FOURIER, (JEAN BAPTISTE JOSEPH). - THE GREENHOUSE - EFFECT.

Résumé théorique des Propriétés de la chaleur rayonnante.

(Paris, Crochard, 1824). Without wrappers. In: "Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago.", tome 27, Cahier 3. Pp. 225-336. (Entire issue offered). Fourier's paper: pp. 236-281.

First printing of this importent paper dealing with the "Green-House-Effect". It is the second paper from 1824 in which Fourier investigates the connection between the temperature of the earth and radiation. Fourier's analysis in these two papers is widely recognized as the first proposal of what is now known as the greenhouse effect theory.

In the 1820s Fourier calculated that an object the size of the Earth and at its distance from the Sun should be considerably colder than the planet actually is if warmed only by the effects of incoming solar radiation. He examined various possible sources of the additional observed heat in articles published in 1824 (the paper offered is the second of the papers published 1824) and 1827. While he ultimately suggested that interstellar radiation might be responsible for a large portion of the additional warmth, Fourier's consideration of the possibility that the Earth's atmosphere might act as an insulator of some kind is widely recognized as the first proposal of what is now known as the greenhouse effect theory.

Order-nr.: 43911