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Posner Memorial Collection of the History of Science

The Collection of the Family of Henry Posner, Sr. (brochure and catalog)

The Fine and Rare Book Room of the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries houses a collection of books important to the history of science that focuses on the physical sciences. The collection was formed between 1950 and 1975 by Henry Posner, Sr. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Selections from the Posner Memorial History of Science Collection:

• Bacon, Francis. Instauratio Magna. Novum Organum sive indica vera de interpretatione naturae. London, 1620. Bacon insisted on experiment to determine nature's truths and proposed the "scientific method."

• Boole, George. An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, on which are founded the mathematical theories of logic and probabilities. London, 1854. A landmark in the history of computational sciences.

• Copernicus, Nicolaus. De Revolutionibus Coelestium. Nuremberg, 1543. The publication of "On the revolution of the heavenly orbs" marked the beginning of the end of the geocentric theory of the cosmos. Copernicus recognized that the daily movement of the sun across the sky and other astronomical observations could be accounted for by a rotating Earth and planets moving about a stationary Sun, a heliocentric theory.

• Descartes, Rene. Discours de la Methode Pour Bien Conduire Sa Raison, & cherche la verite dans les sciences. Leiden, 1677. Descartes advanced the science of mathematical proof, stated his philosophy of cogito ergo sum, and explained his analytical geometry (cartesian coordinates).

• Einstein, Albert. Zur Elektrodynamik Bewegter Korper. Leipzig, 1905. Annalen der Physik, p. 891-921. Einstein first applied the concept of relativity to electrodynamics and optics, broadened it in 1916 as a general application to gravity and in 1950 as a general unified field theory.

• Euclid. Elementa Geometria. Venice, 1482. First of over 1000 printed editions of Euclid's Elements, the oldest textbook in science, 2000 years old and still used.

• Gelilei, Galileo. Dialogo di Galileo Galilei. Florence, 1632. A major champion of the Copernican theory, Galileo used his improved telescope to discover new heavenly objects including a super nova, lunar mountains and Jupiter's moons.

• Gilbert, William. De Magnete. London, 1600. Gilbert, physician to Elizabeth I, experimented with magnets, proposed the Earth as a large magnet and was the first to describe electrical phenomena.

• Kepler, Johannes. Astrnomia Nova. Heidelberg, 1609. Kepler was an early supporter of the Copernican theory. Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion included a shift from the tradition of uniform circular planet paths to explain that planetary motion could be expressed by ellipses.

• Napier, John. Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio. Leiden, 1620. The first continental edition (after Edinburgh 1614) of the first logarithmic tables.

• Ohm, Georg. Di Galvanische Kette. Berlin, 1827. His work, the fundamental law of electric circuits, described the nature of the flow of electricity.

Reference:

• Burndy Library. Heralds of Science. Norwalk, Burndy Library, 1955.