Recent Acquisitions

First edition, first impression of this uncommon and important monograph on bacterial genetics. An exceptional presentation copy signed by author François Jacob, with whom Brenner would partner only a year later to perform one of the most elegant experiments in the history of biochemistry, proving the role of messenger RNA and elucidating a key mechanism in the cell’s process for decoding DNA. Cheekily inscribed by Jacob’s co-author, Elie Wollman (1917-2008), “To Sydney Brenner, to disgust him / a good of bacterial sex” (possibly missing the word “dose” or similar before “bacterial sex”). And with Brenner’s ownership signature in pencil on the upper cover.

Wollman and Jacob were bacteriologists at the Pasteur Institute who, by investigating bacterial reproduction, made groundbreaking discoveries in genetics. They published one of the first examples of a gene regulatory mechanism; discovered plasmids (portions of genetic material independent of the chromosomal DNA); and created the first model of gene mapping in a living organism” (Dantzer, “Elie Wollman 1917-2008: A Biographical Memoir, National Academy of Science, 2008). The present volume covers the breadth of contemporary knowledge of bacterial reproduction, including conjugation and the resulting genetic recombination. Jacob was later awarded the Nobel Prize for work on the regulation of enzyme levels in cells, and Wollman received several awards, including the French Legion of Honour.

Recipient Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s Cambridge laboratory in 1956, and they performed innovative research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in groups of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is therefore a string of codons that directs the production of a specific protein molecule from individual amino acids. He would later win the Nobel Prize for his work establishing the nematode c. elegans as a key model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research.

Brenner met Jacob and Wollman at a symposium on microbial genetics in Copenhagen in 1959 (it was almost certainly on this occasion, or shortly afterwards, that this copy was presented), where Jacob hoped to discuss new evidence for the existence of an intermediary molecule responsible for transporting information from DNA in the nucleus to the site of protein production in cellular structures called ribosomes, located outside the nucleus. It was known that ribosomes contained an analogue to DNA, ribosomal nucleic acid (RNA), but it was not clear whether there were intermediaries between DNA and RNA. Though nothing concrete came of the Copenhagen symposium, the following spring Jacob again brought up the subject during a meeting with Brenner, Crick, and other biochemists at Cambridge. As Jacob later recalled, when he pointed out recent experimental results suggesting that, unlike normal RNA, the messenger molecule was unstable, “Francis and Sydney leaped to their feet. Began to gesticulate. To argue at top speed in great agitation. A red-faced Francis. A Sydney with bristling eyebrows. The two talked at once, all but shouting. Each trying to anticipate the other. To explain to the other what had suddenly come to mind” (Jacob, The Statue Within, p. 312). What Brenner and Crick had suddenly remembered was another experiment showing that when a certain virus attacked bacterial cells it blocked the creation of new ribosomes, and the only RNA then manufactured by the cell was both unstable and had the same base composition as DNA, strongly suggesting that it was the messenger molecule.

That afternoon Brenner and Jacob also learned that they had both been invited to spend the month of June as visiting scholars at Caltech, the perfect opportunity to collaborate and prove that there was an intermediary in the DNA decoding process and that it was the previously discovered unstable RNA. Most importantly, the colleague who had invited Jacob, Mat Meselson, had just developed a new method for marking bacterial macromolecules with heavy isotopes. Brenner and Jacob developed a plan “to distinguish whether, after phage (virus) infection, new RNA went to new ribosomes, or whether there were no new ribosomes, just the preexisting ones ‘for hire’ – Brenner’s phrase at the time – to the new message when it came along. So that old ribosomes could be labelled, the bacteria would be grown with heavy carbon and nitrogen, the bacteria switched to a broth containing normal, lighter isotopes and simultaneously infected with phage, and new RNA labelled with radiophosphorous. Then ribosomes would be separated from bacteria, put into a cesium-chloride solution, and spun at thirty-seven thousand revolutions per minute for thirty-six hours... in this enormous centrifugal force... the cesium chloride in the solution became distributed in a gradient that was denser towards the bottom of the tube; anything of like density in the tube would sink or float to the level that exactly corresponded with it. Thus, ribosomal particles grown heavy before infection would form a band farther down the centrifuge tube than any made after infection when the isotopic labels were light. Radioactivity could then be checked in each band of ribosomes” (Judson, The Eighth Day of Creation, p. 423).

With only four weeks to complete the experiment, Brenner and Jacob worked at speed and had to overcome numerous setbacks, from the difficulty of acquiring radioactive phosphorus to problems caused by a lack of magnesium in their culture medium. But the final result was “spectacular. Eyes glued to the Geiger counter, our throats tight, we tracked each successive figure as it came to take its place in exactly the order we had been expecting. And as the last sample was counted, a double shout of joy shook the basement at Caltech. Followed immediately by a wild double jig. This was merely one experiment, performed in extremis… But we now knew that we had won. That our conception explained the transfers of information in the synthesis of proteins… Scarcely was the experiment over than we gave a seminar at Caltech to demonstrate the existence of X and its role as magnetic tape. No one believed us. The next day we left, each to his own home. The bet had paid off. In the nick of time” (Jacob, p. 317).

First edition, first impression. Presentation inscribed by Winkler and signed by Eigen, to Nobel prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner on the front free endpaper, “To Sydney, with best wishes, yours, Ruthild & Manfred, Göttingen, 1.12.75”.

Recipient Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

Author Manfred Eigen was a biochemist who made important contributions in a number of subjects, including the “hydrogen bridges of nucleic acids... the dynamics of code transfer... enzymes and lipid membranes” as well as “biological control and regulation processes, and the problem of the storage of information in the central nervous system” (Nobel Prize biography). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1967 for his work measuring fast chemical reactions. His co-author, Ruthild Winkler (1941-), is also a biochemist who has studied fast chemical reactions, game theory models for molecular evolution, and the use of DNA and RNA sequence analysis to study the early history of biological evolution.

The present volume, titled in English The Laws of the Game: How the Principles of Nature Govern Chance, uses game theory to “show how the elements of chance and rules underlie all that happens in the universe, from genetic behavior through economic growth to the composition of music. To illustrate their argument, the authors turn to classic games — backgammon, bridge, and chess — and relate them to physical, biological, and social applications of probability theory and number theory. Further, they have invented, and present here, more than a dozen playable games derived from scientific models for equilibrium, selection, growth, and even the composition of RNA” Princeton University Press blurb).

First edition, first impression. Presentation copy inscribed by the author to Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner on a loosely inserted compliments slip, “For Sydney, with many thanks and best wishes, Saraye”.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first printing. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership inscription to the front free endpaper, “Sydney Brenner, Princeton, Jan 1986”. This volume is the memoirs of theoretical physicist Rudolf Peierls (1907-1995), who was part of the British “Tube Alloys” nuclear weapon programme, and then the Manhattan Project, before becoming deeply involved with anti-nuclear activism.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first printing. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydeny Brenner, with his ownership inscription, “Sydney Brenner, La Jolla, 2007” on the front free endpaper. 

The present volume, by Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman, is a popular treatment of consciousness and the physiological mechanisms that underpin it.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first impression. Presentation copy from the author, Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner (1927-2019), to his wife, May, inscribed on the front free endpaper, “To May, from Sarha October 1997”. Sarha was presumably a nickname. Brenner had a long-running column in the journal Current Biology, and this volume collects thirty-eight of his pieces covering his own life and career and a variety of other topics in molecular biology and related fields.

Brenner was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first impression. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, presentation copy inscribed from the author to Brenner on the front blank, “With respect and warmest wishes, Alexander Todd, 24th May 1984”.

The author, biochemist Alexander Todd (1907-1997), was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1957 “for his work on the synthesis of nucleotides (the small units that make up the larger molecule of nucleic acids), the hereditary material of cells. This work led to many important advances in chemistry and biochemistry”, including the elucidation of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick (Shampo, “Alexander Todd”, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 2012).

Recipient Sydney Brenner was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

Second printing, originally published in 1940. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership signature and the date “14 November 1952” on the cover.

The present mathematical model, better known by its short title, The Consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis, “is a classic of modern mathematics. The continuum hypothesis, introduced by mathematician George Cantor in 1877, states that there is no set of numbers between the integers and real numbers. It was later included as the first of mathematician David Hilbert's twenty-three unsolved math problems, famously delivered as a manifesto to the field of mathematics at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900. In The Consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis Gödel set forth his proof for this problem” (De Gruyter blurb).

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first impression. Presentation copy inscribed by the author to his close friend and colleague, Nobel prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, on the half title, “To Sydney, as ammunition, from Max”. The present volume is a short discussion of the relationship between science and public policy, and it is unclear how the contents were intended as ammunition for Brenner. Works signed by Perutz are uncommon.

Author Max Perutz (1914-2002) was an eminent molecular biologist who founded a major Cambridge research institute, the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1962 for his study of the structures of haemoglobin and myoglobin. It was at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology that the recipient, Sydney Brenner (1927-2019), spent the first twenty years of his career, and where he made major breakthroughs in genetics alongside Francis Crick.

Beginning in 1956, Brenner and Crick did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first printing. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership signature and the date “25th July, 1950” on the front free endpaper.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First UK edition, originally published in the US the previous year. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership signature and the date “June 1966” on the front free endpaper. An unusually attractive copy of this significant work by one of the founders of the study of animal behaviour.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First edition, first impression. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with an ink inscription presenting it to him “on the occasion of his superb lecture to the HFSP awardees meeting, Torino, June 18, 2001”. The identity of the giver is uncertain, but HFSP refers to the Human Frontier Science Program, which funds basic research in the life sciences.

The subject of this memorial volume, Sir John Eccles, was a neurophysiologist and philosopher who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1963 for his work on synapses, the regions of connection between neurons.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

First paperback printing. Originally published in 1978. This copy from the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership signature and the date “April 1981” on the front free endpaper.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

The subject of this volume, Leo Szilard (1989-1964) was the physicist who in 1934 conceived the possibility of the nuclear chain reaction, leading directly to the development of nuclear weapons and energy. He patented the idea of a fission reactor in 1934, and authored the letter which Einstein signed encouraging Franklin D. Roosevelt to initiate the Manhattan Project. Szilard was part of Enrico Fermi’s team at the University of Chicago which created the first sustained nuclear chain reaction, and continued on as a member of the Manhattan Project before drafting the Szilard petition which argued that Japan must be given the chance to surrender before the atomic bomb was used against them. Following the war Szilard switched his focus to biology. He invented the chemostat and was involved in the first cloning of a human cell.

First edition, first impression. From the library of Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership inscription on the front free endpaper, “Sydney Brenner, Ely 23 June 2014”.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

Author Manfred Eigen (1927-2019) was a biochemist who made important contributions in a number of subjects, including the “hydrogen bridges of nucleic acids... the dynamics of code transfer... enzymes and lipid membranes” as well as “biological control and regulation processes, and the problem of the storage of information in the central nervous system” (Nobel Prize biography). He was awarded the 1967 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work measuring fast ionic reactions.

First edition, first printing. From the library of Nobel prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner, with his ownership inscription to the front free endpaper, “Sydney Brenner, La Jolla, 10 Sep 2011”. With a bookmark from the La Jolla shop Warwick's loosely inserted.

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) was a leader in the field of genetics almost from the moment he received his doctorate at Oxford in 1954. He joined Francis Crick’s laboratory in 1956, and they did groundbreaking research on how DNA is decoded by cells. Brenner proposed that the nucleotides which comprise DNA (adenine, guanine, thiamine and cytosine) are read by the cell in sets of three called codons, with each codon representing an amino acid (for example, three adenines in a row is the codon for the amino acid lysine). A gene is simply a string of codons that directs the production of a protein molecule from individual amino acids. He also correctly predicted the existence of messenger RNA, the molecule that carries the genetic code from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where the translation process occurs.

Following this work, it was Brenner’s efforts to establish a new laboratory organism for the study of genetics that led to his Nobel Prize. “Beginning in 1965, he began to lay the groundwork to make C. elegans, a small, transparent nematode, into a major model organism for genetics, neurobiology and developmental biology research. As a direct result of his original vision, this tiny worm became the first animal for which the complete cell lineage and entire neuronal wiring were known. Today, more than 1,000 investigators are studying C. elegans, and Brenner’s work was further honored when a closely related nematode was named Caenorhabditis brenneri” (Salk Institute biography).

The author of the present volume, Gino Segrè, is a physicist, the nephew of Nobel prize winner Emilio Segrè, and author of four works of popular science, including the prize-winning Faust in Copenhagen.

First edition of a rare promotional booklet for the original Pershing missile system (MGM-31A). WorldCat locates only one institutional copy, at the US Army Field Artillery School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Pershing was conceived during the late 1950s as a nuclear weapon system to be deployed in defense of NATO countries on the European continent. Testing occurred during 1960 and 1961, and production began in 1962. “As the successor to the Redstone [ballistic missiles], the Pershing inherited the Redstone’s mission of acting as a forward-based SRBM [short-range ballistic missile] that could strike critical targets in Warsaw Pact nations from U.S. bases in NATO-aligned nations. Unlike the Redstone, the Pershing 1 used solid fuel which could be stored indefinitely inside the missile, eliminating an otherwise lengthy fueling process prior to launch. Additionally, the missile’s size and weight made it easier to transport. Due to these factors, the missiles were valued for their survivability and short launch time. The only significant factor that slowed launch time for the Pershing 1 was that, due to the missile’s length, the warhead was carried on a separate vehicle and attached once a launch order had been received” (”MGM-31 Pershing 1”, Missile Threat website, the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies).

This booklet describes and illustrates the technical aspects of the Pershing system, describing it as “containing all the elements necessary to complete a deep penetration, nuclear fire mission... a missile, automatic checkout and pre-flight programming equipment, an electrical power station, a small portable launch platform, and communications equipment” that would allow it to be a self-sustaining and highly responsive in unstable battlefield conditions. Eight glossy photographs depict a Pershing missile in the launcher, at the moment of launch, the equipment carrier, erector-launcher, programmer and power stations, and the separate warhead vehicle. They are accompanied by stylish technical drawings and blueprints that give an idea of scale and functioning.

First edition of the memoirs of the first Englishwoman to fly. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “With the compliments of the author, Gertrude Foggitt, June 18 1930”.

Gertrude Bacon (1874-1949) was the daughter of the scientist and balloonist Rev. John Maczenzie Bacon, and accompanied him on most of his expeditions. "Bacon became fascinated by flying and as a journalist reported on the various airships and planes being built." In August 1904 she became the first woman to fly in an airship, being a passenger in the near-disastrous first flight of an 84-foot-long ship designed by Stanley Spencer. "From 22 to 29 August, 1909, the world's first aviation meeting was held at Rheims, France. Bacon was determined to go for a ride in one of the new machines. On the last day she was taken up in a Farman plane, squeezed between the radiator and the pilot. She described the takeoff: 'The motion was wonderfully smooth - smoother yet - and then - ! Suddenly there had come into it a new indescribable quality - a lift - a lightness - a life!' Thus she became the first Englishwoman to fly" (International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary, p. 15). Bacon flew on several other occasions, and became the first ever hydroplane passenger at Lake Windermere in 1912. Bacon became Gertrude Foggett in 1929, when she married fellow botanist and chemist Thomas Jackson Foggitt.

First edition, large-paper copy, of this fundamental work which “placed the study of embryology on a sound basis, surpassing in accuracy all other contemporary work on the subject and foreshadowing some of the more important general lines of research in embryology” (Garrison & Morton 469).

”As with his investigations in comparative anatomy, Malpighi was led to embryological research as a means of understanding more highly developed structures. His study of the development of the chicken in the egg went far beyond the work of Harvey and Fabrici, dealing with the internal structures to an unprecedented extent: his chief discoveries, illustrated in his four beautifully detailed plates, were the vascular areas embraced by the terminal sinus, the cardiac tube and its segmentation, the aortic arches, the somites, the neural folds and neural tube, the cerebral and optic vesicles, the protoliver, the glands of the prestomach, and the feather follicles. Malpighi established the paths of subsequent embryological research, making the important connection between emryogenesis and phylogenesis, and playing a formative role in the development of preformationist theory, which would pose a strong challenge to the traditional doctrine of epigenesis” (Norman 1429).

References: Garrison & Morton 469; Norman 1429; Wing M350

First edition of this rare work on the proportional compass, the first to describe both its construction and application. A very attractive copy in handsome contemporary calf. Rare, only one copy appears in recent auction records, at Sothebys in 2018, and WorldCat locates around fifteen copies.

The proportional compass, a forerunner of the Galilean compass, was one of the first mathematical calculating instruments. It allowed volumes of solids to be calculated and compared, lines to be divided according to a given proportion, circles and curves to be divided proportionally, surfaces of a given shape to be multiplied or reduced, π to be approximated, shapes to be transformed into other shapes of equal surface area, and spheres and the five regular solids to be transformed. It was invented in antiquity, and later developed by Leonardo da Vinci who referred to it specifically as a proportional compass.

The instrument described by Horcher had its genesis in the observatory of Wilhelm IV, Landgraave of Hesse, at Kassel. He employed Joost Bürgi as an instrument maker, and it is believed that Bürgi devised the instrument described by Horcher. It was first publicised in a work by Levinus Hulsius entitled Dritter Tractat der mechanischen Instrumente... Beschreibung und Unterricht dess Jobst Burgi Proportional Circkels (Frankfurt 1604). Hulsius had been a student of Galileo’s at Padua. However, Hulsius withheld details of the compass’s construction, as he was offering the instrument for sale. Horcher here gives the first account of its construction, as well as numerous examples of its use in calculating and scaling.

”Important for our purposes is how these new instruments effectively mechanized the basic processes of the geometric game: two-dimensional quadrature of the circle, three-dimensional cubature of the sphere, problems of doubling the volume of a cube or transforming one regular solid into another were now operations which could be analyzed quantitatively. They were physical, mechanical problems which could be reduced to numerical ratios and these could happen without the aid of three-dimensional representations. Hence it was paradoxically the very study of the regular and irregular solids as concrete physical models that brought about a new level of abstraction, which resembled the earlier neo-Platonic interpretation but was in fact fundamentally different because it assumed a new mechanistic view of the universe. Indeed, where the geometrical game had been an intellectual play of geometrical forms in mediaeval times, it now involved nature itself” (Kim H. Veltman, Geometric Games: A Brief History of the Not so Regular Solids).

First edition of the text that disproved spontaneous generation. First issue without the rare 29th plate which is lacking in most copies.

“In this scientific attack on the doctrine of spontaneous generation, Redi demonstrated, by means of a series of simple experiments involving sealed, open and gauze-covered flasks of meat, that organic matter remained free of larva when protected from insect contamination... Having shown that insect contagion was necessary before decaying substances could develop worms, redi applied the same principle to parasites found in living creatures. However, he was led astray by his observations into claiming that gall insects were spontaneously generated by the plants housing them, an error that Malphigi corrected in 1679” (Norman 1812).

References: Norman 1812, Dibner 188, Horblit 88

Third printing, published the year after the first. With the ownership inscription, pencilled notes, and December 1944 report card of Eva Bernice Simmons, a student at the North Carolina College for Negroes, now North Carolina Central University.

Author Clara Mae Taylor (1989-?) attended Columbia University Teacher’s College and then taught at the Rhode Island Teacher’s College and at her alma mater. She earned her PhD in nutrition science at age forty after spending a year in research at Oxford. “During World War II, Taylor directed a research project under the Department of Agriculture that investigated energy metabolism in children. She also studied metabolism in women at different ages. Her animal experiments on white rats and guinea pigs included dietary studies, an investigation of different levels of ascorbic acid on reproduction, and studies on lactation and survival rates. During the war and the immediate post-war period, she served as a nutritional consultant to two popular women’s magazines, Woman’s Home Companion and Parents Magazine” (Ogilvie, Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, p. 1269).

First edition, first printing, presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Inscribed for [?] Oliver Shepard, with cordial greetings from Justina Hill, Northampton, June 16, 1941”.

This work on disease-causing microbes was described as “the best popular presentation that had yet appeared” on the subject by psychiatrist Karl Menninger (Ogilvie, Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, p. 601). Author Justina Hill (1893 - ?) attended Smith College and the University of Michigan, then served as a Red Cross worker, running a bacteriological laboratory in Spartanburg, South Carolina during the final two years of the First World War. She was then transferred with a Smith College unit to the Near East, where she ran a laboratory for five thousand refugees. “Upon returning to the United States, Hill was made an associate in bacteriology at the Brady Urological Institute and two years later an instructor in urology... She published numerous technical articles in medical journals as well as popular books on bacteriology” (Ogilvie). In 1942 she published Silent Enemies, on the communicable diseases of war, and in 1944 she contributed a piece in the Atlantic: “How Bad is the Flu? The possibility of recurrent epidemics, perhaps of increasing virulence, even of another pandemic, must be faced”.

First edition of this assembly of texts on an astronomical instrument, a ring-dial that was a precursor of the equatorial. It was intended as a navigational aid and could be adjusted for different latitudes including, according to the author, the Moluccas and Hispaniola. Dyrander had published his first account a few months earlier in 1536 (Novi annuli astronomici, Marburg 1536), but quickly reprinted it with three other related texts in order to defend himself against the charges of plagiarism. These texts describe other forms of astronomical ring-dials The first is a letter from Regiomontanus to Cardinal Bessarion, the second a short treatise by Bonetus de Latis, Jewish physician to Pope Alexander VI, and the third by an anonymous author “M.T.”.

Johannes Dryander (1500–1560) was a Marburg professor of mathematics and medicine, a noted pre-Vesalian anatomist, and astronomer. In 1536 he published his Anatomia capitis humani, the first major work on the anatomy of the head, based upon his own dissections. It was illustrated by the German artist Hans Brosamer. This was followed by an expanded anatomy of the whole human body published the following year.

First edition of the first monograph on the elephant. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front pastedown to the Monastery of St Peter in Erfurt: “Instructissimae Bibliotheca Regalis Monasterii Petrensis hunc de Elephanto Tractatum in sui memoriam offert Author. Erfordiae, die 3 Novembris, Anno 1714”. Also with the ownership inscription of the monastery library on the title and a later ownership inscription on the recto of the frontispiece, “H. Graf du Moulin, München 20 Nov. 1839”. 

This copiously illustrated work – uncommon with all 28 plates – explores every aspect of elephant life as understood by 17th-century Europeans. The first part of the work is devoted to fossil remains and anatomy of elephants, their lives and habits, and the differences between Indian and African elephants. The author is particularly concerned with elephant teeth and tusks, their properties, and their use in art. The second part deals with elephants’ moral virtues and attributes, such as sympathy, gratitude, intelligence, and courage. The third part is devoted to the use of elephants in war, hunting, construction, and entertainment.

The frontispiece was designed by T.J. Hildebrandt and engraved by Jakob Petri, an Erfurt engraver; the plates are signed by the latter only. They depict a variety of scenes involving elephants, some being depictions of historical events, others showing elephants in their natural habitats engaged in various activities. The folding plate depicts elephant anatomy, including the skeleton, skull, internal organs, and dissected trunk.

Author Petri von Hartenfels (1633-1718) was a Leipzig Burgomaster and professor of medicine who was named count palatine by the Emperor Leopold. The monastery to which this copy was presented was constructed in the 12th century on St. Peter’s Hill in Erfurt, and was one of the largest and most significant church structures in the region at the time. The monastery building was destroyed, and the adjoining church severely damaged, when Prussian forces tried to retake the town from the French in 1813.

A very attractive copy, with the rare suite of fifteen folding plates which is missing from almost all copies, of this magnificently illustrated treatise on the construction and use of astrolabes. These fifteen plates appear first in this edition. In an attractive binding incorporating a late-medieval manuscript leaf, and from the library of astrolabe collector Samuel Verplank Hoffman with what is presumably his typescript translation into English.

Franz Ritter (b. Nuremberg, d. 1640) was an astronomer and innovative cartographer, famous for his ‘sundial’ world map. He had studied under Johann Praetorius at the University of Altdorf and specialized in the design and manufacture of astrolabes, sundials, and other astronomical, horological and cartographical instruments.

The two parts of this text were first published separately in Nuremberg in 1613, and there appear to be numerous variant editions. This one conforms to that of Yale and Brown, which they date to the 1640s, but other authorities give 1659 and 1660 as the dates of publication. The plates in the first part are printed from the same coppers used in the 1613 edition. The second part of the 1613 edition was unillustrated and the publisher of this edition, Paul Fürst (1608-1666), added the suite of engravings and signed the first plate. The fourth plate is a map of the southern hemisphere.

The previous owner, Samuel Verplank Hoffman (1866-1942) studied and taught astronomy at Johns Hopkins University until his father’s business interests commanded his full attention. He was president of the New York Historical Society between 1903 and 1912 and his exceptional collection of astrolabes was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1959. The typescript translation with this volume was presumably by, or commissioned by, him.

Later printing published in the year after the first, in an attractive prize binding.

Dr. Charles R. Gibson (1870-1931) of Glasgow was a prolific author of popular science books aimed at children. The son of a curtain manufacturer, he inherited the family firm in 1900 and was able to indulge his love of science, being elected to the Royal Society of Edinburg in 1910. He is best known for his contributions to the “Romance of...” series — including volumes on electricity, manufacturing, and scientific discovery.

First edition, first impression and a lovely copy in exceptional condition.

Smith (1854-1937) “spent her entire career as a volunteer at the British Museum of Natural History... for although she was trained in botany by Dr. Scott at the Royal College of Sciences, she was unable to choose whether to become a professional or remain an amateur... Since women were not admitted to the museum staff, she had no choice but to work for free if she wanted to work at all. She volunteered to remount a collection of recently purchased microscopical slides, and through this experience was able to prepare an exhibit of microfungi for the public gallery. From this time on she was connected with the Cryptogamic Herbarium as an unofficial worker almost continuously up to the time of her eightieth birthday... Although her earliest work was on seaweeds, she soon became fascinated with the fungi. She joined the British Mycological Society and contributed notes on new records and other papers to the Society’s Transactions. After James Crombie, who was producing a monograph on British lichens, died in 1906, Smith undertook the completion of the work. After she prepared the second volume, she reworked the first... this two-volume set became a standard work. She also prepared a small Handbook in 1921 and in the same year produced her encyclopaedic volume on lichens, which was one of the Cambridge Botanical Handbooks” (Ogilvie, Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, p. 1202).

First edition, first impression of this work on the history of the biochemistry of muscle by prominent biochemist Dorothy Needham (1896-1987). Though ex-library, with institutional binding and cancelled library stamps, this copy is in exceptionally fresh condition.

Needham’s “most important work was on carbohydrate metabolism in muscle. From 1930 to 1940 she was involved in pioneering work on the part played by ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the contraction of muscle, and for this and other research she was awarded the Cambridge University ScD (1945) and elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society (1948). In 1940 she joined Dr Malcolm Dixon's chemical defence research group to work on the effects of chemical weapons such as mustard gas on the metabolism of skin and bone-marrow. She retired from active research in 1963 to work on her book Machina Carnis: The biochemistry of muscular contraction in its historical development, published by Cambridge University Press in 1971. Her significant contribution to biochemistry was recognised by becoming an Honorary Fellow at three Cambridge Colleges: at Girton, where she had been educated, she became an honorary fellow in 1976; at Lucy Cavendish, which she helped to found in 1965, she was a Foundation Fellow; and at Gonville and Caius, where Joseph Needham was Master for eleven years (1965 - 1976), she became an Honorary Fellow in 1979 - the first woman admitted to Caius and, for a long time, the only woman fellow. Despite her great distinction she never held an established post in the University, but was supported by grants and fellowships from the ARC and other funding bodies” (University of Cambridge Digital Library biography).

See also: Ogilvie, Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, p. 932

First edition of this uncommon catalogue of the Greene Smith Museum of birds and their nests and eggs.

Greene Smith (1841-1880) was the son of abolitionist Gerrit Smith and a keen sportsman, amateur taxidermist, and professor of ornithology at Cornell. He founded his museum in Peteroboro, New York in 1863 to house the thousands of specimens of birds, eggs, and nests he had collected – nicknamed the Bird House, it was three stories tall and fitted out with luxuries such as central heating, a mahogany staircase, and marble fixtures, and the collection of hummingbirds alone was estimated to be worth $75,000. Smith died in 1886 while attempting to complete a second, annotated version, of the museum catalogue. Mot of his specimens went to the collections at Cornell, Harvard and Colgate University. The present volume lists all the specimens under their common and scientific names and indicates where they were collected, their sex, and age (adult, young, or young with down).

First English language edition, first impression. Originally published as “Die physikalische Sprache als Universalsprache der Wissenschaft” in the journal Erkenntnis in 1932.

“Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970) was one of the best-known philosophers of the twentieth century. Notorious as one of the founders, and perhaps the leading philosophical representative, of the movement known as logical positivism or logical empiricism, he was one of the originators of the new field of philosophy of science and later a leading contributor to semantics and inductive logic” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Science).

First edition, first printing of this classic by the original prophet of the information age.

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was a Canadian professor and literary critic who became one of the 20th century's most controversial media theorists. Expanding on his expertise in the history of early literature and printing, he argued that "the medium is the message" - that the physical form of a communication technology affects our reception of the messages it delivers. Thus, printed books, newspapers, radio, television, the telephone and, eventually, the internet, each affect individuals and society in different ways. While McLuhan was in some senses a technological determinist, believing that technology strongly disrupts and reshapes human culture, he tempered this with humanism, and advocated better research and education that would allow individuals to take control of how their lives were being influenced by the media. Today he is revered for his prescience regarding the digital revolution, and is seen by many as a pioneer of the philosophies of creative disruption and technological libertarianism that have so influenced the development of the modern internet and the world around it. The Medium is the Massage ("massage" was originally a typesetter's error that McLuhan liked and kept as the title) was published in 1967 as an illustrated introduction to McLuhan's philosophy for the general public. Though he had already published several books on his theories, including The Mechanical Bride and Culture is Our Business, they were somewhat academic, and it was the electrifying The Medium is the Massage that became a best-seller and cemented its author's reputation as one of the great thinkers of the 20th century.