HUBBLE, Edwin - The Realm of the Nebulæ

Published by Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, London, 1936. First British Edition of the American Yale imprint. Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, London 1936. Gr.-8°. With 14 plates on art paper and 16 text figures. vii, 1 Bl., 210 S. Publisher s blue cloth binding with gilt spine and original dust jacket. Copy from the library "The Theosophical Society Shanghai, China" [Shanghai Lodge]. Scarce first edition in book form of these lectures by the foremost observational astronomer of the 20th century, illustrated with 15 photographic plates, including frontispiece, and numerous in-text charts and diagrams. Hubble s scientific achievements made him the foremost observational astronomer of the 20th century and one of the most influential scientists of all time in changing our understanding of the universe… The rapidly increasing number of nebulae observed and the estimated 150,000 within reach of existing instruments emphasized the need for a classification scheme… Hubble s classification scheme was announced in the 1920s, contemporaneously with his demonstration that the nebulae are galaxies, and his diagram of the sequence of nebular types became famous in the 1930s… Recognition of Hubble s achievements and stature included invitations to present prestigious lectures… [among them] the Silliman Lectures at Yale in 1935, published as The Realm of the Nebulae… More popular indices of Hubble s fame are the appearance of his face on the cover of Time magazine in 1948 and the attachment of his name to the space telescope in 1990… Hubble s cosmology should be appreciated for the assumptions it overthrew, for the vistas it opened and as one of the great accomplishments of the human intellect (ANB). Among his other achievements, Hubble proved that the universe is not static he changed no less a mind than Albert Einstein s on the subject thus verifying what has become known as the Big Bang theory. See Simmons, Scientific 100 30. Cover binding slightly rubbed, bumped and stained. Endpapers slightly shaded with glue. Front endpaper and title page with small discreet Chinese stamp, otherwise a very good copy. Very uncommon in the dustwrapper.