Proposal of a Method for measuring Degrees of Longitude upon Parallels of the AEquator.

[London:: Phil. Trans., 1766-7]. [with] LIMBOURG, Joannes Philippus de. Observationes de Ascaridibus & Cucurbitinis, & potissimum de Taenia, tam humana quam leporina. Series: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 56, for 1766, 1767., 1766. 4to. pp. 119-132. One folding plate. Disbound. Fine. FIRST EDITION. John Michell was an English natural philosopher and geologist, whose work spanned a wide range of subjects, from astronomy to geology, optics, and gravitation. "Michell earned a permanent place in the history of stellar astronomy for two signal accomplishments: he was the first to make a realistic estimate of the distance to (truncated) the stars, and he discovered the existence of physical double stars. . . Michell's published scientific work, which earned him election to the Royal Society in 1760, covered many subjects, including the cause of earthquakes (1760), observations of the comet of January 1760, a method for measuring degrees of longitude 'upon parallels of the Equator' (1766), and an independent discovery with Coulomb of the torsion balance (1784)."[DSB]. The American Physical Society (APS) described Michell as being "so far ahead of his scientific contemporaries that his ideas languished in obscurity, until they were re-invented more than a century later". The Society stated that while "he was one of the most brilliant and original scientists of his time, Michell remains virtually unknown today, in part because he did little to develop and promote his own path-breaking ideas". ["This Month in Physics History: November 27, 1783: John Michell anticipates black holes". APS Physics.]. BM Readex Vol. 17, p. 464; DNB Vol. XIII, pp. 333-4; DSB Vol. IX, pp. 370-1. (Inventory #: S9052)