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CAVENDISH, HENRY. Experiments to determine the Density of the Earth.in: Philosophical Transactions, Volume 88, pages 469-526. 24 folding engraved plates, including 2 for the Cavendish paper; folding table. vi, 199, [1], 26, v, [1], 201-598, [8] pages. 4to, 246x207 mm, modern 1/2 calf with morocco lettering piece, spine faded; stains at beginning and end, including dark stains in lower inner corner of first several plates. London: (W. Bulmer & Co. for) Peter Elmsly, 1798
first edition of Cavendish's paper on the celebrated experiment in which he determined the density of the earth on the basis of the gravitational attraction between the movable and stationary lead balls in John Michell's torsion balance, and attained the first laboratory measurement of "G," the Newtonian constant of gravitation. "By weighing the world he rendered the law of gravitation complete. The law was no longer a proportionality statement but a quantitatively exact one; this was the most important addition to the science of gravitation since Newton"--DSB III, 158. Norman 422. Pages 80-102 in this volume (with a plate) contain An Inquiry concerning the Source of the Heat which is excited by Friction by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, an account of experiments demonstrating the kinetic theory of heat. Norman 2073.
