Facets

1478

#7086

Halieutica, sive de piscatu. [Translated by Lorenzo Lippi, with recipes for cooking added by Lippi.]

The didactic poem on fish and fishing by Oppian of Anazarbus, a 2nd-century Greco-Roman poet, survived the Middle Ages essentially in its entirety, consisting of 3500 lines in Greek. The poem was dedicated to the empe…

1538

#6969

Simeonis Sethi, magistri Antiochiae, Syntagma per literarum ordinem de cibariorum facultate, Lilio Gregorio Gyraldo,... interprete.

First printed edition of Seth's Byzantine encyclopedia of foods, nutrition, and diatetics from plants and animals, with Greek text and Latin translation by scholar and poet Giglio Gregorio Giraldi. Simeon Seth was an …

1623

#10491

Historia vitae & mortis. Sive, titulus secundus in historia naturali & experimentali ad condendam philosophiam: Quae est instaurationis magnae pars tertia.

This was Bacon's direct contribution to medicine or medical philosophy, with natural and experimental observations on the prolongation of life. Translated into English as The History naturall And experimentall, of lif…

1652

#3737

Observationes medicae.

One of the earliest accounts of beri-beri is on pp. 300-05 of this work. Tulp, notable as the demonstrator in Rembrandt’s “Anatomy Lesson”, was among the first, in the same book, to describe the ileo-caecal valve (“Tu…

1655

#9324

Health's improvement, or rules for preparing all sorts of food used in this nation. Written by that ever famous Thomas Muffet, Doctor in physick: Corrected and enlarged by Christopher Bennet, Doctor in Physick, and fellow of the Colledg of Physitians in London.

Moffet's work in nutrition was collected in his book Health's Improvement, which was designed more for the layman than for physicians. It also contains the first list of British wildfowl, recognizing for the first tim…

1656

#8591

Flora sinensis, fructus floresque humillime porrigens serenissimo et potentissimo Leopoldo Ignatio, Hungariae regi florentissimo, &c. Fructus saecul promittenti Augustissimos.

The first description published in Europe of an ecosystem of the Far East, including animals as well as plants, with particular attention to Chinese fruit bearing plants, and medicinal properties of Chinese plants. Di…

1661

#145.5

Fumifugium: or the inconveniencie of the aer and smoak of London dissipated. Together with some remedies humbly proposed.

A pioneering attack on air pollution caused by “the hellish and dismall cloud of sea-coal” which perpetually enveloped London. Of course, the problems Evelyn wrote about did not go away, and the work continued to be r…

1664

#145.51

Sylva, or a discourse of forest-trees, and the preservation of timber in His Majesty’s dominions.

A protest against the careless destruction of England’s forests to fuel the furnaces of the glass and iron industries. The work was influential in establishing a much-needed program of reforestation that had a lasting…

1772

#920

Observations on the different kinds of air.

The isolation of oxygen was first achieved by Priestley. He also demonstrated that plants immersed in water give off oxygen and that this gas is essential for animal life.

1776

#1601.1

Observations sur les maladies des nègres, leurs causes, leurs traitemens et les moyens de les prévenir.

Study of the health conditions and diseases of black slaves in the Americas. Digital facsimile of the 1776 edition from Google Books at this link. Second edition, expanded to two volumes. Paris: L'Auteur, 1792.

1778 –1793

#8222

Geographische Geschichte des Menschen und der allgemein verbreiteten vierfüßigen Thiere: nebst einer hieher gehörigen Zoologischen Weltcharte. 3 vols.

Digital facsimile from the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

1779

#103

Experiments on vegetables, discovering their great power of purifying the common air in the sun-shine, and of injuring it in the shade at night. To which is joined, a new method of examining the accurate degree of salubrity of the atmosphere.

Discovery of photosynthesis. Ingen-Housz showed that the green parts of plants, when exposed to light, fix the free carbon dioxide of the atmosphere, but that in darkness plants have no such power. Thus he proved that…

1787

#10480

Gifthistorie des Thier- Pflanzen- und Mineralreichs, nebst den Gegengiften, und der medicinischen Anwendung der Gifte, nach den neuesten Toxicologen.

This work was not illustrated. Digital facsimile from Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

1788

#13593

The theory of rain.

In this paper on the operation of the water-cycle in meteorology Hutton hypothesized that rain was caused by a mixture of air currents of differing temperatures, either saturated or nearly saturated with moisture. "Hi…

1794

#5453.1

A narrative of the proceedings of the black people during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia, in the year 1793: and a refutation of some censures thrown upon them in some late publications.

A refutation of slights by Matthew Carey in his Short account of the malignant fever, lately prevalent in Philadelphia (1793; No. 5451) to the important contributions of black people, many of whom served as nurses and…

1800

#1768

Historiae Aegypti compendium, Arabice et Latine. Partim ipse vertit, partim a Pocockio versum edendum curavit, notisque illustravit J. White.

Arabic-Latin bilingual text, edited by White, incorporating a translation begun by Edward Pococke the Younger (1648-1727). Abd al-Latif gave a good description of the fauna and flora of Egypt, its inhabitants and some…

1802

#7067

Harmonie hydro-végétale et météorologique, ou recherches sur les moyens de recréer avec nos forêts la force des températures et la régularité des saisons, par des plantations raisonnées. 2 vols.

Rauch was particularly concerned with deforestation, which not only affected the agriculture and scenery of the countryside, but also the whole ecological balance of crops, flora and fauna, and human interaction with …

1803

#8025

Practical rules for the management and medical treatment of negro slaves in the sugar colonies

Collins, a British doctor and planter, spent fourteen years in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. Written from the utilitarian perspective of a master, this handbook on slave medicine was intended to maximize the …

1804

#145.54

Recherches chimiques sur la végétation.

In this foundation work on phytochemistry, Saussure analysed the chief active components of plants, their synthesis and decomposition. He specified the relationships between vegetation and the environment. He showed t…

1805

#145.55

Essai sur la géographie des plantes; accompagné d’un tableau physique des régions équinoxiales.

One of the first works on the geographical distribution of plants. Humboldt was a pioneer student of geographical–ecological plant associations. The sheets of this work were reissued as Vol. I of the authors' Voyage a…

1807 –1834

#7452

Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du nouveau continent, fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804. 34 vols.

In 1799 Humboldt and Bonpland embarked on a six-year tour of research through South America and Mexico, a trip which would afterwards be called, justifiably, "the scientific discovery of America." The two amassed exha…

1824

#145.56

De l’influence des agens physiques sur la vie.

Edwards studied the influence of environmental factors on animal life, concluding that vital processes depend on external physical and chemical forces but are not entirely controlled by them. The work includes an acco…

1832

#12197

On the influence of physical agents on life, by W. F. Edwards. Translated from the French by Dr. Hodgkin and Dr. Fisher. To which are added, in the appendix, some observations on electricity by Dr. Edwards, M. Pouillet, and Luke Howard; on absorption, and the uses of the spleen, by Dr. Hodgkin; on the microscopic characters of the animal tissues and fluids, by J. J. Lister and Dr. Hodgkin, and some notes to the work of Dr. Edwards.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

1837

#110

Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire anatomique et physiologique des végétaux et des animaux. 2 vols. and atlas.

Dutrochet asserted that respiration follows the same pattern in both animals and plants, showing that the minute openings on the surface of leaves (the stomata) communicate with lacunae in deeper tissue. He also demon…

1842

#8916

The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. Fitzroy, R. N. During the years 1832 to 1836.

With slight modification, Darwin's work remains the accepted explanation for these phenomena. "Even if he had done nothing else, the theory of the coral islands alone would have placed Darwin in the very front of inve…

1844

#8917

Observations on the volcanic islands, visited during the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, together with some brief notices on the geology of Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. Being the second part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle.

1845 –1862

#8223

Kosmos. Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung. 5 vols. and atlas.

This work includes founding material in geography, plant geography, orography, climatology and meterology, among other sciences, and citations to 9,000 sources. The atlas was issued without Humboldt's participation, a…

1846

#8918

Geological observations on South America. Being the third part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle.

The third and last of Darwin's geological reports on the Beagle voyage. In it he described the pampas, the plateaus and the Andres, showing how they had been gradually pushed up in the way that Charles Lyell surmised …

1849

#11757

Notes on the influence exercised by trees in inducing rain and preserving moisture.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

1855

#11884

Géographie botanique raisonnée ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l'époque actuelle. 2 vols.

This work work organized and systematized the huge mass of data being collected by the numerous scientific expeditions of the time to explain the geographical distribution of plants. Digital facsimile from BnF Gallica…

1856

#13464

Circumstances affecting the heat of the sun's rays.

Foote was the first scientist known to have experimented on the warming effect of sunlight on different gases. In this two-page paper she theorized that changing the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere woul…

1858

#10278

Mémoire sur les vers intestinaux.

Beneden's treatise on the development, transformation, and life-histories of parasitic worms won the Grand prix des sciences physiques of the Institut de France. It was published in the "International Scientific Serie…

1861

#13465

On the absorption and radiation of heat by gases and vapours, and on the physical connexion of radiation, absorption and conduction.

Demonstration that gases including carbon dioxide and water can absorb heat, aand could change climate. Digital facsimile from royalsocietypublishing.org at this link.

1864

#145.59

Man and nature; or, physical geography as modified by human action.

“The fountainhead of the conservation movement” (Mumford). This is a comprehensive scientific account of humanity's enormous and often destructive impact on the physical world. Marsh warned of the dangers of the reckl…

1872

#8972

Air and rain. The beginnings of a chemical climatology.

In this work on the industrial causes of pollution Smith coined the term acid rain. "The corrosive effect of polluted, acidic city air on limestone and marble was noted in the 17th century by John Evelyn, who remarked…

1876

#2127.1

Paraffin epithelioma of the scrotum.

Shale oil shown to be a cause of skin cancer. A teacher of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bell was the model for the character of Sherlock Holmes.

1877

#145.61

Die Auster und die Austernwirtschaft.

In this study of oyster culture precipitated by the impoverishment of natural oyster beds, Möbius provided the earliest description of a marine animal community maintained in a state of equilibrium by limitations of r…

1878

#9174

Tropical nature and other essays.

"Wallace's extensive work in biogeography made him aware of the impact of human activities on the natural world. In Tropical Nature and Other Essays (1878), he warned about the dangers of deforestation and soil erosio…

1881

#8913

The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms, with observations on their habits.

Darwin's last book, published only 6 months before his death, but reporting on a subject that he had studied for more than 50 years. "He showed the services performed by earthworms in eating leaves and grinding earth …

1887

#145.62

The lake as a microcosm.

Forbes was the first to apply ecological principles to limnology. He emphasized population regulation and the dynamic nature of the community.

1889

#714

Fixation de l’azote par la terre végétale nue ou avec le concours des légumineuses.

Berthelot showed that bacteria acting in clay soils are able to fix nitrogen.

1890

#12303

Sur les organisms de la nitrification.

In his research on nitrifying bacteria Winogradsky discovered the first known form of chemoautotrophy in which organisms obtain energy by oxidation of electron donors in their environments without the intervention of …

1896

#13046

Ueber den Einfluss des atmosphärischen Kohlensäuregehalts auf die Temperatur der Erdoberfläche.

Arrhenius used basic principles of physical chemistry to estimate the extent to which increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are responsible for the Earth's increasing surface temperature, the "greenhouse effect."

1898

#8536

Pflanzengeographie auf Physiologischer Grundlage.

In this work on the geographical distribution of plants Schimper coined the terms tropical rainforest and sclerophyll. English translation by William R. Fisher, revised and edited by Percy Groom and Isaac Bayley Balfo…

1901

#12789

Über oligonitrophile Mikroben.

Discovery of nitrogen fixation, the process by which diatomic nitrogen gas is converted to ammonium ions and becomes available to plants. Bacteria perform nitrogen fixation, dwelling inside root nodules of certain pla…

1906

#12739

The jungle.

Sinclair wrote The jungle to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and other industrialized cities. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its …

1907

#8152

Das Werden der Welten. Mit Unterstützung des Verfassers aus dem schwedischen übersetzt von L. Bamberger.

In this work Arrhenius predicted the possibility of man-made global warming. His prediction that significant global warming would take ~3000 years to develop is now recognized as a substantial underestimate due in par…

1911

#9180

The world of life: A manifestation of creative power, directive mind and ultimate purpose.

"Wallace's comments on environment grew more strident later in his career. In The World of Life (1913) he wrote: "These considerations should lead us to look upon all the works of nature, animate or inanimate, as inve…

1912

#8153

Die Entstehung der Kontinente.

Wegener originated the theory of continental drift in this paper on the origin of continents, which he conceived after being struck by the apparent correspondence in the shapes of the coastlines on the west and east s…

1913

#7075

Animal communities in temperate America as illustrated in the Chicago region. A study in animal ecology.

This book represents the beginning of organized theoretical principles for animal ecology, including Shelford's "law of toleration" or "law of tolerance." "Analogous to the physiologists' law of the minimum [developed…