[Phys-l] rare books online :-)

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

I just stumbled upon some cool sites.  Let's start with:
  http://www.rarebookroom.org/

They have scanned in a bunch of rare books and made them
available on the web.

For example, they have the first edition (1686) of
  Isaac Newton,
  _PHILOSOPHIAE NATURALIS PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA_
  http://www.rarebookroom.org/Control/nwtpnc/index.html?page=16

Note by way of contrast there are lots of places to find the
third edition (1726) ... but this is the only place where I've
found the complete first edition.

There's not much difference in meaning between the various 
editions, and the later editions have a more modern typeface 
(which makes them easier to read) ... but there is -- for me at 
least -- something special about looking at the first edition.

They have small images and large images;  push the button that
shows [small rectangle] -> [large rectangle].  

They try to prevent you from saving a copy of the images, but 
their security is pathetic ("security by obscurity").



They also have 
  Galileo Galilei,
  _Siderius Nuncius_
  http://www.rarebookroom.org/Control/galsid/index.html?page=23

I have not found anywhere a scan of
  _Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze_ 
  (1638)

If anybody turns this up, now or later, please let me know.

==============================
Another cool site is
  http://oll.libertyfund.org/

They have a fair number of old books, although their coverage of
sciences is a bit spotty.

They provide high-quality .pdf files, so you can easily zoom in
and out ... and easily save a private copy.

==============================
Of course there is always
 http://www.google.com/books

... although they don't have much in the way of scans of rare books.