Physical Problems in the Technology of Sound Cinema. Collection of articles, translated from the German, edited by P. N. Belikov and V. V. Furduyev. 1 p. 4 rubles 50 kopecks. GTTI, 1932.

Given the paucity of literature on acoustics in the Russian language, one must welcome the appearance of every book in this field. This is especially true when the latest foreign works are issued promptly enough—that is, not when they have already become obsolete, as often happens with us. In this case, works published in December 1931 appeared in Russian at the end of 1932. This is a major step forward for the publishing house. In content, the collection consists partly of works of general significance in electroacoustics and partly of works in the special field of sound cinema. The first group includes the following papers: E. Meyer, “Acoustic Spectra of Musical Instruments”; V. Yanovsky, “On the Perception of Sound Distortions”; G. Brendel, “Theory of Horn Loudspeakers”; G. Neumann, “Transient Processes in Electrodynamic Reproducers”; and G. Vogt, “The Three-Electrode Electrostatic Loudspeaker.” All these works touch on very timely problems of electroacoustics—problems on which intensive scientific work and technical progress are now taking place. The second group includes the articles: V. Kluge, “On the Properties of Photoelements”; D. Eggert, “On the Technique of Processing Phonograms”; G. Frieser, “On the Resolving Power of Photographic Layers”; G. Vogt, “On Light Sources for Sound Recording”; and G. Zöllner, “On the Method of Transverse-Width Recording.” All the articles are by leading specialists in their fields and are of definite interest. The translation is impeccable. The drawings have been reproduced quite satisfactorily, and it is unlikely that they could be made better on the poor grades of paper used. One can only wish that publications of this type, acquainting broad circles of readers with the newest foreign scientific literature, should enter our practice as widely as possible.

S. Rzhevkin