Riddles of Science
New York: Liveright Inc., 1932. First Edition. 8vo, 8 5/8 x 5 7/8 inches (219 x 147 mm) 387 pp. With in-text illustrations and schematic drawings. Publisher’s tan cloth, stamped in black with titles and decorative borders. Original dust jacket printed in brown and orange, unclipped. Cloth clean and sound with the slightest bumping at spine tips. Dust jacket with some chipping to edges, including a triangular loss (approximately 1 inch) at the top of the front panel; otherwise intact and presentable.
First edition of this wide-ranging and engaging survey of scientific problems and ideas by Sir J. Arthur Thomson, the noted Scottish biologist, educator, and prolific popularizer of science. Devoted throughout his career to fostering “biological thinking,” Thomson here addresses fundamental questions across the natural sciences, combining clarity of exposition with philosophical reflection. A longtime contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, he played a significant role in promoting the teaching of natural history and scientific literacy in the early 20th century.
A solid example of Thomson’s influential scientific writing, increasingly collectible in its original jacket, and representative of early 20th-century efforts to make complex scientific ideas accessible to a broad readership.
A rare instance when the work of a British author is first published in American (Liverlight February 1932). The British first edition had a slightly different title, Scientific Riddles, and was published later by Williams & Norgate in mid-1932.
Condition: Near Fine / Very good.
Item number: 2365
Price: $75.00
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