List New York Antiquarian Book Fair - Antiquariat - Michael Kühn

nimmt er als Legationssec-retär am Rastatter Congreß theil und scheidet damit vom Lehramte aus. Einen Ruf des
französischen Ministe-riums als Professor der Naturgeschichte nach Mainz lehnte er ab, übernahm dagegen 1810
das Präsidium des Landraths, wurde Mitglied und Secretär der Landstände des Großherzogthums Frankfurt,
1811 auch Director aller Zuckerfabriken. Noch einmal im J. 1820 eröffnete sich für Nau die Gelegenheit auf die
Lehrthätigkeit zurückzugeben, als er zum Mitglied der baierischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und ersten
Conservator der mineralischen Sammlungen gewählt wurde, womit ihm eine Professur der Naturgeschichte
verbunden werden sollte. Aber Anhänglichkeit an seine Vaterstadt und an die liebgewordene praktische
Wirksamkeit führten ihn schon 1821 wieder auf seinen Posten nach Mainz zurück. Seinen Verdiensten um die
Naturgeschichte gaben die Gelehrten in ihrer Weise Ausdruck; Martins nannte nach ihm eine Familie der
Bromeliaceen „Nauia caulescens“ und Kaup in Darmstadt eine Species urweltlicher Thiere „Dorcatherium
Naui“.
From the cartographer of the Mississippi
Nicollet, Joseph-Nicolas ; Brousseaud, S.M.B. [Colonel]. Mémoire sur la mesure d’un arc
du parallele moyen entre le pole et l’ équateur, lu ... .- Paris : Impr. Huzard-Courcier, [1826].
8° [220 mm]. 46 pp. with one fold. lith. map. New wrappers, else fine. Handwritten dedication
on title. $ 1200.-
Fine dedication copy to the astronomer Lindenau, follower of Zach at Gotha Observatory. Very rare work on the
measurement of an parallel arc on commission of the Bureau de Longitude. Joseph Nicolas Nicollet (1786 Cluses
– 1843 Washington) was a French geographer, astronomer, and mathematician known for mapping the Upper
Mississippi River basin during the 1830s. Nicollet led three expeditions in the region between the Mississippi
and Missouri Rivers, primarily in Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Before emigrating to the United
States, Nicollet was a professor of mathematics at Collège Louis-le-Grand, and a professor and astronomer at the
Paris Observatory with Pierre-Simon Laplace. Nicollet rapidly made a fine reputation for himself both as a
teacher and as a mathematical astronomer at the Observatory, receiving the Legion of Honour for his excellent
work. His publications were all in the field of cartography and mathematical astronomy. Using his mathematical
skills, he applied the principles of mathematical probability to the stock market believing that he could make his
fortune. His probability considerations did not allow for the French Revolution of 1830 which caused the stock
market to crash. Nicollet was ruined financially and, perhaps equally as bad in his eyes, he felt his mathematical
skills would no longer be respected. He decided to go to the United States. His aim was to make a name for himself,
using his considerable scientific skills in cartography and geodesy, and then return to France with his
reputation restored. He certainly achieved the first of these aims, but he never returned to France. Although the
stock market crash was the main reason for Nicollet setting out for the United States, there were other more
minor reasons. Nicollet had lost his patron when Laplace died in 1827 and he had quarrelled with François Arago
who was becoming an increasingly important figure at the Observatory. In 1832 Nicollet sailed to North
America and went first to Washington where he met those members of the government who were interested in
carrying out scientific surveys. Immediately Nicollet began scientific work with the French born and educated
Augustine Verot, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in St Mary's College, Baltimore, the first
Roman Catholic seminary to be established in the United States. In the Botanical Garden of the College, they observed
a transit of Mercury on 4 May 1832, a solar eclipse on 26 July 1832 and made further observations, the
last recorded being on 28 November 1832. Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler was conducting the United States Coast
Survey and he agreed to support Nicollet's explorations. Nicollet did not spend longer than necessary in Washington
for he wanted to plan his scientific work and to do this he needed to travel. For three years he travelled
through the southern states and although his route looks somewhat random, there was purpose in where he went.
Nicollet's maps were among the most accurate of the time, correcting errors made by Zebulon Pike, and they
provided the basis for all subsequent maps of the American interior. They were also among the first to depict elevation
by hachuring and the only maps to use regional Native American place-names. Nicollet's Map of the
Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi was published in 1843, following his death.- Pogg. II, 286;
OCLC: NY Public; Madison-Wisconsin; not COPAC.
Planck’s last steps towards quantum theory
Planck, Max. Über irreversible Strahlungsvorgänge. I., III., IV. und V. Mittheilung.- Berlin:
Akademie d. Wissenschaften, 1899-1900. 4°. New halfleather. Little unfresh. $ 2400.-
First editions of this very rare ensemble of four communications regarding , Journal-issue, privately bound. With
the Kirchhoff-Wien-Boltzmann work as a background, Max Planck began his attack on the black-body problem
in 1897. He labored under the erroneous impression for some time that Wien’s formula was the only one which