Researches on Solar Heat and its Absorption by the Earth's Atmosphere. A Report of the Mount Whitney Expedition.

(MOUNT WHITNEY). LANGLEY, S. P.

Published by Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884

About this Item

First edition of this first scientific report on Mt. Whitney (other than the survey). Quarto. 242 plus numerous charts (some folding) plus a tinted litho of Langley's camp at the base of Whitney after Thomas Moran and a map entitled "Vicinity of Mount Whitney, California with Plan of Proposed Military Reservation. Prepared under Direction of the Chief Signal Officer, July, 1883". Publisher's black cloth with gilt cover and spine lettering, rebacked to style. Tissue guard intact between litho and map (both of which have very small pieces of tape on the versos to protect from chipping). Overall, a very good copy.At the invitation of Western University of Pennsylvania Trustee William Thaw, a wealthy Pittsburgh philanthropist, Langley agreed to take charge of the University?s newly-acquired Allegheny Observatory as Professor of Astronomy and Physics in 1867. Langley?s primary research at Allegheny was of the Sun and the effect of solar radiation on the Earth?s atmosphere. "Langley spent years studying the selective absorption of solar radiation by the Earth?s atmosphere. Up until 1881, this study had been limited to the relatively low altitudes of Pennsylvania. Then, with funding from Pittsburgh philanthropist William Thaw and the U.S. Army Signal Service (responsible for much of the weather forecasting of that era), Langley led an expedition to Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California; at 14,494 feet, this is the highest point in the continental United States. In returning to Allegheny, Langley had notebooks full of instrument readings, observations, and other information; it took two years to analyze this data. The result was a 240-page technical report, ?Researches on Solar Heat and its Absorption by the Earth?s Atmosphere: A Report on the Mount Whitney Expedition,? published by the U.S. Signal Service in 1884" (John Brashear). Langley went on to become the third Secretary of the Smithsonian.Currey & Kruska #228.

Seller Inventory # 71157

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Researches on Solar Heat and its Absorption by the Earth's Atmosphere. A Report of the Mount Whitney Expedition.
• Publisher: Government Printing Office, Washington
• Publication Date: 1884