Theoretical considerations of the effect of pressure in lowering the freezing point of water. Offprint from Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. XVI, Part V. Including a sheet of contemporary manuscript calculations of the weight of air and water

THOMSON, James

Published by Edinburgh: Printed for the Society by Neill and Company, 1849

First edition, extremely rare offprint, of the discovery of the effect of pressure in lowering the freezing point of water, the first experimental confirmation of the theory proposed by Sadi Carnot in his 'Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu et sur les machines propres a développer cette puissance' (1824). This famous paper was "the first ever utilising and confirming the results of thermodynamics; even though it pre-dated the work of Clausius, as well as that of Kelvin which established the theory, it tested ideas of Carnot which are fully part of modern thermodynamics" (Flood, Kelvin: Life, Labours and Legacy, p. 298). The discovery was the result of discussions between James and his younger brother William (later Lord Kelvin) carried out between 1847 and 1849. "William and James imagined a Carnot engine that froze water; the engine would perform work because water expands when it freezes, but since both reservoirs, source and sink, of the engine will be at the same temperature, the freezing point of water, no input of energy would seem to be required. It would appear that what is described is a machine producing perpetual motion . . . It was almost certainly James who realised that the only possible solution to the apparent paradox must be that the freezing point of the water became lower as the pressure that the water was subjected to was increased, and it was also James who did the detailed calculations of the effect expected [published in the offered paper]. It was William who then performed the extremely sensitive experiment needed to confirm the results in practice; the most delicate thermometer yet built was required to measure a change of freezing point of around a quarter of a degree Fahrenheit produced by a pressure of 18 atmospheres" (Flood, p. 298). COPAC lists just a single copy (Cambridge). No copy in auction records. 4to, pp. [ii], 575-580. Contemporary plain wrappers, title in manuscript on upper wrapper (wrappers a bit soiled and frayed at fore-edge). Seller Inventory # ABE-1472747358413

Bibliographic Details

Title: Theoretical considerations of the effect of ...
Publisher: Edinburgh: Printed for the Society by Neill and Company
Publication Date: 1849
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st Edition