Sur les variations séculaires des orbites des quartres planétes intérieures in Comptes Rendus 119 No. 24 pp. 983-986, 1894

Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1894. 1st Edition. ORIGINAL WRAPS, FIRST EDITION OF SIMON NEWCOMB'S IMPORTANT STUDY OF THE MOTION OF THE MOON AND IN THE ACCURACY OF HANSEN'S LUNAR TABLES. Sometimes known as "America's first great astronomer", Newcomb was an American-Canadian astronomer, autodidactic polymath, applied mathematician (Physics Today, Simon Newcomb, America's First Great Astronomer" in Physics Today 62, 2, Feb. 2009). By 1900, he "was arguably the most renowned astronomer in the world. European scientific institutions and societies showered him with their highest honors, including the 1890 Copley Medal, awarded by the Royal Society of London. Fellow Americans celebrated his achievements with honorary degrees, and in awarding him the first Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal in 1898, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific proclaimed in its citation that he had "done more than any other American since [Benjamin] Franklin to make American science respected and honored throughout the entire world" (ibid. Despite the many important works over the course of his lifetime, Newcomb saw the accurate prediction of the motions of the Moon as "the ultimate challenge" and he devoted the last years of his life to it (ibid).

In this work it "became clear that the moon was starting to deviate from its predicted position. Hansen had fitted his theory to observations back to 1750, and in order to study the deviation it was desirable to make use of even earlier observations. Surmising that older records of occultations of stars by the moon existed in the archives of the Paris Observatory, Newcomb visited Paris during the seige of 1871 and located a wealth of high-quality observations extending back to 1672. His analysis of these and other observations revealed that Hansen's tables were considerably in error prior to 1750" and this work is considered an important study on the deviations in planetary motions (Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. 10, p.34). CONDITION & DETAILS: Paris: Gauthier-Villars. Original paper wraps. 4to. [11.25 x 9 inches]. Some wear and spotting at the edge of the front wrap (see photo). The interior is evenly toned and clean. Very good condition.