DULONG, (PIERRE) & (ALEXIS) PETIT. - THE "LAW OF DULONG AND PETIT"

Researches on the Measure of Temperature, and on the Laws of the Communication of Heat.

London, Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1819. 8vo. Contemp. hcalf. Marbled boards. Spine lacks and boards loose. In: "Annals of Philosophy; or Magazine of Chemistry, Mineralogy, Mechanics... By Thomas Thomson". Vol. XIII. XCII,486 pp. a. 6 engraved plates. (Entire volume offered). Some brownspots to the plates. Iternally clean. A small stamp in upper right corner of two leaves. Dulong & Petit's paper: pp. 112-124, 161-182, 241-251, 321-339 a. 1 engraved plate.

First appearance in English of this, their (first) joint paper, which initiated the recheches leading to the the "Law of Dulong and Petit", the connection between atomic weight and atomic heat. The original Frensh having the title: Recherches sur les lois de dilation des solides, des liquides et des fluides élastiques, et sur la mesure exacte des temperatures."

"In 1815 Dulong’s famous collaboration with the mathematical physicist Alexis Thérèse Petit began; it produced three important memoirs on heat (of which this is the first). The best-known part of this work is the statement of the law of constant atomic heats that bears their names, .... They began with the fundamental problem of measuring quantities of heat, which involved a critical analysis of thermometric scales. In 1804-1805 Gay-Lussac had carried out a comparison of mercury and air thermometers between 0°C. and 100°C. Dulong and Petit extended the range of comparison up to 300°C. and found an increasing discrepancy between the two scales at higher temperatures." (DSB).

Order-nr.: 49242