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“Non ex libris solum, sed ex rebus ipsis scientiam quaeritis.”Gvilielmi gilberti colcestrensis, medici londinensis, de magnete magneticisqve corporibvs, et de magno magnete tellure; phsiologia noua, plurimis & argumentis, & experimentis demonstrata William Gilbert (1540-1603) Londini: excvdebat P. Short, 1600 First edition QC751 G44 1600This the only published work of...

“[Joseph] Banks reported in 1788 to the British East India Company that the climate in parts of northeast India was perfect for growing Camillia sinensis, the bush that produces tea leaves. The plant turned out to be indigenous to the Assam area, which eventually became...

“…in which true images of fish are displayed.”Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus ver piscium effigies Guillaume Rondelet (1507-1566) Lugduni: M. Bonhomme, 1554-1555 First edition QL41 R6Guillaume Rondelet was one of the first of sixteenth century scientists to break with the eighteen-hundred-year-old tradition among natural historians of quoting or...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="233"] Liber Moamin falconrii de Scientia venandi per aves et quadrupeds[/caption]“In quantum enim sunt reges non habent propriam delectationem nisi venationem” — Moamin“A wise falcon hides his talons.” — ProverbFacsimile. The so-called “Wiener Moamin” was created on the Italian penisula in the...

Click to view slideshow.The J. Willard Marriott Library has a great collection of seminal science works in its Rare Books Department. Visit level 3 of the library to see images from some of these books. Join us for a lecture on September 28.Frontiers of Science~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~From...

Remember snow? Winter is coming! Last January, Dean Henry White, College of Science, and Ben Bromley, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, trudged through the snow to Rare Books to look at our first edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia (1687) and other books...

"These questions are not technical questions; they are political and social questions, and the answers given to them may affect all mankind for generations. In thinking about them the men on the project have been thinking as citizens of the United States vitally interested in the welfare...