RAMSAY, WILLIAM & PER THEODOR CLEVE. - THE INDEPENDENTLY DISCOVERY OF HELIUM ON EARTH

On a Gas showing the Spectrum of Helium, the reputed cause of D3, one of the Lines in the Coronal Spectrum. preliminary Note. (Received March 26, 1895). (+) Helium, a Gaseous Constituent of certain Minerals. Part I. And (P.E. CLEVE:) Sur la présence de l'hélium dans la clévéite. Lettre de P.-F. Clève à M. Berthelot. (Séance du Mardi 16 Avril 1895).

London, arrison and Sons, 1895. - (Paris, Gauthier-Villars), 1895. 8vo. and 4to. Later full cloth, gilt lettering to spine (Ramsay) and without wrappers (Cleve). In "Proceedings of the Royal Society" (Ramsay), Vol. 58. (Entire vol. offered). And in "Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences" (Cleve), Tome 120, No 15. Pp. (797-) 850. (Entire issue offered). Ramsay's papers: pp. 65-67 and pp. 81-89. - Cleve's paper: p. 834. Stamps tp edges and a few corners a bit bumped on vol. 58, otherwise clean and fine.

First printing of both papers in which Ramsay and Cleve - independently - announced their discovery of Helium on the Earth. Although Ramsay announced the discovery of Helium before Cleve had completed his research, the Swedish chemist was independent discoverer of the element.

Helium was discovered in the sun already in 1868 by Jules Janssen and independently by Lockyer the same year. Janssen discovered helium in the sun when he observed a total eclipse in India by studying the spectra of the suns chromosphere and Lockyer, also by spectroscopy, found that the new line in the spectrum did not belong to any element then known and he named it Helium for the sun.

In the same volume as Ramsays paper there are 5 papers by NORMAN LOCKYER dealing with the discovery of Helium on the earth, examining Ramsay's and Cleve's findings.

Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1895.

Order-nr.: 49284