Two volumes 8vo, (4)-vi-(2)-634 pages and 18 folding plates / 576 pages and 19 folding plates (title page is missing on volume II). binding : Contemporary quarter sheep, gilt flat spines. Foxings. Plates handled.
Second edition. Jean-Claude Eugène Péclet (1793-1857) was a French physicist, lecturer in physics at the École Normale and professor of physics at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. His Traité élémentaire de physique (Elementary Treatise on Physics) was a very popular and influential textbook in the 19th century, intended for physics education. The work covered various fields of physics of the time, from mechanics to optics, as well as heat and electricity. He is particularly known for his work on heat and heat transfer, which led to the concept of the Péclet number in fluid dynamics.