Recherches expérimentales sur le principe de la communication latérale du mouvement dans les fluides, appliqué à l'explication de différens phénomènes hydrauliques by VENTURI, Giovanni Battista - 1797

Paris: Houel et Ducros, Théophile Barrois, 1797. 1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Soft cover. 8vo (228 x 154 mm). 88 pp., 2 folding engraved plates by Picquet at the end. Signatures: A-E8 [chi]4. Bound in contemporary Italian xylographic paper wrappers, all pages uncut, spine titled in manuscript (wrappers dust-soiled and with chipping at foot, small wormholes in upper wrapper). Title somewhat brown-stained at foot; text little browned and dust-soiled at outer edges, occasional minor spotting. A very good, unsophisticated copy which got an export permit from the Italian authorities. ----

VERY RARE FIRST EDITION of this treatise important to the history of hydraulics, in which the postulation of the Venturi Effect - the reduction in pressure of a fluid that occurs when it flows through a conduit - first appears. "Venturi's classic and surprisingly rare work in experimental hydrodynamics, describing a series of experiments which he undertook in Italy, using Poleni's efflux apparatus. Venturi demonstrated the effect of eddies formed at abrupt changes of section and the change in discharge resulting from their elimination. He also studied the diffusion of eddies in open-channel flow and indicated that the same phenomena could be found in the atmosphere. This memoir was reviewed and recommended to the Institut by Bossut, Coulomb, and Prony, whose work is mentioned in the text along with that of d'Alembert, Mariotte, Guglielmini, and Daniel Bernoulli. This work was translated into English, appearing first in Nicholson's Journal and later in Tredgold's collection of articles on hydraulics. . ." (Roberts & Trend, p.340-41).
Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746-1822) was professor of philosophy at the University of Modena from 1775. He was sent to Paris as secretary to a delegation representing the Duke of Modena and stayed for a year and a half, coming into contact with many learned French scientists and publishing several treatises, including this one. While in Paris, Venturi also had the opportunity to study Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. His fields of research were mainly optics and color theory, but it is his research in hydraulics that has gained him the most fame.
References & Bibliography: Roberts & Trent, Bibliotheca Mechanica, pp. 339-41; Rouse & Ince, History of Hydraulics, pp. 136-137. - Visit our website to see more images!