Soap Bubbles: Their Colours and the Forces Which Mould Them (Romance of Science Series)
London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), 1912.
New and Englarged Edition, Tenth Thousand. Hardcover. "I do not suppose there is any one in this room who has not occasionally blown a common soap-bubble, and while admiring the perfection of its form, and the marvellous brilliancy of its colours, wondered how it is that such a magificent object can be so easily produced..." So begins this classic example of the popularization of science by the physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys (1855–1944), known for his innovative and experimental work on such things as high-speed photography of lightning and bullets in flight. This book collects a series of lectures Boys delivered in 1889-1890 before a juvenile audience and comes illustrated in 82 figures throughout. Chapters include: The Elastic Skin of Liquids, Capillary Attraction, Capillarity of Different Liquids, Pouring Oil on Troubled Water, Liquid Drops, Soap-Films: Their Tension and Curvature, Liquid Cylinders and Jets, A Water Telephone, Soap-Films on Frames, Soap-Bubbles and Ether, Experiments with Soap-Bubbles, The Soap-Bubble, Bubbles Other Than Soap-Bubbles, Composite Bubbles, Out-of-Door Bubbles, The Colour and Thickness of Bubbles, and Practical Hints.
6 7/8" X 4 7/8". xi, 13-190pp, plus one page of ads for other titles in the series. Presents nicely in protective archival jacket. Bound in brown ribbed cloth over boards, with upper board and spine lettered in black and gilt, and bright pictorial label of the color spectrum to upper board. Moderate wear to binding, with lean to spine, fraying to head and tail, light scattered rubbing, and bumping to extremities. Brown patterned floral endpapers. Previous owner's name to front free endpaper and verso of rear free endpaper. Binding is firm and sound. Very occasional pencilled mark to pages, else clean and unmarked. Very good. Item #17319
Price: $55.00