Sur la constitution des spectres linéaires des éléments chimiques in Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences, Tome 110, pp. 369-399, 1890. RYDBERG’S CONSTANT
Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1890. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF JOHANNES RYDBERG'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RYDBERG CONSTANT, HIS MATHEMATICAL FORMULA FOR THE SPECTRAL LINES OF HYDROGEN & OTHER ATOMS OR IONS WITH ONLY ONE ELECTRON – a work justified and expanded upon by Niels Bohr's development of the quantum model of atomic structure in 1913 when Bohr was able to use his own theory to derive Rydberg's results, providing confirmation of both. In a later paper published in Kungliga Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlinger, Rydberg expands upon his formula, but the paper offered here is the announcement and first appearance of the Rydberg constant.
Johannes Rydberg (1854-1919) was a Swedish physicist at Lund University who studied atomic masses and electromagnetic radiation; inspired by Mendeleev's periodic table, he was convinced that the electromagnetic spectra emitted by atoms could provide insight into atomic structure and theory. "Notwithstanding the imperfect spectroscopic tables then at his disposal, Rydberg discovered most of the important properties of series spectra, including the relation between corresponding series in the spectra of related elements, and foreshadowed discoveries which were made later, when experimental work has sufficiently advanced” (Nature Obituary, January 24, 1920).
From his discoveries of the important elements of series spectra, Rydberg developed a mathematical formula for the spectral lines of hydrogen and other atoms or ions with only one electron. Rydberg’s insight came from using “wavenumber” (the inverse of the wavelength) in his calculations. He plotted the wavenumbers of the spectral lines against integers in different series and found that the resulting curves had similar shapes. Using this insight, he developed a function (called the “Rydberg formula”) to model these curves.
Rydberg’s formula mapped a total approach with remarkable clarity, “conceiving of the spectrum of an element as composed of the superposition of three different types of series - one in which the lines were comparatively sharp, one in which the lines were more diffuse, and a third that he called principal series even though they consisted mostly of lines in the ultraviolet. The first lines were located in the visible spectrum and were usually the most intense. The members of each series might be single, double, triple, or of higher multiplicity. Any particular elementary spectrum might contain any number (even zero) of series of each of the basic types" (DSB).
ALSO INCLUDES: 5 papers by E. J. Ph.[Ernest de] Jonquières was a French mathematician and a strong supporter of Descartes; collectively, these five works are the principal historical evidence that Descartes came up with the famous formula F + V = E + 2 long before Euler. ALSO papers by Joseph Boussinesq, Carl Ludwig Paul Gerber, and J. Héricourt and C. Richet. Item #1096
CONDITION & DETAILS: Paris: Gauthier-Villars. Complete volume. Ex-libris bearing only a de-accessioned stamp on the back of the title page and slight ghosting at the spine where a spine level has been removed. 4to (11 x 8 inches; 275 x 200mm). [2], 1445, [2]. Bound in clean full blue cloth, gilt-lettered at the spine; ghosting from the removal of a label at the spine; stamp on the rear of the title page.
Price: $175.00