Antiquarian science books are original historical works (e.g., books or technical papers) concerning science, mathematics and sometimes engineering. These books are important primary references for the study of the history of science and technology, they can provide valuable insights into the historical development of the various fields of scientific inquiry (History of science, History of mathematics, etc.)
The landmark are significant first (or early) editions typically worth hundreds or thousands of dollars (prices may vary widely based on condition, etc.).Prices quoted were collected using sources such as http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchEntry http://www.sothebys.com http://www.christies.com Reprints of these books are often available, for example from Great Books of the Western World, Dover Publications or Google Books.
Incunabula are extremely rare and valuable, but as the Scientific Revolution is only taken to have started around the 1540s, such works of Renaissance literature (including alchemy, Renaissance magic, etc.) are not usually included under the notion of "scientific" literature. Printed originals of the beginning Scientific Revolution thus date to the 1540s or later, notably beginning with the original publication of Copernican heliocentrism. Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium of 1543 sold for more than US$2 million at auctions.US$2,210,500 at a Christies auction in 2008.
List of notable books
16th century Tartaglia, Niccolò. Nova Scientia (A New Science). Venice, 1537. Ballistics. Biringuccio, Vannoccio. De la pirotechnia. Venice, 1540. Metallurgy. Fuchs, Leonhart. De Historia Stirpium Commentarii Insignes. Basel, 1542. Botany. Copernicus, Nicolaus. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.De revolutionibus orbium coelestium , from Harvard University. Wittenberg, 1543. Copernican heliocentrism. Vesalius, Andreas. De humani corporis fabrica (On the Structure of the Human Body).De Humani Corporis Fabrica online — translated with full images, from Northwestern University Basel, 1543. Anatomy. Cardano, Gerolamo. Artis magnae sive de regulis algebraicis (The Art of Solving Algebraic Equations). Nuremberg, 1545. Algebra. Brunfels, Otto. Kreuterbüch, 1546. Botany. Gessner, Conrad. Historia Animalium 1551-58. Zoology Bock, Hieronymus. Kreutterbuch. Strasbourg, 1552. Botany. Paracelsus. Theil der grossen Wundartzney.First edition: Frankfurt, 1556. Medicine. Agricola, Georgius. De re metallica. Basel, 1561. Mineralogy. Regiomontanus. De triangulis planis et sphaericis libri quinque.Polybiblio: Regiomontanus, Johannes/Santbech, Daniel, ed. De Triangulis Planis et Sphaericis libri quinque. Basel Henrich Petri & Petrus Perna 1561. First edition: De triangulis planis et sphaericis libri quinque Basel, 1561. Trigonometry. Bombelli, Rafael. Algebra. 1569/1572. Imaginary numbers. Cesalpino, Andrea. De plantis libri XVI. 1583. Taxonomy. Bruno, Giordano. De l'infinito, universo e mondi.Giordano Bruno, De l'infinito, universo e mondi, a cura di Giovanni Aquilecchia, Sansoni, Firenze, 1985. 1584 Cosmology. Stevin, Simon. De Thiende. 1585. Decimal numeral system. Stevin, Simon. De Beghinselen der Weeghconst. 1586. Statics. Brahe, Tycho. Astronomiae Instauratae Progymnasmata. 1588. Astronomy. Viète, François. In artem analyticum isagoge (Introduction to the Analytical Art).First edition: Tours, 1591. Algebra. Ruini, Carlo. Anatomia del Cavallo. Venice, 1598. Veterinary medicine.
17th century Gilbert, William. De Magnete.De Magnete at Project Gutenberg. London, 1600 Magnetism Galilei, Galileo. Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger). Frankfurt, 1610. Astronomy Napier, John. Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio,Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio (Edward Wright's English translation was published in 1616). 1614. Logarithms Kepler, Johannes. Harmonices Mundi. Linz, 1619. Celestial mechanics Bacon, Francis. Novum Organum. London, 1620. Experimentation Galilei, Galileo. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo Tolemaico, e Coperniciano. Florence, 1632. Heliocentrism Descartes, René. Discours de la Methode / La Geometrie. Leiden, 1637 Analytical geometry Fermat, Pierre de. Methodus ad disquirendam maximam et minimam,First written in a letter to Mersenne in 1638, the first printed publication of the method is in the fifth volume of the "Supplementum Cursus Mathematici" (1642) written by Herigone, and only in 1679 it appears in Fermat's "Varia opera mathematica". Electronic version in latin. First edition of "Varia opera mat." at Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. 1638. Calculus Galilei, Galileo. Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze. Leiden, 1638. Classical dynamics Desargues, Gérard. Brouillon-project d'une atteinte aux evenemens des rencontres du cone avec un plan, 1639. Projective geometry. Harvey, William. Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus (Anatomical Exercises, Concerning the Heart and Blood) London, 1653. Circulatory system Wallis, John. Arithmetica infinitorum, 1655. Calculus Boyle, Robert. The Sceptical Chymist. London, 1661. Chemistry Pascal, Blaise. Traitez de l'Equilibre des Liqueurs, et de la Pesanteur de la Masse de l'Air. Paris, 1663. Fluid statics Gregory, James. Optica Promota, 1663. Optics Hooke, Robert. Micrographia. London, 1665. Microscopy Steno, Nicolas. De Solido intra Solidum Naturaliter Contento Dissertationis Prodromus. Florence, 1669. Stratigraphy Barrow, Isaac. Lectiones geometricae,. 1670. Calculus von Guericke, Otto. Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio.First editions of Experimenta Nova available at ILAB Magdeburger Halbkugeln, 1672. Experimental physics Huygens, Christiaan. Horologium Oscillatorium. Paris, 1673. Pendulus. Fermat, Pierre de. Ad locus planos et solidos isagoge, 1679. Analytic geometry Leibniz, Gottfried. Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis, 1684. Calculus Newton, Isaac. Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. London, 3 Vol, 1687. Classical mechanics Huygens, Christiaan. Traité de la Lumière. Leiden, 1690. Optics Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm. Specimen Dynamicum. Vienna, 1695. Classical mechanics van Leeuwenhoek, Antonie. Arcana Naturae, Ope & Beneficio Exquisitissimorum Microscopiorum. Leiden, 1696. Microbiology l'Hôpital, Guillaume de. Analyse des infiniment petits. Paris, 1696. Calculus
18th century Newton, Isaac (England). Opticks.First editions at ILAB London, 1704. Optics Taylor, Brook (England). Methodus Incrementorum Directa et Inversa, 1715. Taylor series Linnaeus, Carl (Sweden). Systema Naturae. Netherlands, 1735. Linnaean taxonomy Bernoulli, Daniel (Netherlands). Hydrodynamica. Strasbourg, 1738, Fluid dynamics d'Alembert, Jean le Rond (France). Réflexions sur la cause générale des vents, 1747. Complex numbers Euler, Leonhard (Switzerland). Introductio in analysin infinitorum. Lausanne, 1748. Mathematical analysis Franklin, Benjamin (America). Experiments and Observations on Electricity. London/Philadelphia, 1751. Electricity Bayes, Thomas (England). An Essay Towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances. London, 1763. Inverse probability Volta, Alessandro (Italy). De vi attractiva ignis electrici, ac phaenomenis inde pendentibus,De vi attractiva ignis electrici (in latin) 1769. Electricity Smith, Adam (Scotland). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London, 2 Vol, 1776. Capitalism Monge, Gaspard (France). Sur la théorie des déblais et des remblais,Mémoire sur la théorie des déblais et des remblais De l'Imprimerie Royale. 1781. Descriptive geometry. Lagrange, Joseph (Italy). Mécanique analytique. Paris, 1788. Dynamics Hutton, James (Scotland). Theory of the Earth. Edinburgh, 1788. Geology Lavoisier, Antoine (France). Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elements of Chemistry). Paris, 2 Vol, 1789. Chemistry Galvani, Luigi (Italy). De viribus electricitatis in motu musculari commentariusDe viribus electricitatis, 1791. The International Centre for the History of Universities and Science (CIS), Università di Bologna Bologna, 1791. Electricity Legendre, Adrien-Marie (France). Essai sur la théorie des nombres.Essai sur la Théorie des Nombres (Paris: Duprat, 1798). First edition at Sophia Rare Books Paris, 1798. Number theory Jenner, Edward (England). An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolæ Vaccinæ.A digitized copy of An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variola vaccine (1798), from the Posner Memorial Collection at Carnegie Mellon 1798. Immunology Wessel, Caspar (Norway). Om directionens analytiske betegning. Copenhagen, 1799. Imaginary numbers Ruffini, Paolo (Italy). Teoria generale dele equazioni, in cui si dimostra impossibile. La soluzione algebraica delle equazioni generali di grado superiore al quatro. Bologna, 1799. Algebra
19th century Gauss, Carl Friedrich (Germany). Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. Leipzig, 1801. Number theory Young, Thomas (England). Experiments and Calculations Relative to Physical Optics,. First edition at Abebooks 1803. Light Argand, Jean-Robert (Switzerland). Essai sur une maniere de representer les quantities imaginaries dans les constructions geometriques,Essai sur une manière de représenter des quantités imaginaires dans les constructions géométriques, 2e édition, Gauthier Villars, Paris (1874) BNF 1806. Imaginary numbers. Dalton, John (England). A New System of Chemical Philosophy.. First edition at Sophia Rare Books London, 1808. Atomic theory Berzelius, Jöns Jacob (Sweden). Läroboken i kemien, 1808. Chemistry Cayley, George (England). On Aerial Navigation. Brompton, 3 Vol, 1809. Aeronautics. Ørsted, Hans Christian (Denmark). Experimenta circa effectum conflictus electrici in acum magneticam.Electronic version in archive.org Copenhagen, 1820. Electromagnetism. Fourier, Joseph (France). Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur. Paris, 1822. Fourier series. Fresnel, Augustin-Jean (France). Mémoire Sur Un Nouveau Système D'Éclairage Des Phares Lu À L'Académie Des Sciences. Paris, 1822. Wave optics Babbage, Charles (England). Mr. Babbage's invention: Application of machinery to the purpose of calculating and printing mathematical tables.First edition at Abebooks - Jeremy Norman's historyofscience Bookseller (Novato, CA, U.S.A.) London, 1823. Computing Lobachevsky, Nikolai (Russia). Geometriya. 1823. Non-Euclidean geometry Cauchy, Augustin-Louis (France). Le calcul infinitesimal.Œuvres complètes d'Augustin Cauchy Académie des sciences (France). Ministère de l'éducation nationale. Paris, 1823. Mathematical analysis Carnot, Sadi (France). Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu et sur les machines propres à déveloper cette puissance. Paris, 1824. Thermodynamics Ampère, André-Marie (France). Mémoire sur la théorie mathématique des phénomènes électrodynamiques,Early edition at Abebooks (Jeremy Norman's historyofscience, Bookseller (Novato, CA, U.S.A.)) 1827. Electromagnetism Laplace, Pierre-Simon (France). Traité de Mécanique Céleste. Paris, 1827. Classical mechanics Ohm, Georg (Germany). Die Galvanische Kette mathematisch bearbeitet. Berlin, 1827. Electricity Lyell, Charles (Scotland). Principles of Geology. London, 1830. Geology Poisson, Siméon Denis (France). Théorie Mathématique de la Chaleur. Paris, 1835. Heat transfer Faraday, Michael (England). Experimental Researches in Electricity.Electronic version in archive.org London, 1839-55. Electricity. Babbage, Charles & Lovelace, Ada (England). Sketch of the Analytical Engine invented by Charles Babbage (with additional notes by Augusta Ada, Countess of Lovelace),Ada Lovelace's notes: 1843. Computing Joule, James P. (England). On the Calorific Effects of Magneto-Electricity, and on the Mechanical Value of Heat.In June 1845, Joule read his paper "On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat" to the British Association meeting in Cambridge (Joule, J.P. (1845) "On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat", Brit. Assoc. Rep., trans. Chemical Sect, p.31) London, 1843. Conservation of energy