Songs and fables

Glasgow: James Maclehose, 1874. With an original photograph of the author opposite the title page plus 10 full-page illustrations. Publisher’s cloth, author and title in gilt on spine, boards a bit worn; interior very good. With an ownership inscription on the fly-leaf dated 1874. First edition. Rankine (1820-1872) was a professor of civil engineering and mechanics at Glasgow. He was distinguished for his work on molecular physics and for his early studies of railway locomotion. Included are nineteen “songs” (including the overlap of science and humor in his “The mathematician in Love” and observations on relationships in “The engine-driver to his engine” among others) and twelve fables which attempt to explain “the origin and meaning of some of our old and popular sign-boards” (preface). All in all, a valiant effort at literature from a highly respected scientist.