Über die Natur der Cometen

Leipzig: Engelmann, 1872. First Edition.. Later half cloth and boards.. Very good; some toning.. 8vo, c, 523, [1 - errata] pp. + 10 lithographic plates.

Zollner rec'd. an appointment as prof. at Leipzig. He is best known for his skill at designing instruments, e.g., his photometer. In addition to this, however, his theoretical work based on observations was wide ranging and prescient. One of his best books is offered here. In it Zollner marshalled what was known about comets and added his own conclusions (correct) about the elements of the nucleus of a comet vaporizing as it approached the sun. In conjunction with presenting his own conclusions Zollner undertakes a minute exegesis of the extant theories of the formation of comets and cosmological implications of their existence. The text follows a path that leads from Kant to Gauss and to contemporaries like Riemann; it incorporates observational data available from an incredible variety of sources. DSB XIV, 627 - ' 29.