JF Ptak Science Books // Blog Bookstore

The Square of Art: the Beauty of Square Roots (1833)

MATHEMATICS Manuscript; the work of Charles Fisher.  Collection of work on square roots, from √2 to √628.  13.5 x 8.5 inches.  160pp. All gathered together in separate quires, the text now just floating inside the original binding, which is very thick paper wrappers that have been handled so much that it feels like leather.   Most of the manuscript is still bound, though several "signatures" are now loose within the binding. A good, solid copy in spite of what I just wrote--and a work of art.   $1500

The book is paginated according to the sq rt that Mr. Fisher was working on, so the first page is page 2 for √2. Also, the work figuring the square roots of 2 through 196 takes place on the top half or portion of the first 80 leaves, at that point he turns around and starts on the first leaf again, working out his answer for √197 (and √198) on the first page (or page 2) and so continues to the end of the book again, ending up at 628. The square roots seem pretty complete through the 400s and then gets very spotty after that, for whatever reason Mr. Fisher leaving some numbers alone. So far as I can determine the work is complete in itself.  

The (seeming)  author of this manuscript, Charles Fisher, evidently took a solitary pleasure in calculating the square roots of numbers from 2  to 628  not bothering to write down the 24 perfect squares to 576.  (The sqrt being r² = x for every non-negative real number x.) From the few bits that I have checked the man seems to have done a good job back there in the 1830’s.   (Note: we'll deal with square root of  3 at another time...)

I cannot determine where this book was written or who Mr. Fisher was.  There is a transcription in the last leaf of the book of a community meeting dedicating people to building a meeting house in "Wertham" (?) near "Cumberland', and that something like the minister or preacher would be shared with the local Baptist Church or something like that, and signed in January 1767.  Fact is though that there is at least one contemporary date in the work and that is 1833 for figuring the √193.  

Fisher's work is pretty elegant.  Take for example his solution (and proof) for the square root (hereafter sqrt(x)) 309,

which the calculator living under this page says is 17.578395831246947    Mr. Fisher’s answer is 17 10/17 = 799/17=89401/989=309 100/989, and after some more involved arithmetic comes t the lovely proof number of   

4121989960986322995025 /13339773336525317136 or

309.00000000000000000007496379247

Which is getting pretty close. 

The only note that Mr. Fisher makes on his calculations is for the sqrt(193), which he notes as “the hardest number to find the approximate root of any between 1 and 200. I have found it after repeated trials and have this evening wrote it in as above. March 1^st, 1833. CF.”  (This may actually be 1838--I think it is dependent on interpretation.)

The lovely cover of the work:

And a double-page sample of the work:

Electrical Engineering Manuscript Notebook from M.I.T., 1903

JF Ptak Science Books

Theoretical Electricity notebook of George Barrows Obear for (what seems to be) 1903.  10x8", 157pp. There are also 5 smaller home-made notebooks of approximately 25pp. The notes are made in a clear, strong hand by Obear. One of the notebooks is identified with a rubber stamp as "Elec. Eng. Lab." which was at M.I.T. where Obear took is bachelor degree in this year (1903).  $950

Obear (1879-1944) took a bachelor degree from, M.I.T. and then moved on to Brown University where he received his MS in 1905 and Ph.D. in 1907/8.  He taught as an assistant at Brown and then as a professor, after that he taught at Colby and then at Case.  Somewhere in there, at the end of his life, Dr. Obear was a civilian (at age 65) in Japanese-occupied Manila, where he died in November 1944 of the complications of Beri-Beri in the Santa Catalina Hospital.  

 

Applied Sciences Manuscript from Benjamin Howard Rand, Franklin Institute, 1850's

JF Ptak Science Books

Manuscripts for general and applied sciences and engineering lectures delivered by B. Howard Rand (1827-1883) at the Franklin Institute, 1851-1853. During this time Rand [B(enjamin) Howard Rand, 1 Oct 1827 (Philadelphia) -14 Feb 1883] was a professor of chemistry at the Franklin Institute (1850-1853).  

Rand evidently achieved some stature as he was the first subject chosen by Thomas Eakins for what would be his famous series of portraits of Philadelphia physicians¹.(In April 2007, the portrait of Rand was purchased by Alice L. Walton for  an estimated US$20 million, to be housed at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art². )

Read More: http://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.09.4064

"Rand was a popular teacher because he emphasized the applied rather than the theoretic applications of chemistry in the practice of medicine. He also had a lasting influence on the medical students because of his lectures on the social and professional responsibilities that the students would assume when they became physicians."--Stefan Schatzkil, "Portrait of Benjamin Howard Rand", Journal of Roentgenology, July 2010, volume 195/2.

The spine label "B. Howard Rand"

[The portrait of Rand by Thomas Eakins. Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/arts/design/12pain.html?_r=0]

 

10x8.5 inches, approximately 245 pages, running approximately 45,000 words. Includes lectures on

• "Improved Heating and Ventilation" (48 pages),
• "Geology" (44 pages);
• "On the Action of Running Water", (15 pages);
• "Warming", 40 pages); "Ventilation" (48 pages);
• "Physical Manual", (50 pages).

All are bound together, written on different stock, written seemingly by varying hands from time to time, and brought together in a leather-backed paper covered board volume.  The pages are roughly cut, and the handwriting fast and untidy. The leather binding with marbled boards are quite worn, with the covers detached, though the rest of the book is intact and pretty sturdy. The text problems are limited to the first written page, which is missing the bottom of the page, roughly torn.  Overall, the binding is in obvious need of restoration.  $2000.

Provenance:  given by Dr. W.H. Greene to the Franklin Institute Library (Philadelphia), 1895, where it stayed until 1986 when the library was generally disbanded. Dr. W.H. Greene  was the translator of Elements of Modern Chemistry, Philadelphia, 1880; referenced in Henry Carrington Bolton's A Select Bibliography of Chemistry, 1492-1892³.

Rand's previous appointments:

• Graduate of Jefferson Medical College (Philadelphia,1848), beginning his studies in 1843 with Dr. Robert M. Huston
• Clinical Assistant to Dr. Thomas Mutter and Dr. Joseph Pancost, 1846-1848
• Prof  Chemistry, Franklin Institute, 1850-1855

And subsequently:

• Prof Chemistry, Philadelphia Medical College, 1853-4
• Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science, Secretary, 1853-1864
• Prof chemistry, Jefferson Medical College, 1864-1877
• Fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians 1853;  fellow of the American Philosophical Society 1868; and, besides membership in other societies, was connected with the American medical association
• Author: An Outline of Medical Chemistry (1855);  Elements of Medical Chemistry (1863)

It is an interesting collection of thinking on different subjects, and a peep into the life of the Franklin Institute and scientific dialog in Philadelphia in the mid-19th century. 

Notes:

1. "The career of Thomas C. Eakins (1844–1916) has been explored in earlier articles in this series. There are several possible explanations why Eakins chose Rand for the first of the many portraits of Philadelphia physicians that he would complete during the following 30 years. The two probably became first acquainted while Eakins was a student at Philadelphia's Central High School, where Rand, also an alumnus of Central High, taught from 1859 to 1864, together with other responsibilities noted previously. Rand and Eakins shared a mutual interest and participation in the sport of rowing, the subject of some of Eakins' early and most renowned paintings. Rand was, for a time, president of the Philadelphia Undine Barge Club, where Eakins may have been a member. However, most interestingly, both men's fathers were well-known writing masters in Philadelphia."--Stefan Schatzkil, "Portrait of Benjamin Howard Rand", Journal of Roentgenology, July 2010, volume 195/2.

2. "Eakins' portrait of Rand is significant as the first in his series of portraits of physicians and scientists. Eakins portrayed the popular Dr. Benjamin H. Rand—a Jefferson Medical College professor with whom Eakins studied anatomy—lost in concentration at his desk, which is shown cluttered both with objects of science and academia and those of domestic life. Surrounded by the accoutrements of every aspect of life, Rand is poised between the world of intellectual endeavor and the comforts of home. The portrait was a great success for Eakins, earning a place at the Philadelphia Centennial's (1876) international art exhibition, where it won critical acclaim as one of the best paintings in the exhibition."--Art Daily

3.

The Square Root of Beautiful (1830's)

JF Ptak Science Books 

The author of this manuscript, Charles Fisher, took a solitary pleasure in calculating the square roots of numbers from 2  to 589, not bothering to write down the 24 perfect squares to 576.  (The sqrt being r² = x for every non-negative real number x.)From the few bits that I have checked the man seems to have done a good job back there in the 1830’s.   (Note: we'll deal with square root of  3 at another time...)

I cannot determine where this book was written or who Mr. Fisher was, though it is possible that he was a (Baptist) Minister from the few short textual notes that pop up here and there.  

His work is pretty elegant.  Take for example his solution (and proof) for the square root (hereafter sqrt(x)) 309,

 

which the calculator living under this page says is 17.578395831246947    Mr. Fisher’s answer is 17 10/17 = 799/17=89401/989=309 100/989, and after some more involved arithmetic comes t the lovely proof number of   

4121989960986322995025 /13339773336525317136 or

309.00000000000000000007496379247

Which is getting pretty close.  

The only note that Mr. Fisher makes on his calculations is for the sqrt(193), which he notes as “the hardest number to find the approximate root of any between 1 and 200. I have found it after repeated trials and have this evening wrote it in as above. March 1^st, 1833. CF.”

•  MATHEMATICS Manuscript; the work of Charles Fisher.  Collection of work on square roots, from 2 to 589.  13.5 x 8.5 inches.  140pp. All gathered together, bound, in very thick paper wrappers.  Most of the manuscript is still bound, though several "signatures" are now loose within the binding. A good, solid copy. $1500.00