CHARLES BABBAGE. OBSERVATIONS ON THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS. PRIVATELY PRINTED, 1847. INSC. TO M. FARADAY BY THE AUTHOR

Estimate

2,000 - 3,000 USD

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Description

Observations on the Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli near Naples, with an attempt to explain the causes of the frequent elevation and depression of large portions of the earth's surface in remote periods, and to prove that those causes continue in action at the present time. With a supplement. Conjectures on the physical condition of the surface of the moon. London: Privately Printed [by Richard and John Taylor for the Author], 1847

8vo (222 x 135 mm), with 2 double-page lithographed plates (one hand-colored), and 4pp. advertisements at end. Original red cloth gilt; cloth somewhat soiled and discolored, corners bumped, front cover detached, losses to spine. First page of advertisements browned.

Provenance

Robert Damon (English conchologist and geologist, bookplate)

Literature

See: K. K. Schwarz. "Faraday and Babbage." Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Sep., 2002), pp. 367-38

Catalogue Note

FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Babbage to the British Scientist Michael Faraday: "To M. Faraday Esquire with the Author's regards". Michael Faraday and Charles Babbage enjoyed a long personal friendship, and were closely linked by their scientific interests and wide circle of friends. Charles Babbage, often referred to as the "Father of Computing," is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer, as well as with originating the concept of a programmable digital computer. Conceived in 1821, his Difference Engine No. 1, based on the mathematical principle of finite differences, and designed to tabulate and calculate polynomial functions, was the first complete design for an automatic calculating engine. His Analytical Engine, conceived in 1834, was a much more ambitious general-purpose programmable computing engine.