Atticus Rare Books

On a New Action of the Magnet on Electric Currents in the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, , Vol. 9 No. 55, March 1880, pp. 225-230. [Nicely Bound Extract]

Hall, E. H. [Edwin]

London: Taylor & Francis, 1880. 1st Edition. 1st EDITION OF THE 1st WIDE PUBLICATION OF EDWIN HALL’S DISCOVERY OF THE HALL EFFECT, here the March 1880 issue extracted in its entirety, inclusive of 2 plates & handsomely bound in calf over marbled paper boards. [We offer the full volume separately]. The Hall effect occurs when an electric current is placed in a magnetic field, causing a potential difference and a transverse field is created. By measuring the potential one can calculate the strength of the magnetic field. Hall’s discovery is considered a “seminal and foundational experiment of condensed matter physics” (Armitage, Notes on Hall Effect Experiments). We also offer Hall's 1881 follow up paper separately.

While working on his doctoral thesis in physics, Edwin Hall discovered the Hall Effect; in late 1879 while still a graduate student he published his findings in a small journal edited by scientists studied with at Johns Hopkins. That publication is considered the “preliminary notice” of the Hall Effect (Chien, The Hall Effect, 523). However it is with his publication of the 1880 paper in the Phil Mag (offered here), that Hall’s findings gained international attention.

In 1878 Hall read Maxwell's Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. In it, Maxwell discussed the deflection of an electronic currents by a magnetic field and wrote "It must be carefully remembered that the mechanical forces which urges a conductor ... acts, not on the electronic current, but on the conductor which carries it." The statement made no sense to Hall, who wrote that it was ‘contrary to the most natural supposition’ (Hall, 1879); in an effort to understand, he began a series of experiments that would lead to the discovery of the effect that bears his name.

The ‘new action’ referred to in the title of his paper was Hall’s recognition of “the appearance of a transverse potential difference in a conductor, fixed in position with respect to a steady magnetic field applied at right angles to the current flowing in the conductor. This ‘Hall voltage’ (or Effect) is perpendicular to both the current and the applied field” (Leadstone, Phys Educ., 14, 1979).

“What made the Hall effect a surprising discovery for its time is that it occurs under steady-state conditions, meaning that the voltage across the plate persists even when the current magnetic field is constant over time. When a magnetic field varies with time, voltages are established by the mechanism of induction and induction was well understood in the late 19th century. Observing a short voltage pulse across the plate when a magnet was brought up to it, and another one when the magnetic field was removed, would not have surprised a physicist of that era. The continuous behavior of the Hall-effect, however, presented a genuinely new phenomenon” (Hall-Effect Physics, 1).

“The Hall Effect… provides an introduction to computer acquisition, magnetic probes, and transport experiments… which are really the bread and butter of condensed matter experiments. It is only a slight overstatement to say that all other experiments one does in condensed matter are simply higher order experiments to shed light on interesting phenomena observed in transport” (Armitage).

In addition to the technique itself, currently “Hall effect sensors are readily available from a number of different manufacturers, and may be used in various sensors such as rotating speed sensors (bicycle wheels, gear-teeth, automotive speedometers, electronic ignition systems), fluid flow sensors, current sensors, pressure sensors… smart phones, and some global positioning systems” (Wikipedia). Item #726

CONDITION & DETAILS: Bound & complete extract, March 1880 issue, 2 plates. 4to. Not ex-libris. Handsomely bound in three quarter calf over marbled paper boards. Five raised bands at the spine with gilt-devices & gilt-lettered red and black morocco spine labels. Near fine inside and out.

Price: $325.00