meteorites

People have reported rocks falling from the sky for thousands of years, but scientists long struggled to explain—or even accept—these accounts. This collection of nearly 200 documents follows the gradual recognition that meteorites originate beyond Earth, a discovery that challenged established scientific assumptions and opened a new way to study the solar system.

The documents range from ancient accounts by Pliny the Elder and Plutarch to 18th-century investigations by Domenico Troili and Ernst Chladni, whose 1794 treatise argued that certain stones and iron masses had extraterrestrial origins. Edward Howard’s chemical analyses and Jean-Baptiste Biot’s investigation of the 1803 meteorite shower at L’Aigle helped turn that controversial idea into an accepted scientific explanation.

Other key documents trace the development of meteorite classification and the study of their physical and chemical properties. Together, the works illustrate how observations, laboratory evidence, and careful investigation can overturn even deeply held scientific beliefs.

This collection is available for sale as part of the larger series: Machines, Minds, and the Cosmos. A full list of collection documents is available upon request.