History of the Inductive Sciences

London: John W. Parker, 1837. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spine in compartments with gilt decoration and spine labels. Signature of Humphry House (possibly the British literary scholar, 1908-1955) on the fly-leaf. First edition of the author’s important survey of science from the Greeks through the nineteenth century. Not only was the publication of his History remarkable proof of Whewell’s extraordinary powers of knowledge, but it resulted in a recognized position of high authority among the scientific writers of the day. His treatment here of the great mathematical scientists (such as Newton) is clear, concise and “sometimes brilliant; and based throughout upon detailed consideration of texts.” A sequel called the Philosophy of the inductive sciences was published in 1840.

Whewell (1794-1866), a professor at Trinity College, Cambridge, had an immense range of scholarly and scientific interests. He invented a self-registering anemometer that measured the direction and temporal duration of the velocity of the wind. He wrote textbooks on mechanics and dynamics, and introduced the calculus for solving problems.