macdonald american elsevier (56 risultati)

Hardback. Condizione: Fair. Ah, Time-Sharing Computer Systems (1972) by M. V. Wilkes ? a title that now sounds faintly quaint, like a pamphlet explaining how to queue politely for the village telephone. Yet in its day it addressed one of the most radical ideas in computing: that a computer might serve more than one person at a time without immediately collapsing into a sulk. Written by the distinguished British computer pioneer Maurice Wilkes , this book comes from an era when computers were not sleek objects on desks but room-filling mechanical monarchs attended by technicians, humming cabinets, and an atmosphere of serious purpose. In the early days, if you wanted to run a program you did not casually open a laptop. You prepared your instructions with great care, submitted them to the machine?s operators, and waited ? sometimes patiently, sometimes less so ? while the computer processed jobs one at a time like a very expensive bureaucrat. Time-sharing changed that. The idea was beautifully simple and mildly revolutionary: instead of running one task to completion before starting another, a computer could rapidly switch between many users? programs, giving each a small slice of processing time in turn. To the human participants it would feel as though the computer were working solely for them. In reality the machine was juggling requests at dazzling speed, quietly distributing its attention across a room full of hopeful programmers. Wilkes? book explores the architecture, theory and practical difficulties of this system ? and difficulties there certainly were. Designing a time-sharing system required balancing processor scheduling, memory allocation, storage management and user interaction in a way that would keep dozens of programs from colliding disastrously. One careless piece of code could still bring the whole enterprise crashing down, which gave early system designers a healthy respect for careful engineering and an enduring distrust of overly enthusiastic graduate students. What makes Time-Sharing Computer Systems so fascinating today is that it documents a turning point. Prior to time-sharing, computing was largely a batch activity : programs submitted, results returned hours later. Time-sharing transformed computers into something more interactive. Suddenly users could type commands and see responses almost immediately. The computer began to feel less like an inscrutable calculating engine and more like a collaborative partner ? albeit one that occupied an entire room and required a cooling system worthy of a small power station. In many ways this book captures the moment when modern computing culture began to emerge. Concepts we now take for granted ? multiple users, interactive terminals, operating systems managing resources behind the scenes ? were once daring innovations requiring meticulous design and bold experimentation. Wilkes writes with the calm authority of someone helping to invent the rules while explaining them. The tone, naturally, is reassuringly serious. This is a book from a time when technical works assumed their readers possessed both patience and a tolerance for diagrams of system architecture. There are discussions of scheduling algorithms, memory management schemes, and the subtle art of ensuring that one user?s program does not accidentally devour the entire machine. It is not flashy, but it is quietly foundational ? the sort of engineering text that helped shape the way computers operate to this day. Seen from the twenty-first century, the irony is delightful. The world described here ? multiple people sharing the power of a single computer ? is precisely the principle behind modern cloud computing. Billions of users now rely on vast networks of machines that divide their processing power among countless tasks at once. The scale has changed, the machines have shrunk, but the essential idea Wilkes describes remains astonishingly relevant. This particular copy is in good condition , its pages still ready to escort the curious reader back to a time when computing was equal parts ambition, mathematics, and cautious optimism about what might happen if we persuaded a machine to serve several people simultaneously. For collectors of vintage computing literature, historians of technology, or anyone who enjoys glimpsing the moment when the digital world began learning how to multitask, Time-Sharing Computer Systems is a quietly important artifact. Available now from Crappy Old Books , where yesterday?s technological revolutions patiently await their next curious reader.

First Edition. Near fine copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the spine bands and panel edges. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description: [5], 307 pages : facsimiles ; 25 cm. Notes: Contains facsimile reprints of Webster's Academiarum examen, 1654; Vindiciae academiarum, by J. Wilkins and S. Ward, 1654, and Hall's Histrio mastix, 1654.Includes bibliographical references. Contents: Includes facsimile reprints of: Academiarum examen / by John Webster -- Vindiciae academiarum / by John Wilkins and Seth Ward -- Histrio-mastix: a whip for Webster / by Thomas Hall. Instead of Histrio-mastix some copies have: Vindiciae literarum / by Thomas Hall (p.261-335). Subjects: Webster, John 1610-1682Webster, John (Arzt)Science Study and teaching Great Britain History.1600-1699. Geschichte 1600-1700. 17th CenturyEducation History 17th century. Education ; Early works to 1800. Science History 17th century.Education history. Science history. Universities.Éducation ; Ouvrages avant 1800. 3 Kg.

Hardback. Condizione: Fair. Quick COBOL (1971) by L. Coddington is the sort of book that doesn?t so much teach you a programming language as invite you into a particular kind of civilisation ? one built from punched cards, careful indentation, and the quiet certainty that if you name your variables properly, the whole world will balance its books on time. COBOL, of course, is the language that never really went away. It simply retreated into the warm humming glow of banks, governments, insurance firms and payroll departments, where it has been loyally shuffling money and meaning around for decades, like a very polite but unstoppable clerk who refuses to retire. If you?ve ever wondered what the hidden engine room of the modern world looks like, this is part of it ? not neon cyberpunk, but crisp formality and a deep respect for records . And ?Quick? in 1971 doesn?t mean ?five-minute YouTube tutorial.? It means: Here is a sensible, structured route into a serious language, in a serious book, with serious intent. You can almost smell the chalk dust and hear someone explaining that computers are not toys, and neither is your syntax. This is a splendid time capsule from the era when: computing was corporate, terminals were precious, storage was expensive, and ?user-friendly? meant the manual had a reasonably clear index. Condition (Fair, but honourably so) This copy is Fair , with a quite slanted spine ? as if it spent a few years leaning over someone?s desk, patiently waiting for them to stop panicking and start declaring their data divisions correctly. The important bit: the binding is strong , and the pages are clean and good . So it?s structurally sound, perfectly readable, and ready to be consulted again by anyone who wants to learn the language of institutional endurance. Why you want it Because it?s both practical and oddly philosophical. COBOL is not trendy, and that?s the point. This is programming as administration, as logistics, as the quiet machinery behind civilisation. Owning Quick COBOL is like owning a manual for the bureaucratic heart of the 20th century ? and, inconveniently, quite a lot of the 21st. Perfect for: vintage computing collectors programmers with an unhealthy curiosity about how the world actually runs anyone who enjoys retro technical books with diagrams, discipline, and zero emojis and people who know the future was built by people in shirts who wrote code that looks like English and never apologised for it Crappy Old Books offers it with a crooked spine and clean pages ? a slightly lopsided relic from the era when ?software? wore a tie and ?quick? meant ?methodical.?

First Edition. Near fine copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the spine bands and panel edges. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description: [5], 307 pages : facsimiles ; 25 cm. Notes: Contains facsimile reprints of Webster's Academiarum examen, 1654; Vindiciae academiarum, by J. Wilkins and S. Ward, 1654, and Hall's Histrio mastix, 1654.Includes bibliographical references. Contents: Includes facsimile reprints of: Academiarum examen / by John Webster -- Vindiciae academiarum / by John Wilkins and Seth Ward -- Histrio-mastix: a whip for Webster / by Thomas Hall. Instead of Histrio-mastix some copies have: Vindiciae literarum / by Thomas Hall (p.261-335). Subjects: Webster, John 1610-1682Webster, John (Arzt)Science Study and teaching Great Britain History.1600-1699. Geschichte 1600-1700. 17th CenturyEducation History 17th century. Education ; Early works to 1800. Science History 17th century.Education history. Science history. Universities.Éducation ; Ouvrages avant 1800. 1 Kg.

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. Condizione sovraccoperta: Good. 1st Edition.

Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. First Edition; First Printing. Fine first edition, first printing. Former owner initials on front fly. Non price clippes ($15.00) , lightly shelf rubbed DJ, small wear and tear to edges and a blue round sticker near bottom of spine, bottom corner of front DJ flap is clipped. * (We ship most books six days a week and will confirm with tracking number for domestic orders or customs number for non domestic) *; 8vo.

Hardback. Condizione: Good. Introduction to Operating Systems (1971) by A. J. T. Colin is a charmingly understated title for a subject that is, in reality, the invisible stage manager of modern life. Operating systems are the reason anything works at all, yet they rarely get applause. They just stand in the wings, shuffling tasks, managing memory, and quietly preventing everything from collapsing into chaos ? a bit like a competent civil servant, but with fewer tea breaks and more interrupts. And this is 1971 , when ?operating system? didn?t mean a colourful interface and a friendly app store. It meant big machines, serious institutions, and the thrilling possibility that your expensive computer might be persuaded to do more than one thing without having a nervous breakdown. This is the era of batch jobs, time-sharing, job control, scheduling, spooling, and the sort of concepts that sound dry until you realise they?re basically the rules that stop a computer from turning into a very fast paperweight. Colin?s approach is wonderfully of its time: methodical, clear, and quietly confident that the reader is capable of learning difficult things without being emotionally coddled. There are no ?quick wins? here. No motivational graphics. No friendly mascots. Just proper explanations, likely accompanied by diagrams that look like they were drawn with a ruler and a firm belief in correctness. The real joy is that this book captures the moment when computing was transitioning from ?one program, one machine, one job? into something more ambitious ? systems that could share resources, keep order, and serve multiple users without collapsing into a queue of despair. In other words, it?s about teaching the computer to behave like a well-run building rather than a single-use workshop. And yes, there?s something deliciously ironic about reading a 1971 operating systems textbook now, in a world where your phone is running an OS capable of doing roughly everything except making you feel calm. Back then, the grand challenge was allocating memory. Today, the grand challenge is stopping your operating system from politely suggesting you ?try a mindfulness app? while it updates itself in the background. Condition (Good, and proudly functional) This copy is in Good condition ? the ideal state for a book about systems doing their job properly. It presents well, holds together firmly, and has clearly survived the decades without being used as a doorstop for a server room. If it has any signs of age, they?re the honest kind: a bit of mellowing, a bit of history, but still solid, readable, and ready for another round of education. Why you want it Because it?s vintage computing with real substance. This isn?t nostalgia for blinking lights ? it?s the intellectual infrastructure that made modern computing possible. It?s also a brilliant artefact for anyone who enjoys the deep mechanics of how machines are organised, controlled, and prevented from fighting over resources like toddlers in a toy shop. Perfect for: collectors of classic computing texts operating-systems nerds and students who like seeing the foundations programmers who enjoy the archaeology of ?how we got here? anyone who suspects the world is run by scheduling, queues, and polite rules Crappy Old Books offers it as a clean, sturdy survivor from the age of mainframes and disciplined prose ? a 1971 guide to the unseen system that keeps the whole machine from falling apart. Which, frankly, is also what we all want.

Hardback. Condizione: Good. Use of Files (1973) by D. R. Judd is one of those gloriously straight-faced titles that could only come from the era when computing was a serious business conducted in serious rooms by serious people who didn?t want excitement, they wanted order . Not ?content.? Not ?data.? Not ?the cloud.? Just? files . Plain, sensible, obedient files, lined up and doing what they?re told. And yet, behind this modest title lurks the beating heart of modern life. Because whether you?re running a bank, an airline, a national insurance scheme, or simply trying to stop your own paperwork from multiplying like rabbits, everything eventually becomes a question of: where do we put the information, how do we find it again, and how do we stop it becoming a disaster? In 1973, ?files? meant more than a folder on your desktop. It meant systems. Structures. Records. Access patterns. The thrilling administrative romance of making information behave . This is the kind of book that sits quietly at the foundation of civilisation, like plumbing: unglamorous, essential, and only truly appreciated when it fails catastrophically. Judd writes with that wonderfully calm, slightly stern technical tone of the early 1970s ? a period when documentation assumed the reader was competent, attentive, and not emotionally fragile. There?s no ?quick start.? No ?in five easy steps.? No motivational pep talk. Just a steady, methodical explanation of how to organise and handle information properly, in an age when storage was expensive, memory was small, and every choice had consequences. The book has the faint aura of the mainframe: humming, reliable, quietly judging you. And the irony, of course, is delicious. Fifty years later we are drowning in files. Files everywhere. Files inside files. Files you didn?t create and can?t delete. Files auto-synced, duplicated, cached, versioned, and politely resurrected by a service you cancelled in 2019. We live in a world where the use of files is no longer a technical question but a moral one. Which is why this book is such a satisfying artefact: it captures the moment when people still believed that with enough careful thought, the file problem could be solved. Condition (Good, like a well-kept cabinet) This copy is in Good condition ? fittingly tidy for a book about keeping things tidy. It presents well, holds together properly, and has clearly not spent its life face-down under a coffee mug. It looks like it has been respected, perhaps even consulted, and then sensibly returned to its place ? the highest praise any book on files can receive. Why you want it Because it?s a crisp, practical slice of early information-systems thinking ? and a time capsule from the age when the digital world was being built with caution and discipline, rather than apps that ask for your contacts ?for a better experience.? Perfect for: collectors of vintage computing and information science anyone who loves obscure but foundational technical books people who enjoy the quiet grandeur of systems and structure the sort of reader who finds comfort in indexes, headings, and orderly thinking Crappy Old Books offers Use of Files exactly as intended: solid, sensible, and quietly important. A 1973 manual for the management of information ? from back when we still believed information could be managed.

Hardback. Condizione: Good. Ah yes, Computer Handling of Chemical Structure Information (1971) ? a title so magnificently unapologetic that it manages to sound both wildly futuristic and crushingly administrative at the same time. Written by M. F. Lynch, J. M. Harrison, W. G. Town and J. E. Ash, and published by the sternly dependable alliance of MacDonald and American Elsevier, this is a book from the glorious early age of computing, when the idea of getting a machine to understand chemistry still had the thrilling whiff of science fiction about it. Today, of course, we take it for granted that a computer can store, search, sort and juggle chemical structures while also distracting us with emails and weather alerts. But in 1971 this was serious frontier work. The challenge was not merely one of chemistry, nor merely one of computing, but of persuading these two extremely complicated realms to sit down together and behave themselves. How, after all, do you teach a machine to cope with molecules, rings, chains, bonds, substitutions and all the rest of the gloriously fiddly architecture of chemistry? It is one thing for a chemist to glance at a structural formula and nod wisely. It is quite another to reduce that same formula to something a large humming box can process without existential complaint. That is the territory this book inhabits: the fascinating, slightly forbidding borderland where punch-card logic meets molecular elegance. It is concerned with systems of representation, indexing, retrieval and classification ? in other words, the hidden bureaucracy of scientific knowledge. Not the dramatic bubbling flask end of chemistry, but the equally vital question of how one actually organises chemical information so that it can be found again before the heat death of the universe. There is something wonderfully ambitious about a book like this. It comes from a period when computers were still enormous, temperamental, and far less interested in helping ordinary people than in quietly revolutionising specialist disciplines from the inside. Here we see that revolution in progress. The authors are grappling with problems that now underpin huge areas of cheminformatics, database science and pharmaceutical research, but they do so in the measured, deliberate tone of people who know they are building part of the future with graphs, coding schemes and a deep faith in orderly systems. And what a future it promised. This is a world where the proper encoding of a benzene ring is not a niche concern but the sort of thing upon which the whole modern edifice of searchable chemical knowledge may eventually depend. It is, in its own dry and noble way, a book about translation: taking the exquisite visual language of chemistry and converting it into forms that computers can store, compare and retrieve. It may not sound romantic, but there is a peculiar beauty in the effort. Humanity had spent centuries discovering substances, naming compounds and drawing structures, and then along came computing to say: splendid, now please put all of that into a system. Naturally, being a technical volume from 1971, it does not exactly bounce along like a thriller. It is dense, precise and entirely untroubled by the modern need to be ?accessible? It assumes, with admirable confidence, that the reader has turned up because they genuinely want to know about machine methods for handling chemical structure information, and not because they were hoping for a light diversion before bed. In that sense, it is refreshingly honest. No gimmicks, no simplification, no brightly coloured sidebars pretending data structures are fun for the whole family. Just proper intellectual machinery, laid out with seriousness and care. Still, that is part of the charm. For collectors of vintage scientific and computing texts, this is exactly the sort of book that radiates period authority. It belongs to that lovely moment when computers were beginning to colonise every corner of specialist knowledge, and each new application arrived with its own breed of optimism. Somewhere between chemistry, information science and early computing history, Computer Handling of Chemical Structure Information captures a moment when people were teaching machines to think, very carefully, about molecules. This copy is in good condition , which is pleasingly appropriate for a book devoted to the proper storage and retrieval of complex structures. It has survived the decades with its academic dignity intact, ready to sit on the shelf of a chemist, historian of computing, lover of obscure technical literature, or anyone who enjoys books whose titles sound like they were generated by a committee in lab coats. In short, this is not merely a book about chemistry, nor merely a book about computers. It is a monument to the heroic age of making information behave. If you have ever wished to own a volume that embodies the exact moment when molecular structure met machine logic and both agreed to proceed in an orderly manner, then here it is. Available now from Crappy Old Books , where even the sternest technical masterpieces get a second chance to bewilder and impress.

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. 1st Edition. Copy right page states 'First Published 1974"; no other printing or dates. Aqua blue cloth binding is clean with light shelf wear along edges of boards. Gilt titling on spine slightly visible. No DJ. Previous owner name discretely written at top of inside cover; remaining interior pages have no writing, tears or creases. Binding firm - no loose pages. This is NOT an ex-lib or remainder.

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. Dust Jacket Included. 1st Edition. 4 leaves, 413 pp; illus. Original cloth. Very Good, in dust jacket. This copy does NOT have any library markings. First Edition.

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. B/w (illustratore). 1st Edition. Frontispiece, xxxii, 208 pp; 4 illus. Original cloth. Very Good, in very good dust jacket. Inscribed: 'For Lenny/Danny Gasman'. Signature ('Bushkoff' of former owner (Leonard Bushkoff, 1932-2010) on flyleaf. History of Science Library. US ISBN: 0444196641. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. 1st Edition. Frontispiece, xxxii, 208 pp; 4 illus. Original cloth. Very Good, in very good dust jacket. Inscribed: 'For Lenny/Danny Gasman'. Signature ('Bushkoff' of former owner (Leonard Bushkoff, 1932-2010) on flyleaf. History of Science Library. UK ISBN: 0356034119. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Fine. 1st Edition. Frontispiece, xiii, 269 pp; 8 plates. Original cloth. Near Fine, in near fine dust jacket (price-clipped). History of Science Library. ISBN for British issue: 035602699X. Copy of R. J. F. Carnon, with his signature dated July 1971. 'I owe a very deep debt of gratitude to the Librarian and the the [sic] staff of the University Library of Edinburgh, especially to Mr. R. J. F. Carnon' (Acknowledgements, p. v; Carnon crossed out the second 'the' and wrote 'of'). Whitteridge was Lecturer in the History of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Fine. 1st Edition. Frontispiece, xiii, 269 pp; 8 plates. Original cloth. Near Fine, in near fine dust jacket (price-clipped). History of Science Library. ISBN for American issue: 0444196633. Copy of R. J. F. Carnon, with his signature dated July 1971. 'I owe a very deep debt of gratitude to the Librarian and the the [sic] staff of the University Library of Edinburgh, especially to Mr. R. J. F. Carnon' (Acknowledgements, p. v; Carnon crossed out the second 'the' and wrote 'of'). Whitteridge was Lecturer in the History of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Couverture rigide. Condizione: Bon. Condizione sovraccoperta: Satisfaisant. Format:14,5/22.

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. 1st Edition. 1972 first edition hardback in very good condition. A hint of dust spotting to top page edge. No other marks, clean and bright, tight binding. The blue cloth boards have negligible shelf wear. In its original, unclipped dust jacket with a little wear to the top edge and slight sunning to spine, no major flaw. Items are dispatched the same or the following working day. Please note our excellent customer feedback.

Series: History of science library, primary sources. 8vo. Cloth. Ink ownership signature of David C. Lindberg. Very good. Lindberg writes in the volume: "Imperfect copy: final treatise is the wrong one; press run destroyed save for a few copies, of which this is one." The last paper was a reprinting of Thomas Hall, Histrio-Mastix, but instead they reprinted Hall's Vindiciae Literarum, (1654), pp.261-335 pp. ISBN: 444196595 / 444-19659-5.

Hardcover. Condizione: Nr Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Nr Fine. 1st Edition. Illustrated dust-jacket, minimal wear. Book bound in turquoise cloth with gilt titles, clean bright and square. Contents unmarked, no inscriptions, a scattering of little spots to closed page edge otherwise fine.

Good condition, hardback, with dust jacket. First English ed.

vi+335pp. 8vo. Original boards with dustwrapper. Includes facsimiles of three 17th century pamphlets.

Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Fine. 1st Edition. 8vo. Black cloth, spine lettered in silver, xi, 159pp. Illustrated. Bookplate on ff/ endpaper, a small bruise on spine foot, else fine in clipped but fine d/w. A discussion on the achievements and possibilities of earth satellites.

1ST EDITION. VERY GOOD COPY IN VERY GOOD CELLOPHANE PROTECTED DUSTWRAP. ILLUSTRATED AND THERE ARE PENCIL ANNOTATIONS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK. PREVIOUS OWNER`S INSCRIPTION ON F.E.P. AND PAGE REFERENCES ON FRONT PASTE-DOWN.

Hardback. Gweneth Whitteridge, Macdonald and American Elsevier, London and New York. Author: Gweneth WhitteridgeBinding: HardbackPublished: Macdonald and American Elsevier, London and New York, 1971Condition remarks:Book: GoodJacket: Wear and tearPages: GoodMarkings: No markingsThis book examines the life and work of William Harvey, a pivotal figure in the history of medicine. Harvey made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the circulatory system. His meticulous research and innovative thinking revolutionized the field of physiology. Readers gain insights into the scientific context of Harvey's time and the lasting impact of his discoveries. Hardback.

Hardcover. Condizione: Near Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. First Edition. Dustwrapper wrapped in clear plastic.

Hardcover. Condizione: Near Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Very Good. 1st Edition. Dark green cloth with gilt sp. lettering, virtually pristine., f/piece + xiv + 269, 7 further plates; only fault is small prev. owner's sig. tp front end-paper, otherwise clean, tight and unmarked, though faint tanning flecks to top edge of text-block; unclipped jacket has a few tanning spots to spine and small internally closed nick top back edge, otherwise clean and unworn, will add protective sleeve when ordered. Author was eminent Harvey scholar and editor of 2 vols of his manuscripts. 16 cm x 24 cm.

First Edition. Fine copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the spine bands and panel edges. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. ; 335 pages; Description: 335 p. : facsims ; 24 cm. Subjects: Webster, John (1610-1682) . Science - Study and teaching --Great Britain --History --17th century. Notes: Contains facsimile reprints of: Academiarum examen. Includes bibliographical references. - [Series: History of science library. Primary sources]. 3 Kg.

Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition. 8vo. xi, 201 pp. Blue cloth lettered in gilt at spine. Illustrated jacket. A few small tears along edges, toning. Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. In archival mylar sleeve.

Hardcover. Condizione: Near Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition. xiv + Reprint [xix, 117, [1] pp; illus.]; pp. 119-41 contain 78 illus. Original cloth. Near Fine, in near fine dust jacket. History of Science Library: Primary Sources. 'The contents have always been a source of puzzlement and despair for serious-minded scholars. Certainly Hero describes some useful implements - a fire pump and a water organ - but the rest are playthings, puppet shows, or apparatuses for parlor magic. Trick jars that give out wine or water separately or in constant proportions, singing birds and sounding trumpets, puppets that move when a fire is lit on an altar, animals that drink when they are offered water - how can one respect an author who takes all these frivolities in earnest? But Hero's treatment of these childish entertainments is quite matter-of-fact; he is interested in the way they work. . . . Hero was a teacher of physics, of which pneumatics is part. The book is a text for students, and Hero describes instruments students need to know . . . Playthings take up so much of the book because such toys were very much in vogue at the time and the science of pneumatics was used for very little else. . . . There is a slightly different text, found only in four manuscripts, that is generally designated Pseudo-Hero. . . . This text cannot have been written later than A. D. 500 . . . Since Pseudo-Hero has the same figures as Hero, the figures cannot have been changed after A. D. 500; and there is every reason to believe that they were drawn by Hero himself. A complete set of these illustrations has been published in a reprint of Woodcroft's translation of the Pneumatics [offered here]. The Pneumatics was by far the most read of Hero's works during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; more than 100 manuscripts of it have been found' (A. G. Drachmann in D. S. B. VI: 311-12).

First Edition. Fine cloth copy in a good if somewhat edge-torn (with some minor loss) and dust-toned dust-wrapper, now mylar-sleeved. Remains quite well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description; x, 209 pages ; 25 cm. Series; History of science library. Notes; Includes bibliographical references. Subjects; Hoffman, Freidrich. Hooke, Robert 1635-1703. Digby, Kenelm 1603-1665. History of Medicine. History, 17th Century. Medicine - Early works to 1800. Medicine - History - 17th century. Medicine - Philosophy - History - 17th century. History of Medicine, 17th Century. Metaphysics. 3 Kg.