HERSCHEL, JOHN W.F. - FLOURESCENCE DISCOVERED IN QUININE SOLUTION

Amorfota (Greek), No. I-II.- On a Case of Superficial Colour presented by homogenous liquid internally colourless. Received January 28, 1845, - Read February 13, 1845. - II. Onthe Epipolic Dispersion of Light, being a Supplement to a paper entitled, "On a Case of Superficial Colour presented..." Received March 6, - Read April 13, 1845. (2 Papers).

(London, Richard and John E. Taylor, 1845). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions" 1845 - Part I. Pp 143-145 . pp. 147-153. Clean and fine.

First appearance of these highly influential papers as Herschel here reported the first observation of the fluorescence of a quinine solution in sunlight. - In a footnote to the report Herschel points out that he was writing from memory, having carried out the experiment more than twenty years before. Nevertheless, his reminiscence was enough to spark further exploration, eventually resulting in the modern understanding of fluorescence. In fact, even today, quinine is one of the most commonly utilized fluorophores for spectroscopy, enjoyed by many for the strange, but beautiful fluorescence that was first observed, but unable to be unexplained, by Herschel.

Order-nr.: 42918