Report upon the recent progress and present state of meteorology. . .
N.p. N.p., 1833. 8vo. [v], 196-258. FIRST EDITION. Cloth, partly faded; interior very good. Presentation copy addressed to Lord Adair, with his bookplate on the paste-down. From the library of Arnold Thackray with his bookplate on the front free end paper. Item #14945
First edition. The offprint of Forbes’s paper, with a separate title page and contents leaf. Forbes presented his findings on meteorology to the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford in 1832, the year before he became the chair of natural science at the University of Edinburgh. Included are his remarks on research then being conducted on heat, atmospheric temperature, and pressure, humidity, and phenomenon such as electricity, hail, and the influence of the Aurora Borealis on the magnetic needle.
Forbes (1809-1868), a physicist and geologist, was one of the leading scientists of his time. He is well known for his discovery of the polarization of radiant heat which led to the development of the concept of a continuous radiation spectrum. In addition, he was one of the inventors of a device to record earthquakes; the instrument used a pencil fixed parallel to the shaft of the pendulum to record oscillations on a stationary, paper-lined spherical dome. Forbes received the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society for his discoveries.
Price: $150.00