Sur de nouvelles relations entre l’electricite, la lumiere et le magnetisme (Extrait d'une Lettre de M. Faraday a M. Dumas) in Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires, Tome 22, No. 3, 1846, pp. 113-115 [Extract. MAGNETIC ROTATION AND ELECTRO-MAGNETIC THEORY OF LIGHT]

Paris: Bachelier. First printing of a letter extracted from Comptes Rendus of a letter from Michael Faraday to another chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas. In it, Faraday very clearly writes of his then nascent thoughts regarding the relationship between light, magnetism, and electricity, here specifically describing the magnetic rotation of light.

Though published in 1846, Faraday’s letter was written in 1845. It relays, in embryonic form, his soon to be announced – and quite remarkable -- discovery from his careful examination of the polarization of light as it passed through a transparent material in the presence of a magnetic field. Faraday “observed that linearly polarized light propagating through matter parallel to a static magnetic field, experiences a rotation of the plane of polarization. The effect is small, but he was an exceptional experimenter and he unambiguously identified the phenomenon. The rotation of the plane of polarization is still called the Faraday Rotation (Teach Spin).

Building on this and other discoveries, by 1864 Faraday was able to announce his electro-magnetic theory of light, predicting that both light and radio waves are electric and magnetic phenomena.

Faraday, the greatest experimentalist in electricity and magnetism of the 19th century and one of the greatest experimental physicists of all time, corresponded regularly with Dumas, who himself made contributions to organic chemistry. Item #1644

CONDITION: 4to. Extract of pages 92-134 (inclusive of papers by Biot, Cauchy, Chasles, Liouville, Poggiale, Guettet, and presentations by Agassiz, Schimper, and Durocher). The Faraday appears pp. 113-115. The extract is in perfect condition and is housed in a simple red paper wrap.

Price: $75.00

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