Atticus Rare Books

Das Telestereoskop in Annalen der Physik 102, 1857, pp. 167-175 [INVENTION OF THE BINOCULAR TELESCOPE with ENGLISH TRANSLATION]

Helmholtz, Hermann von

Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1857. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION OF HERMANN HELMHOLTZ'S FIRST DESCRIPTION OF HIS INVENTION OF THE TELESTEREOSCOPE, an optical device designed to present a three dimensional view of a distant scene; it is sometimes called a binocular telescope because it offers a view of distant objects through both eyes. Helmholtz, an Austrian scientist, had a background in medicine and physics and in his time, was "the acknowledged master of physiological optics" (Cahan, Helmholtz and the Foundations of Nineteenth-century Science, 163). WE ALSO INCLUDE THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THIS PAPER (an extract from the Phi Mag of the same year).

Helmholtz's telestereoscope uses a system of mirrors or prisms that he designed to produce an exaggerated perception of depth by optically increasing the length of the base line of the viewer. In addition to use in optometry, telestereoscopes are also used in astronomical observatories. ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME: Kirchhoff's important first paper on conductivity and the first theoretical derivation of the speed of electricity in a conductor. In this, Kirchhoff's first 'Circuit-Law,' he demonstrates that "an electric signal in a resistanceless wire travels along the wire at the speed of light" (Graneau, Aperiron 19, p. 19). Item #361

CONDITION & DETAILS: Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1857. Octavo (8 x 5 inches; 200 x 125mm). Full volume. Ex-libris with a number of interior stamps on the preliminaries; no markings at all on the spine or endpapers. 5 fold-out plates and illustrated throughout (including Helmholtz's paper] Bound in full tan cloth, gilt-lettered at the spine. Slight rubbing and scuffing at the edge tips. Tightly and very solidly bound. A few small closed tears on the preliminaries, minor. Very good condition.

Price: $350.00