ALEMBERT (Jean le Rond d'). REFLEXIONS sur la Cause Generale des Vents. A Paris. 1747.

ALEMBERT (Jean le Rond d'). REFLEXIONS sur la Cause Generale des Vents. A Paris. 1747.
ALEMBERT (Jean le Rond d')
REFLEXIONS sur la Cause Generale des Vents. Piéce qui a remporté le Prix proposé par l' Académie Royale des Sciences de Berlin, pour l' année 1746. A Paris: Chez David l´ Aîné, 1747.

a-d4, e2, a-z4, aa4, bb1, A-R4, S1; [8], xxviii, 194, 138 pp.; 2 folding plates: il.; 225 mm. Contemporary full vellum; red edges

FIRST EDITION of this important award-winning work by Alembert. Published in the same year as the Berlin Latin edition, there is some debate as to which one was published first, but, according to a letter from Alembert to Euler, the French edition was already available in November 1746. The French edition has the original Latin text submitted to the competition, preceded by the French text which has several additions, as can be read in the "Avertissement": «dans la Traduction Françoise que j'en ai faite, différentes additions plus ou moins considérables, relative à plusieurs conséquences curieuses qu'on peut tirer de ma Théorie.» This is one of Alembert's most important works. Awarded by the Prussian Academy of Sciences, it is the first time that the application of differential equations in physics is mentioned, a technique later perfected by Euler. Very rare and important.