The Discovery of Half-Lives
RUTHERFORD, Ernest. Radioactive Transformations. London: Archibald Constable. 1906.
8vo. Publisher’s blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine; pp. [10], 287, [3], in-text diagrams throughout; spine ends and corners bumped, a little wear to rear board, spine ends restored; some spotting to endpapers; a very good copy; previous owner’s signature ‘J. H. Bowman’ dated 1919, with some of his marginal pencil marks and a couple of annotations, a correction of β to α in blue ink to p. 21, p. 67 has the last pencil mark.
First edition, containing the eleven lectures Rutherford delivered at Yale University on the degradation of radioactive substances.
His subjects include his discovery of the radioactive half-life, the element radon, and the differentiation of alpha and beta radiation. All these subjects contributed to his winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.
This research was predominantly conducted during his time in Montreal from 1898 to 1907. Previously, Rutherford’s research had been focused on uranium, but after his move from Cambridge to the United States, his attention shifted towards other radioactive substances, such as radium and Actinium. He writes in his preface that, since giving the lectures, his understanding of rays has advanced, and the experiments he had since completed incorporated into this publication.
SKU: 2122051