CROOKES, WILLIAM.

On Attraction and Repulsion resulting from Radiation. Received August 12, - Read December 11, 1873. This paper was read before the Royal Society, and the abstract was published in the "Proceedings" under the title "On the Action of Heat on Gravitating Masses."). (+ continuation) On the Repulsion resulting from Radiation. - Part II. Received March 20, - Read April 22, 1875.

(London, Taylor and Francis, 1874-76). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions" Year 1874, Vol. 164 - Part II. Pp. 501-527, textillustrations, showing his experimental equipment. And 1875 - II. Vol. 165. Pp. 519-547 and textillustr. showing experimental equipment.

First appearance of an importent historical paper in the investigations of radiation from cathode rays. This is Crookes first 2 papers on attraction and repulsion. In the same year he invented the "light-mill".

"While working with his balance in a vacuum, Crookes noticed another "anomaly": the equilibrium of the balance was disturbed by slight differences in temperature of his samples. Inparticular he noticed that warmer bodies appeared to be lighter than colder ones:....At first Crookes believed this was a signpost pointing to a link between heat and gravitation....Since the attraction or repulsion was heighned by a decrease in pressure, Crookes was led s to suppose in 1873 that "the movement is due to a repulsive action of radiation" Repulsion was produced not only by heat radiation but also by light, and Crookes concluded - erraneously, as it turned out - that he had found a genuine case of "the pressure of light" postulated by the unfashionable corpuscular theory of light and Maxwell's as yet unaccepted electromagnetic theory."(DSB III:477).

Sir William Crookes (1832-1919) studied at the Royal College of Chemistry , London, and served there as an assistant to Hoffmann. In 1859 he founded the Chemical News and remained its proprietor and editor until his death. he early attracted attentuion by his discovery of the element thallium by spectroscopic methods. he was an active investigator in many fields of physics and contributed greatly to the advance of knowledge by his study of the radiometer and of the electric discharge in rarefied gases. -
(PMM: 386 describing J.J. Thomson's Cathode Rays). - Magee, Source Book in Physics p. 564 ff.

Order-nr.: 42533