Laplace, Pierre-Simone de. "Theorie der Kraft. 1.-4 Haupttheil. (1. Welche in den Haarröhren und bei ähnlichen Erscheinungen wirkt. 2. Die Wirkung der Haaröhren-Kraft auf eine neue Art Betrachtet. 3. Theorie des Anziehens und Abstossens schwimmender Körper, der Adhäsion einer Scheibe an einer Flüssigen Oberfläche, und der Figur eines grossen Quecksilber-Tropfens mit prüfenden Versuchen von Gay-Lussac. -4. Allgemeine Betrachtungen über die Haarröhen-Kraft und über die Kräfte der chemischen Verwandschaft.") AND "Übersetzt von Brande und Gilbert. (Mit Anmerkungen)." AND "Zwei Berichte.Als Einleitung zu dem folgenden Aufsätze.(Theil 3 und Theil 4). Frei übersetzt von Gilbert."
- Each section in which the Laplace contribution is printed (sections [Stuck] 9-12 contains the two pages of outer wrappers, bound in, making this a scarce publication.
Published in the Annalen der Physik, series 1, volume 33, published in Leipzig by J. Ambrosius Barth, and printed in 1809. We offer the entire volume of (12),452 pages and with 4 folding engraved plates, with the Laplace contributions on pp. 1-114, pp. 141-182, pp. 273-293, pp. 293-338 and pp. 373-394. Each section is complete
Provenance: from the Library of Bernhard Meining; then, the Deutsche Akademie der Luftfahtforschung; and on the USAAF library at Wright Patterson, and finally to the Library of Congress. Very well traveled. Nice copy. $500
"The importance, for Laplace's theory, of the short range character of the molecular forces cannot be overstressed. Small terms involving the square of the distance were repeatedly ignored, and it is no coincidence that in his concluding remarks to the second supplement Laplace reiterated his belief in the identity of the forces at work in optical refraction, capillary action, and chemical reactions. In accordance with his belief that capillarity is a consequence of intermolecular action at a distance (albeit a very small distance), he tried to determine the relative magnitude of the attractive force between the particles composing the liquid (F1) and the force between the particles of liquid and those of the tube (F2). experiments, performed at Laplace's request, by Gay-Lussac, Haüy, and Jean-Lois Trémary gave the theory added plausibility, as Laplace himself was always ready to observe; and they certainly helped it to survive the criticism of Laplace's only contemporary rival in the treatment of capillarity, Thomas Young."(Dictionary of Scientific Biography, XV, Suppl. I, pp. 358.)
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