Books in the Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences series

Before his death in 1879 at the age of 48, Clerk Maxwell had made major contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and mathematics. He is generally considered the third most important physicist of all time, after Newton and Einstein. These collected papers show the wide range of his interests.

In 1876 the South Kensington Museum held a major international exhibition of scientific instruments and equipment, both historical and contemporary. A series of conferences in May allowed many distinguished scientists to discuss the items on display. This two-volume collection of their reports covers physics, mechanics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences.

Charles Hutton (1737-1823) was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy when he published this two-volume encyclopaedia in 1795-6. He aimed to cover contemporary mathematics and natural philosophy, as well as engineering. The excellent historical and biographical articles make the work a valuable record of eighteenth-century science.

Compiled by the eminent naturalist, geologist and palaeontologist Louis Agassiz (1807-73) and expanded by H. E. Strickland (1811-53), this four-volume catalogue, published between 1848 and 1854, provides an extensive list of the zoological and geological literature available just prior to the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

William Parsons (1800-67), third Earl of Rosse, was responsible for building in 1845 the largest telescope of his time, nicknamed the 'Leviathan'. For forty years he made regular contributions to scientific journals on astronomy and other matters. This collection of his writings was edited by his son in 1926.

Sir James Prescott Joule (1818-1889) was one of the most significant physicists of the nineteenth century. His experimental work on heat and energy contributed to the discovery of the first law of thermodynamics. This collection of his papers was published in 1885-1887 by the Physical Society of London.

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was one of the most influential physicists of the nineteenth century. This work of 1881, based on his lectures, was intended to complement his Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873), to provide less mathematical students with an understanding of fundamental concepts regarding electricity.

John Playfair (1748-1819) was a Scottish mathematician and geologist best known for his defence of James Hutton's geological theories. This 1822 four-volume collection includes his most significant works on geological and mathematical theory, scientific biographies and reviews of English and French publications.

This history of the Royal Society from its beginnings in the seventeenth century to 1830 was originally published in 1848. Volume 1 covers the period to 1755, describing the society's origins and key moments in its development. It also contains biographies of presidents including Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton.

Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was an influential chemist, inventor, and public lecturer recognised as one of the first professional scientists. These volumes, first published in 1831, contain his official biography, providing fascinating insights into his life and scientific studies. Volume 1 describes his life and work until 1812.

John William Strutt, third Baron Rayleigh (1842-1919), was an English physicist best known as the co-discoverer of the element argon. These highly influential volumes, first published between 1877 and 1878, contain Rayleigh's classic account of acoustics, which provided the foundations of modern acoustic theory.

The physics lecturer and science writer Silvanus P. Thompson (1851-1916) published this two-volume account of Kelvin's life and discoveries in 1910, three years after the famous scientist's death. Volume 1 describes Kelvin's youth, and his career to 1871, including his work on thermodymanics, telegraphs and geological time.

Dalton's Chemical Philosophy, which demonstrated the importance of the relative weight and structure of atomic particles, revolutionised atomic theory and laid the basis for much of modern chemistry. Volume 1 introduces Dalton's atomic theory and includes the results he obtained for the weights and structures of twelve groups of compounds.

Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) was an English scientist elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1760. First published in 1921, these volumes contain a collection of Cavedish's results from his many experiments. Volume 1 is a revised edition of James Clerk Maxwell's 1879 volume Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish.

Before his death in 1879 at the age of 48, Clerk Maxwell had made major contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and mathematics. He is generally considered the third most important physicist of all time, after Newton and Einstein. These collected papers show the wide range of his interests.

Von Humboldt's two-volume study represents a significant and important contribution to the general understanding of the physical world in the nineteenth century. Volume 1 explains celestial and terrestrial phenomena, while Volume 2 examines poetic descriptions of nature, landscape painting, and how the physical universe was comprehended through history.

This two-volume work from 1807 details the life and achievements of eighteenth-century British philosopher, theologian and scientist Joseph Priestley. Volume 1 includes his autobiography and important appendices concerning his philosophy, political theory and religion.

This two-volume account, first published in 1870, uses writings and correspondence by Michael Faraday to create a narrative of his life. Faraday's foundational work in physics and chemistry, notably on electricity, changed the course of modern science and technology. Volume I covers the first forty years of his life.

By the early nineteenth century, it was widely accepted that gravity varied at different points across the Earth's surface, and that the Earth could not be perfectly spherical. This 1825 work documents the groundbreaking experiments of Edward Sabine (1788-1883), the first physicist to produce accurate measurements of this ellipticity.

James Clerk Maxwell's influential contribution to nineteenth-century physics brought together all the experimental and theoretical advances in the field of electricity and magnetism known at the time. First published in 1873, it contains Maxwell's famous equations on electromagnetic theory. Volume 1 covers electrostatics and electrokinematics.

Von Humboldt's two-volume study represents a significant and important contribution to the general understanding of the physical world in the nineteenth century. Volume 1 (1846) particularly reflects his desire to understand the 'intimate connection of the general and the special' as it examines celestial and terrestrial phenomena.

This 1897 two-volume edition of Roger Bacon's ground-breaking thirteenth-century encyclopedia of science was the first complete printed edition. Bacon's text appears here in the original Latin, and Bridges provides ample supplementary material in English, including an introduction, analytical table, footnotes, and analysis of each chapter.

Sir James Prescott Joule (1818-1889) was one of the most significant physicists of the nineteenth century. His experimental work on heat and energy contributed to the discovery of the first law of thermodynamics. This collection of his papers was published in 1885-1887 by the Physical Society of London.

In 1876 the South Kensington Museum held a major international exhibition of scientific instruments and equipment, both historical and contemporary. A series of conferences in May allowed many distinguished scientists to discuss the items on display. This two-volume collection of their reports covers physics, mechanics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences.

By the late eighteenth century, scientists had discovered certain types of gas, such as 'fixed air' (carbon dioxide), but their composition was little understood. This three-volume collection presents groundbreaking investigations into gases. Volume 1 (second edition, 1775) includes a history of the field, with accounts of Priestley's early experiments.

In the 1820s and 1830s, Michael Faraday (1791-1867) undertook crucial work in electromagnetism which forms the basis of modern electromagnetic technology. In the first of this three-volume collection of his papers, published between 1839 and 1855, he describes his early experiments and their frustrating pitfalls.

The Austrian physicist Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (1844-1906), educated at the University of Vienna and later a professor of mathematical physics at the University of Graz, was especially famous for his contribution to atomic theory. This three-volume work, published in 1909, comprises all his academic publications from 1865 to 1905.

This collection brings together in six volumes the published articles of the eminent mathematical physicist and engineer William Thomson, first Baron Kelvin (1824-1907). Topics covered include heat, electricity, magnetism and electrotelegraphy, hydrodynamics, tidal theory and navigation.

William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (1824-1907), was one of the most important Victorian scientists. These volumes collect together Kelvin's lectures for a wider audience. Volume 1 includes talks about the constitution of matter and basic topics in physics such as light, heat, electricity and gravity.

Sir David Brewster (1781-1868) was a Scottish physicist of international reputation. This classic biography of Sir Isaac Newton, first published in 1855, was the result of over twenty years' research, using previously unknown correspondence. Brewster's own scientific interests, particularly in optics, gave him the ability to communicate Newton's work.