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A. Sommerfeld. Atomic Structure and Spectra. Part I. Translated from the German under the editorship of A. F. Ioffe and P. I. Lukirsky. Pp. VIII + 403. State Publishing House, Moscow—Leningrad, 1926. Price 3 rubles 75 kopecks.

The first part of Sommerfeld’s book Atomic Structure and Spectra has at last appeared in Russian. One cannot but welcome this step by the State Publishing House. It is often asserted that books of so specialized a character, making high demands on the reader’s preparation, need not be published in Russian translation: specialists will read them in the original, while they are inaccessible to non-specialists. This assertion is hardly correct in general, and in any case is not applicable here. First, even for people who know the subject, reading a book in a foreign language often presents certain difficulties (recall, for example, Planck’s statement welcoming the publication of Bohr’s articles in German); second, it is entirely unclear why the stock of good books available in Russian should not be enriched, even if they were written by non-Russian authors. After all, the very existence of such books is one of the factors in the dissemination of knowledge. The fewer obstacles (even in the form of language) that stand between the student and the subject, the faster study proceeds. Especially now, when the student body as a whole has a poor command of foreign languages, this consideration carries particular force. The example of Western practice confirms these thoughts. Despite the enormous quantity of original scientific literature there (incomparable with ours), in German, French, and English translations we find almost all the best that appears in other languages.

True, these general considerations are partly paralyzed by the cramped condition in which our book market finds itself, and by the need to reckon with the rapid sale of books. And indeed, although the purchase of books published abroad is very difficult, and books, especially German ones, are often more expensive than Russian books, nevertheless special translated (as, incidentally, also original) books cannot count on a very broad and immediate sale. But precisely with regard to Sommerfeld’s book this danger is not very well founded. Despite its high scientific merits and the seriousness of its treatment, it appears at the same time accessible and interesting to very broad circles of readers, as is also noted by the editor of the Russian edition, Academician A. F. Ioffe.

The translation was made from the 3rd German edition, but much of importance that distinguishes the 4th edition has been included in the form of additions. The translation is very good, as might have been expected from the names of the editors and translators. The external appearance of the book is satisfactory, although there are misprints, but not too many and not very serious. The greatest objection is raised by the manner of rendering foreign names. The names are given in Russian transcription, but an attempt has been made, for each name occurring for the first time, ...

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to provide a foreign name in parentheses with the original transcription. This is hardly successful. Quite apart from the fact that this attempt is not consistently carried through (some foreign names occur several times, others not even once), it does not achieve its purpose in so extensive a book. Indeed, a reader who encounters on page 200 a Russian spelling of a name that raises doubts has no practical possibility of finding the page on which this name is accompanied by the original transcription. Thus these foreign inscriptions merely clutter the text of the book to no purpose. On the other hand, foreign spellings are necessary, since in rendering foreign names there is often room for arbitrariness. Even in the text of the book under review, on p. 265, we encounter in the figure the spelling “Laiman,” while in the text it is “Lyman” (Lyman); on p. 55 it says: “the discovery of actinium by Hahn and Meitner (Lise Meitner),” and so on. It seems to me that it would have been most rational to leave in the text only the Russian spelling, and to append at the end of the book an alphabetical list of all names in the original and in the corresponding Russian transcription. All the more so since, in general, the inclusion at the end of Russian books of indexes of authors and subjects should be cultivated; this is what makes German books so convenient to use and what French books usually lack.

In conclusion, one may wish that the second half of the book appear as soon as possible. Although it will present more specialized and difficult chapters of atomic theory, its appearance is nevertheless to be desired in every possible way.

Gr. Landsberg.