CALIFORNIA, HYDRAULIC MINING, AND ISAAC NEWTON

This week we're posting two books in the collection as a way of remembering two events.

First, on July 7 in 1846, the United States officially annexed what is now California, following the surrender of a Mexican garrison at Monterey.  We searched the Bullis data base for "California" books and found this entry:

A Practical Treatise on Hydraulic Mining in California written by Augustus Jesse Bowie and published by D. Van Nostrand Company in 1889. This book contains a "description of the use and construction of ditches, flumes, wrought-iron pipes, and dams; flow of water on heavy grades, and its applicability, under pressure, to mining."

We're recommending this book to any of you who are interested in California history or hydraulic mining (and currently hydrofracturing). Please feel free to stop by and take a serious look at this book, as it contains maps, diagrams, tables, and detailed drawings that illustrate the finer points of a process that was the forerunner of today's methods.

Second, since Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work setting out his mathematical principles of natural philosophy, was published on July 5, 1687, we again looked in the Bullis records for that work. No hits, but we did find another which we think you'll also find interesting:

The Life of Sir Isaac Newton by David Brewster, published in 1831 by J. and J. Harper.

Principia Mathematica is considered one of the most important works every written. You can take a look at it online and you can find out more about the author when you stop by the Bullis Room and look at Sir David Brewster's book. (As an aside: Sir David was a Scottish physicist, mathematician and astronomer who invented the kaleidoscope and made major improvements to the stereoscope.)

One other date this week caught our attention: On July 26, 1535, St. Thomas More was executed in England for high treason. But that's for another post.