Hassler, Ferdinand R.:

$300 · Offered by William Reese Company

ELEMENTS OF THE GEOMETRY OF PLANES AND SOLIDS.... An important American geometric treatise, by one of the foremost geodesists and mathematicians of his day. Ferdinand Hassler came to America from Switzerland in 1805, and later served as a professor at West Point and Union College. He proposed the first official coast survey in 1807, and when the Survey was formally created in 1816, President Madison appointed him superintendent. Hassler held the position until April, 1818, when the post was made a purely military one. He spent the next decade farming and writing text books, of which this is a notable example with an unusual imprint. In 1832 he again became superintendent of the coast survey, a post he held until his death in 1843. Hassler also played a role in the publication of the narrative of the Lewis and Clark expedition, helping to figure the correct latitude and longitude markings on the large map.

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