babbage's first published book, the first thorough treatise on actuarial theory, complete with folding table of mortality statistics, generally considered the first reliable life table.

$1800
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Charles Babbage’s machine logic,
an outstanding copy in scarce original wrappers

BABBAGE, Charles. On a method of expressing by signs the action of machinery. In Philosophical Transactions 116, pt. 3 (1826): 250-65. Original plain blue wrappers, uncut. First edition in journal form of Charles Babbage’s system of mechanical notation, important to the development of the early computer. A truly remarkable copy: the complete issue in scarce original wrappers. 

$4600
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the foundation of a new branch of mathematics

BABBAGE, Charles. BABBAGE, Charles. An essay towards the calculus of functions [Part I]. In Phil. Trans. London: W. Bulmer & Co., 1815. WITH: An essay towards the calculus of functions, Part II. 1816. London: W. Bulmer & Co., 1815-16. Two complete journal issues, uncut and largely unopened. First editions, journal issues, of Babbage's two most important contributions to mathematics, essentially founding the general theory of the calculus of functions.

$3000
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the invention of the transistor

BARDEEN, John, and BRATTAIN, William. "Physical Principles Involved in Transistor Action." In The Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 28, No. 2, April 1949 (pp. 239-277). WITH: BARDEEN, John, and BRATTAIN, William, and SHOCKLEY, William, et al., ibid, Vol. 28, No. 3. July, 1949. Two issues, both in original wrappers. Two landmark journals documenting the revolutionary invention of the transistor: the April 1949 issue of The Bell System Technical Journal containing the first description of the invention (published simultaneously in The Physical Review), and the famous July 1949 “Semiconductor Issue” dedicated entirely to the discuss of the transistor and semiconductor devices. Fine copies.

$3800
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superconductivity

BARDEEN, J., L. N. COOPER & J. R. SCHRIEFFER. Theory of Superconductivity, In The Physical Review. Lancaster, PA, 1957. Original blue printed wrappers. First printing in original wrappers of arguably the most important paper in the field of superconductivity.

$5000
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the most beautifully illustrated work on the brain

BELL, Sir Charles. The Anatomy of the Brain, explained in a Series of Engravings. London: C. Whittingham for T.N. Longman and O. Rees [et al.], 1802. First edition of Bell's detailed work on the anatomy of the brain, with 12 exquisite stipple-engraved plates, 11 with original hand-coloring. Scarce.

$11,000
(details)

"one of the greatest modern advances in therapy":
the discovery of surgical anesthesia

BIGELOW, Henry Jacob. Insensibility During Surgical Operations Produced by Inhalation. In: The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Boston: David Clapp, 1847. First edition of the first announcement of the successful use of anesthesia during surgical operations, one of the greatest discoveries of nineteenth-century medicine.

$5300
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a revolution in modern physics

BOHR, Niels. On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules. Parts I-III (all published). In: The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, and Journal of Science. London: Taylor & Francis, 1913. Octavo, original printed wrappers. FIRST EDITIONS IN SCARCE ORIGINAL WRAPPERS of all three parts of Bohr’s landmark papers marking the definitive break from using classical physics at the atomic level, often cited as the foundation of our modern understanding of the atom. 

$15,000
(details)

a scientific association of great significance:
important paper by Niels Bohr
inscribed to colleague and friend, H.G. Moseley

BOHR, Niels. On the Theory of the Decrease of Velocity of Moving Electrified Particles on Passing Through Matter. Offprint from Philosophical Magazine, 6^th series, vol. 25, no. 145, pp.10-31 (January 1913). London: Philosophical Magazine, 1913. Octavo, original printed wrappers. First edition, scarce offprint issue, of one of Niels Bohr’s most important papers, inscribed on the front wrapper to scientist H.G. Moseley: “Mr. H.G. Moseley / with the best compliments / from the author”.

$13,000
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“exerted a profound influence on the course of events” in modern physics 

BOHR, Niels; KRAMERS, Hendrik, Anthony; and SLATER, John Clarke. Uber die Quantentheorie der Strahlung, In Zeitschrift fur Physik. Braunschweig and Berlin: Vieweg & Sohn, Springer, 1924. Text in German. First printing of Bohr, Kramers, and Clarke’s influential paper that “contained drastic theoretical proposals concerning the interaction of light and matter."

$500
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with 238 hand-colored plates

BREE, Charles Robert. A History of the Birds of Europe not Observed in the British Isles. London: Groombridge and Sons, 1859, 1860, 1862, 1863. Quarto, contemporary three-quarter morocco gilt, marbled endpapers. Four volumes. First editions of Charles Bree's exquisitely illustrated History of the Birds of Europe. Complete with 238 hand-colored tinted lithographed plates (180 of birds, 58 of eggs).

$2900
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first evidence of molecular motion

BROWN, Robert. A Brief Account of Microscopical Observations… and on the General Existence of Active Molecules in Organic and Inorganic Bodies. FIRST PUBLISHED EDITION of Robert Brown’s description of the molecular phenomenon later known as “Brownian motion”. WITH: Brown's subsequent paper: Additional Remarks on Active Molecules.

$6500
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the most beautiful of all pathological atlases,
with 48 stunning hand-colored plates

$25,000
(details)

foundation of the Internet

$8500
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essential volume in computer history

$5000
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foundation of thermodynamics

$4600
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landmark in computer history

$5000
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outstanding copy of Darwin's The Descent of Man

$12,500
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the Davy lamp

DAVY, Humphry. On the fire-damp of coal mines and on methods of lighting the mines so as to prevent its explosion", pp. 1-24 in Phil. Trans. 105 (1816). Uncut and mostly unopened. Whole issue offered. First edition of the first announcement of the Davy's treatise on his famous safety lamp which enabled miners to carry a light without the danger of igniting the methane gas found in coal mines; precedes the 1818 book Davy wrote on the subject.

$2600
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"remains the basis of our modern scientific outlook"

$14,500
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E = mc²

$6500
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Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
1916 first edition in original wrappers

$11,000
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Einstein's first scientific paper; Planck's quantum theory

EINSTEIN, Albert. Folgerungen aus den Capillar- itatserscheinungen WITH: PLANCK, Max. Ueber des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum; and Ueber die Elementarquanta der Materie und der Elektricitatm, in Annalen der Physik. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1901. First edition, first printing of Einstein's first published work, written and printed when he was only twenty-one years old. This volume also includes the second appearance of Max Planck's announcement of the discovery of the indivisibility of nature, the founding document for quantum theory (PMM 391b). 

$2600
(details)

a collection of Einstein papers from Annalen der Physik

EINSTEIN, Albert. Annalen Der Physik. 1906-1912. Ten volumes, with 22 Einstein contributions, including the first journal printing of Einstein's doctoral thesis, and many contributions to the theory of special relativity. 

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essential anatomical atlas

EUSTACHIUS, Bartholomeo. Tabulae Anatomicae. Rome: Francesco Gonzaga, 1714. Folio (384 x 356 mm). First edition, a wide-margined copy in contemporary full calf, of the great anatomical atlas of Eustachius, complete with engraved title vignette after Pier Leone Ghezze and 47 full-page copperplate engravings by Giulio de' Musi after drawings by Eustachius and Pier Matteo Pini. 

$12,000
(details)

the greenhouse effect

FOURIER, Joseph. Remarques générales sur les Temperatures du globe terrestre et des espaces planétaires. 1824 FIRST EDITION of Fourier's observation that the ground temperature of the Earth is increased because of the existence of the atmosphere; a phenomenon that would become known as "the greenhouse effect". Often considered the foundation of climate change science. A scarce copy in original wrappers.

$3300
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the origin of psychoanalysis

$9000
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one of the greatest tools of modern physics

GLASER, Donald A. Bubble Chamber Tracks of Penetrating Cosmic-Ray Particles, In The Physical Review, Vol. 91, Second Series, No. 3. Lancaster, PA and NY: 1953. First edition in original wrappers of Donald Glaser’s announcement of the invention of the bubble chamber to track the paths of atomic particles.

$1300
(details)

"the father of rocketry"

GODDARD, Robert H. A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes (with 10 plates), In Smithsonian Misc. Collections. Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1919. First edition, first printing of Robert Goddard's famous explanation of the powerful potential of rocketry and, specifically, on the possibility of projecting an object beyond the atmosphere of the Earth.

$6500
(details)

the Horblit copy, in scarce original wrappers

GODDARD, Robert H. A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes (with 10 plates), In Smithsonian Misc. Collections.  Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1919. Original brown wrappers. First edition, first printing in original wrappers of Robert Goddard's famous explanation of the powerful potential of rocketry and, specifically, on the possibility of projecting an object beyond the atmosphere of the Earth. 

$9000
(details)

essential to the study of electricity

HAUKSBEE, Francis the Elder. Physico-Mechanical Experiments on Various Subjects. Containing an Account of several Surprizing Phenomena touching Light and Electricity... London: R. Brugis for the Author, 1709. First edition, with 8 engraved plates (7 folding), of Hauksbee's highly influential discoveries concerning electricity. A strong influence on Priestley, Franklin, and Isaac Newton. Rare.

$7800
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the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

HEISENBERG, Werner. Uber den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinematik und Mechanik. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, one of the most important and celebrated findings in modern physics. Rare.

$9000
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the foundation of quantum mechanics

$3800
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the birth of wireless communication

HERTZ, Heinrich. Ueber sehr schnelle electrische Schwingungen. with: Nachtrag zu der Abhandlung über sehr schnelle electrische Schwingungen. with: Ueber einen Einfluss des ultravioletten Lichtes auf die electrische Entladung. In: Annalen der Physik. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1887. First printing of Hertz's first three papers on electromagnetic waves; the foundation for wireless communication. Finely bound.

$2500
(details)

Hertz's Electric Waves, first edition in English

HERTZ, Heinrich. Electric Waves... Preface by William Thompson, Lord Kelvin. London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1893. First edition in English in original cloth of Hertz's collected papers on electromagnetic waves; the foundation for wireless communication. Originally published in German in 1892, the collected edition gathers together Hertz's important journal publications from 1887-1892 with the addition of an introduction in which Hertz surveys and analyzes his work of the past five years.

$1900
(details)

Joule's Law

JOULE, James Prescott. On the Heat Evolved by Metallic Conductors of Electricity and in the Cells of a Battery During Electrolysis. London: Richard and John E. Taylor, 1841. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter calf. FIRST EDITION of the derivation of Joule's Law, one of the fundamental laws of electricity.

$4600
(details)

the Maxwell distribution

MAXWELL, James Clerk. Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases. London: Taylor and Francis, 1860. FIRST EDITION of one of Maxwell’s greatest and most influential contributions: the creation of the Maxwell distribution of molecular velocities.

$5500
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first confirmation of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory

[MAXWELL, James Clerk]. LEBEDEV, P.N. Untersuchungen über die Druckkräfte des Lichtes [The Experimental Study of the Pressure of Light. First edition in original wrappers of the account of Lebedev’s dramatic experiment proving that light exerts a mechanical pressure on material bodies; a cornerstone discovery in modern physics that offered the first quantitative confirmation of Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory.

$2500
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the discovery of nuclear fission

MEITNER, Lise; FRISCH, DR. O.R.; et al. Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons; Physical Evidence for the Division of Heavy Nuclei under Neutron Bombardment; Liberation of Neutrons in the Nuclear Explosion of Uranium. FIRST PRINTINGS IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS of three critically important articles documenting the discovery of nuclear fission, including Meitner and Frisch's "Disintegration of Uranium by Neutron", the first announcement of the new process. PMM 422b,c,d.

$2600
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Millikan's famous "Oil Drop" experiment
to determine electron charge

MILLIKAN, Robert Andrews. A new modification of the cloud method of determining the elementary electrical charge and the most probable value of that charge, in The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Phil. Mag. London: Taylor and Francis, 1910. First printing of one of the most important experiments in modern physics, providing the first definitive proof that electric charge is made up of elementary indivisible quantities, and the determination of the value of e, the electron charge.

$1500
(details)

the foundation of pathological anatomy,
“one of the most fundamentally important works in the history of medicine”

MORGAGNI, Giovanni Battista. The Seats and Causes of Diseases investigated by Anatomy... London: A. Millar, T. Cadell, Johnson and Payne, 1769. Three volumes. First edition in English of the founding work of modern pathological anatomy, and the only complete translation into English. 

$5000
(details)

Newton's Principia Mathematica

NEWTON, Isaac. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Matematica. Geneva: Barrillot & Filii, 1739-1742. Quarto, contemporary full vellum. Important 1739-42 "Jesuit edition" of Newton's Principia, highly valued for its detailed and scholarly commentary: "remains the most ambitious and perhaps the most useful edition ever published."

$6800
(details)

first edition of an important paper by Isaac Newton

NEWTON, Isaac. A true Copy of a Paper found, in the Hand Writing of Sir Isaac Newton, among the Papers of the Late Dr. Halley, containing a Description of an Instrument for observing the Moon's Distance from the Fixt Stars at Sea, in Phil. Trans., no. 465, pp. 155-6. London: 1742. First edition of a posthumously published paper by Isaac Newton describing the basis for the invention of what became known as "Hadley's quadrant", the most accurate nautical navigational device of its time.

$1100
(details)

first edition of Max Planck’s collected work in thermodynamics

PLANCK, Max. PLANCK, Max and LUDWIG, Karl Ernst. Vorlesungen uber Thermodynamik. Leipzig: Von Veit & Comp., 1897. First edition of Planck’s popular collection of fundamental papers on thermodynamics. "Planck's Vorlesungen was effective for more than thirty years as an extremely clear, systematic, and skillful presentation of thermodynamics” (DSB).

$600
(details)

one of the most influential works in the history of chemistry (PMM 217)

PRIESTLEY, Joseph. Observations on different kinds of air, in Philosophical Transactions. London: Lockyer Davis, 1772. First printing of Joseph Priestley’s major work on gas theory, preceding by two years its appearance in book form. Includes a wealth of discoveries and advancements that would set the course for future studies in chemistry. Among other things, Priestley's work includes the discovery of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, the first description of photosynthesis, crucial observations that would lead to his identification of oxygen, and new experimental techniques that would lead to the discovery of a multitude of new gases. 

$4000
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"completely revolutionized the study of chemistry and physics" (PMM, 380)

RÖNTGEN, Wilhelm Conrad. Ueber eine neue Art von Strahlen [About a new kind of rays], parts I and II. WITH: Weitere Beobachtungen uber die Eigenschaften der X-Strahlen [Further observations about the properties of X-rays], in Annalen der Physik. Leipzig: Barth-Verlag, 1898. First complete edition of Rontgen’s announcement of the discovery of the X-Ray.

$2400
(details)

an important milestone in artificial intelligence

ROSENBLATT, Frank. The Perceptron: A Probabilistic Model for Information Storage and Organization in the Brain. In, Psychological Review, November 1958. Lancaster, PA and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1958. Original blue wrappers; custom box. First edition of Frank Rosenblatt’s widely influential contribution to the field of artificial intelligence: the introduction of the perceptron, a “hypothetical nervous system” designed to mimic some of the organizational systems used in the brain.   

$2300
(details)

first edition of Santorini's great anatomical work

SANTORINI, Giovanni Domenico. Observationes anatomicae. Venice: Giovanni Battista Recurti, 1724. First edition, with three engraved folding plates, of Santorini's most important contribution to medical science, containing the "major discoveries for which Santorini is known eponymically" (Garrison-Morton). Rare. 

$6800
(details)

foundation of cryptography

SHANNON, Claude E. Communication theory of secrecy systems, offprint from: Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 28. NY: American Telegraph and Telephone Company, 1949. First edition, rare offprint issue in original wrappers, of Claude Shannon’s groundbreaking work on cryptography and secrecy systems; of essential importance to the development of his mathematical theory of communication.

$2900
(details)

the atomic bomb

SMYTH, H.D. A General Account of the Development of Methods of Using Atomic Energy for Military Purposes under the Auspices of the United States Government 1940-1945. Washington, D.C.: the Superintendent of Documents, 1945. Octavo, original paper wrappers. First published edition of the official government publication offering the public the first account of the development of the atomic bomb.

$600
(details)

the earliest description of television, in original wrappers

SWINTON, A.A. Campbell. Distant Electric Vision, in Nature. June 18, 1908. WITH: BIDWELL, Shelford. Telegraphic Photography and Electric Vision, in Nature, June 4, 1908. London: The Macmillan Company, 1908. Original wrappers rebacked. Very scarce first printing of what is generally considered the most important paper in the history of television. 

$4800
(details)

foundation of scientific management, PMM 403

TAYLOR, Frederick Winslow. The Principles of Scientific Management. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1911. Octavo, original cloth. First edition, scarce private first printing, "for confidential circulation among the members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with the compliments of the author" of Taylor’s masterpiece that transformed methods of factory production.

$2500
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the most famous of all English botanicals

THORNTON, Robert John. Temple of Flora, or Garden of the Botanist, Poet, Painter, and Philosopher. London: published by Dr. Thornton, 1812. Small folio (15x12 inches), contemporary green morocco gilt. “Lottery Edition” of the most celebrated of all English botanicals. Complete with hand-colored aquatint frontispiece and 28 colored engraved plates finished by hand.

$32,500
(details)

 Cellular Pathology: first edition in English

VIRCHOW, Rudolf. Cellular Pathology as Based upon Physiological and Pathological Histology. London: John Churchill, 1860. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter calf rebacked, marbled boards. First edition in English of one of the most influential works in the history of medicine. 

$1200
(details)

 "one of the most important source books on cancer"

VIRCHOW, Rudolf. Die Krankhaften Geschwülste. Vols. I-III, [all published]. Berlin: August Hirschwald, 1863-1867. Three volumes in four. Original printed wrappers, uncut. First edition, in scarce original wrappers, of Virchow's pioneering work on tumor pathology. Generally found bound up in three volumes, it is extremely rare in the original four parts.  

$4800
(details)

 the most important biological discovery of the century

WATSON, James D.; CRICK, Francis; et al;. Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids, A Structure for Dexyribose Nucleic Acid. Offprint from Nature, vol 171, p.737ff, April 25, 1953. 14pp. St. Albans: Fisher, Knight & Co., Ltd, 1953. Original self-wrappers. Fine condition. First separate edition (offprint) of the three papers announcing the discovery of the structure of DNA, one of the most important scientific achievements of the century. Rare.

$15,500
(details)

 "a new way of looking at how the world functioned"

WIENER, Norbert. Cybernetics. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1948. Octavo, original cloth, original dust jacket. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION (preceded by the Paris printing in wrappers) of one of the foundational works in modern communication theory.

$850
(details)

 "the most original and wonderful instrument in scientific history" -Ernest Rutherford

WILSON, C.T.R. Condensation of Water Vapour in the Presence of Dust-free Air and other Gases, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, pp. 265-307. London: Harrison and Sons, 1897. Quarto, original publisher's burgundy blind-stamped cloth. First edition of the first description of WIlson's famous cloud chamber, the first type of detector to show the tracks of elementary particles.

$1600
(details)