first edition Original Wraps
1803 · London
by Herschel, Sir William (1738-1822)
London: W. Bulmer and Co. (printers), 1803. First Edition. Original Wraps. Quarto. Offered is an entire issue of the Philosophical Transactions, 1803, Part II. Original blue wrappers uncut. "Perhaps Herschel's most notable discovery was that pairs of stars in close continuity-the binary stars-move around each other according to the laws of gravitation; thus indicating the universality of natural law." (PMM) "In 1802 Herschel began to reexamine his doubles, and he found that on several of them the two stars had altered position relative to each other in a way that showed they were companions held together by attractive powers. After Herschel's death it was confirmed that the power was, as expected, gravitational attraction; the first proof that gravitation attraction extended beyond the solar system." (DSB) Herschel discovered altogether over 800 double stars, measuring their angles of position by means of the revolving wire micrometer invented for the purpose. Printing and the Mind of Man, 227, DNB, IX, p.723; DSB.VI, P. 330. Fine.
(Inventory #: 0283)