"THE FIRST TEXTBOOK ON RADIOACTIVITY"

RUTHERFORD, ERNEST

Radio-Activity.

Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1904. 8vo. In the original green full coth with gilt lettering to spine and boards. Capitals with slight wear, and inner front hinge a bit weak, otherwise a very nice and fresh copy. Small stamp to title-page. VIII, (2), 399 pp.

First edition of Rutherford's important work containing his "proposal of a new theory of atomic disintegration and of the nuclear nature of the atom", (Horblit 91) being "the first textbook on the subject and recognized as a classic at its publication in 1904" (DSB).

"The first textbook on radioactivity, surveying contemporary knowledge of the entire field. Reasearch progressed so rapidly in this erea that the second edition, published only a year later, had to be enlarged by fifity percent. The book includes a discussion of Rutherford's revolutionary transformation theory, developed during the period 1902-1903, which states that radioactivity is a by-product of the transmutation of one element into another." (Norman).

"After the discovery of thorium emanations in 1900 new concepts of atomic structure followed from the brilliant experiments of Rutherford. A new theory of atomic disintegration was proposed, then the nuclear nature of the atom. "(Dibner "Heralds of Science", No 51)

Horblit 91
Barchas 1840.
Dibner 51.

Order-nr.: 51063