Bibliography

ARTHUR HAAS, Introduction to Theoretical Physics, vol. I, GTTI, 1933, translated from the German by L. Tumm ? erman.

Until recently, Russian educational literature had no brief yet accessible guide for beginners on modern theoretical physics. The translation of Haas’s book, which has gone through six German and two English editions, is therefore very valuable. This book, as the author himself writes in the preface, is the fruit of almost fifteen years of work and seeks to give a survey of the present state of all theoretical physics. The course consists of two volumes, of which the first is devoted to classical physics apart from atomistic conceptions. This volume consists of three sections: the first covers the mechanics of a material point, systems, and of rigid and deformable bodies, and contains, in addition, the general theory of vector fields, oscillations, and potential; the second section is devoted to the theory of the electromagnetic field and light, and the third to the principles of thermodynamics and their applications to gases and solutions. The material given in the book does not exhaust the questions touched upon in it—this was not the author’s aim—but it is quite sufficient to prepare the reader for reading monographs on individual problems of theoretical physics. The author’s exposition is simple, clear, and deeply thought out; but the complete exclusion from the material of volume I of molecular-kinetic conceptions, as well as, at times perhaps, an excessive striving for mathematical rigor, makes the book somewhat abstract for an “Introduction.” Possibly this impression will be smoothed out after the appearance of volume II, which, we may hope, will not be too long delayed.

The translation has been done so well that, while reading, one hardly notices that one is dealing with a translation. Only in a few places have small inaccuracies slipped through: thus, for example, on p. 48, “Führungsgeschwindigkeit” is rendered in Russian by the term “directing velocity,” whereas the term “entrainment velocity” would be more exact here. One further wish may be expressed concerning the Russian edition: since references to preceding material are everywhere given in the text with an indication of paragraphs, not pages, it would be desirable also to indicate everywhere at the top of the page the number of the current paragraph. This would considerably facilitate the reader’s use of the book.

K. Teodorczyk