Rayons Cathodiques et Rayons de Röntgen -- inscribed to his professor -- the copy of Lewis Strauss
Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Fils, 1897. First printing. Wraps. 8vo, wraps, good with light wear and loss to wraps and shadow from old tape to upper outer corner, inscribed to Jules Tannery, who was at the time Assistant Director of the Sciences Section at Ecole Normale Superieure, and therefore one of Perrin's main professors at the school. 63 pp. This copy was also owned by Lewis L. Strauss, who served for some time as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and is accompanied by a friendly letter to him dated 1971, from Francis Perrin, the son of the author, discussing this book. Perrin's studies of the Brownian motion of minute particles suspended in liquids verified Albert Einstein’s explanation of this phenomenon and thereby confirmed the atomic nature of matter (sedimentation equilibrium). For this achievement he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1926. Part of this thesis resulted from his researches over the previous two years, which Perrin showed that cathode rays were of negative electric charge in nature. He determined Avogadro's number (now known as the Avogadro constant) by several methods. He explained solar energy as due to the thermonuclear reactions of hydrogen. An extremely important and rare thesis, inscribed to his professor, from a future Nobel winner. In handsome rexine slipcase with gilt title. Good. Item #H18438
Price: $1,500.00