HERAPATH, JOHN - THE KINETIC THEORY OF GASES.

On the Physical Properties of Gases. (To Dr. Thomsen) (+) A Mathematical Inquiry into the Causes, Laws, and principal Phaenomena of heat, Gases, Gravitation, &c. (3 Parts).

London, Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1816 a. 1821. Bound in 2 uniform contemp. moiré boards. Light wear along edges and a fes smaller scratches. In: "Annals of Philosophy; or, Magazine of Chemistry, Mineralogy, Mechanics, Natural History... By Thomas Thomson.", Vol. VIII and New series Vol. I. VIII,479 pp. a. 9 engraved plates, VIII,479 pp. a. 7 engraved plates. (Entire volumes offered). Herapath's papers: pp. 56-60 (1816) a. pp. 273-293, 340-351 a. 401-416.

First printing of these contoversial papers where Herapath revived the kinetic theory of gases. His theory was more or less neglected by the scientific community at his time. The kinetic theory remained dormant and forgotten after Euler's and Bernouilli's work "until 1816, when Herapath proposed a theory which is essential Bernoulli's. Unfortunately he chose to define temperature as being proportional to the momentum rather than the kinetic energy of molecules. Herapath was the first to show, more or less, that kinetic theory can provide simple explanations for the changes of state, diffusion, and the propagation of sound."(Trousdell "Essayas in the History of Mechanics", pp. 283 ff.).

Euler, Bernoulli, Herapath and Waterston may be considered the principal scientists who prior to 1850 attempted a more or less complete mathematical treatment of gases, based on a set of molecular postulates. (Jamie Wisniak).

"Having published a preliminary notice of his theory in the Annals of Philosophy in 1816, Herapath submitted a detailed account to the Royal Society in 1820. Davy, who was elected to the presidency of the Society in November of that year, was primarily responsible for the fate of the paper. Although Davy was already known as an advocate of the qualitative idea that heat is molecular motion, he found Herapath’s quantitative development too speculative and complicated; he rejected the hypothesis of an absolute temperature implying an "absolute zero" of cold. Having been told that his paper would not be accepted for publication in the Philosophical Transactions, Herapath withdrew it and published it instead in the Annals of Philosophy in 1821. Five years later he launched an attack on Davy in the Times of London, accusing him of circulating unfounded criticisms of his experimental work, which prevented its publication. Although Davy ignored a series of letters and challenges published in the Times, Herapath later claimed Davy’s resignation from the presidency of the Royal Society (1827) as a victory for himself."(DSB).

Order-nr.: 46878