AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION OFFPRINT ISSUE

SMOLUCHOWSKI, MARIAN.

Über Wärmeleitung in verdünnten Gasen.

Leipzig, Barth, 1898. 8vo. In the original printed wrappers. Author's presentation offprint with the printed presentation statement on top of frontwrapper "Überreicht vom Verfasser" [i.e. "Given by the author"]. Offprint from "Annalen der Physik und Chemie", Neue Folge, Band 64, 1898. Two stamp to top left corner of front wrapper. "Habilitations-Schrift" written in ink to top of front wrapper. A fine copy. Pp. 101-130.

First edition, in the scarce author's presentation offprint issue, of this important paper on the discontinuity of temperature widely regarded as being his first important contribution to science. The work is of seminal importance for by publishing it Smoluchowski joined the dispute on the validity of atomic conceptions. These were far from accepted at the end of the nineteenth century and their recognition was partly due to Smoluchowski.

"In 1875 Warburg and A. Kundt, on the basis of the kinetic theory of gases, had predicted that if the temperature of a gas differed from that of the container wall, the former temperature would not pass continuously to the latter: there would be a discontinuity of temperature between the gas and the wall. Their experiments, successful in the case of the analogous phenomenon of the slipping of gases, had not been decisive for temperature discontinuity. Smoluchowski, observing the cooling time of a thermometer in a gas-filled container, demonstrated that an effect exists and reached significant values with rarefied gas in [The present paper].
This work was of special importance. For by publishing it Smoluchowski joined the dispute on the validity of atomic conceptions. These, represented in physics mainly by the kinetic theory of gases developed by Boltzmann. were far from accepted at the end of the nineteenth century; and their recognition was partly due to Smoluchowski. At that time only a few phenomena were predicted by the kinetic theory or required it for intelligibility. Among them was discontinuity of temperature, for its existence was wholly unexplained from a classical point of view. Moreover, in 1897 after his return to Vienna, Smoluchowski pointed out the quantitative agreement of his experimental results with the kinetic theory. In 1898 the University of Vienna admitted him veniam legendi." (DSB).

Order-nr.: 48660