DARWIN, G.H. - A PIONEERING WORK IN COSMOLOGY BY THE "FATHER OF GEOPHYSICS"

On the Secular Changes in the Elements of the Orbit of a Satellite revolving about a Tidally distorted Planet. Received December 8, - Read December 18, 1879.

(London, Harrison and Sons, 1880). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions", Vol. 171 - Part II. Pp. 713-891. A few textilustr. Clean and fine.

First printing of a main work by the "Father of Geophysics", in which he set up the hypothesis, that the results from his earlier investigations on the relations between the tidal frictions on the earth and the motion of the moon away from the earth, could be used to explain the formation of satellites of the other planets and their movements in relation to the sun.. (In DSB it is called "a monumental paper").

"Darwin's most significant contribution to the history of science lies in his pioneering work in the application of detailled dynamical analysis to cosmological and geological problems. That many of his conclusions are now out of date should in no way diminish the historical interest in his experiments, nor the importent service thet he rendered cosmogony by the example he gave of putting various hypotheses to the test of actual calculations. Darwin's method remains a milestone in the development of cosmogony, and subsequent investigators have favored it over the merely qualitative arguments prevalent until that time."(DSB).

Order-nr.: 42401