Fondren Library's History of Science collection includes important volumes of physics, mathematics, and astronomy tracing the history of science. The collection includes four rare astronomy books: Nicolaus Copernicus' masterpiece, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (1566), which marks the dawn of modern science; Alessandro Piccolomini's La Sfera del Mondo (1579), considered the first handbook for stargazers; Cornelius Gemma's De Naturae Divinis Characterismis (1575) relating to the nova of 1572 and a comet in 1556; and Johannes Kepler's Tabulae Rudolpinae (1675), the first English text of Kepler's tables based on the laws of planetary motion. Giovanni Riccioli's Almagestum novum astronomiam (1651) was added as Fondren Library's millionth volume in 1979.
The material on this site is developed by or in collaboration with the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.
Have a question about Rice history or special collections at Fondren Library? Email Fondren Library's Woodson Research Center at woodson@rice.edu, or call 713-348-2586.
