substances at extremely high pressures, attained by no one before then, reaching 12,000 and even 20,000 atm. (A description of the experiments carried out and an account of the results obtained are contained in Bridgman’s book The Physics of High Pressures, which is appearing in Russian translation.)

The book to which the present note is devoted is written on a subject that deserves great attention. It is known that the application of the two principles of thermodynamics to various classes of physical and chemical phenomena makes it possible to derive many laws that could not have been obtained by other methods. This power of the thermodynamic principles proves, however, to be still insufficiently used, and Bridgman has succeeded in doing, in this respect, much that is new in such an important field as the electrical properties of metals. A systematic resolution of the questions arising here is given in the book for the first time. Separate chapters are devoted to thermoelectric phenomena, the Volta phenomenon, thermionic phenomena, the influence of surface charge on vapor pressure and on the emission of electrons in fields of great intensity, thermoelectric phenomena in crystals, transverse galvanomagnetic and thermomagnetic phenomena. The author arrives, among other things, at a very curious general conclusion, namely that the classical concepts of the theory of electricity are too narrow, do not cover the whole field of experience, and therefore need revision.

It would be very desirable for Bridgman’s interesting and important book to appear in Russian translation—all the more so since there is no other book that could be set alongside it.

A. Bichinsky

EDMUND C. STONER, Magnetism and Matter. O. Methuen, 1934, XV, 474 pp., 87 diagrams, Sc. 21.

E. STONER, Magnetism and Matter.

The present book is a reworking of the work by the same author, Magnetism and Atomic Structure, which appeared in 1926. His small book Magnetism was published in Russian in 1932. Stoner regarded it as a supplement to the first book, which had by then already become obsolete. Indeed, soon after its publication the hypothesis of the rotating electron (spin) was advanced, which gave an explanation for certain magnetic phenomena. At the same time the rapidly developing quantum mechanics repeatedly led to conclusions confirmed by experiment and made it possible to explain phenomena inaccessible to the old theories. Simultaneously, new and extensive experimental material accumulated. Subsequently the author found it more expedient to write a new book than to supplement and renovate the old one.

As a consequence of the basic orientation adopted here—to give an outline of the theory of magnetism in connection with the properties of matter—the title of the book has also been changed. This subject is very broad; it also touches on the field of physicochemical investigations. Therefore, in order to avoid superficiality, the author deliberately confines himself in his choice of material. Thus, in the field of magneto-optics he leaves only the Zeeman effect. He considers in detail the change in the resistance of metals in very strong fields and the galvanomagnetic effect in ferromagnetics. But the general galvanomagnetic effect, as belonging rather to the theory of metallic conductivity, is not touched upon by him. A detailed analysis of the theory of ferromagnetism is given with allowance for the various types of alloys used in technology, but no description is given here of the individual representatives of that broad class of materials.

The contents of the book are divided into 14 chapters: 1) historical introduction, 2) theoretical introduction (vector notation, magnetostatics, electromagnetic and electronic theory), 3) experimental technique, 4) basic facts and theories (the works of Oersted, Curie, Weiss, Langevin), 5) quan-

Bibliography

field theory, 6) the Zeeman phenomenon, 7) magnetic deflection of atomic rays, 8) gyromagnetic phenomena (the Barnett and Einstein effects), 9) diamagnetism, 10) paramagnetism, 11) ferromagnetism (molecular field, influence of temperature, properties of individual crystals, polycrystalline substance), 12) investigations in very strong fields, 13) molecular magnetism of organic and complex compounds, and 14) magnetic metals and alloys.

From what has been said it is clear that the book is a fairly complete monograph, embracing the most diverse aspects of the modern doctrine of the magnetism of matter as such. No applied aspects of this question are touched upon here. The problems of calculating the magnetization of bodies of various shapes, the practical use of magnetic materials, in particular in electrical engineering, the study of electromagnetic processes occurring in metal, and the behavior of magnetic substances in alternating fields—all these questions remain outside the scope of the book. Nevertheless, the book is of great value as a handbook presenting systematically selected, up-to-date material at the level of contemporary scientific achievements. In Russian there has hitherto been no such complete monograph, and therefore a translation of Stoner’s book is desirable.

V. Arkadiev

G. F. C. SEARLE, Experimental physics. A selection of experiments I., Gambr. Univ. Press., 1934, XIV, 363 p., 129 fig., Sc. 26.
G. SEARLE, Experimental Physics.

The book under review is a detailed manual for carrying out a whole series of physical measurements in the fields of mechanics, the elastic properties of bodies, surface tension, the theory of heat, and the theory of sound, and is a further supplement to books by the same author: Experimental elasticity, Experimental harmony motion, and Experimental optics. It may be regarded as a manual of an advanced type for taking the so-called “physics practical course” in a physics or physics-and-mathematics faculty. The author directed such a practical course at the Cavendish Laboratory for 44 years (from 1888), and reflected in his books a vast practical experience. One can only regret that these books do not cover all fields of physics—the fields of electricity and magnetism are entirely untouched—and that the number of problems analyzed, at least in the book under review, is very limited.

The book may be divided into sections corresponding to the fields of physics listed above. The description of the experiment is everywhere preceded by a thorough exposition of the mathematical theory of the given question. With respect to problems on surface tension, heat, and sound, the theory is set apart into whole separate chapters: Chapter V—the mathematical analysis of problems on surface tension, Chapter VIII—the mathematical theory of problems in heat conduction, Chapter X—the mathematical analysis of problems in sound. In the remaining sections, theoretical and experimental paragraphs are interwoven with one another. For each physical phenomenon studied and for the physical quantities participating in it, the technical part gives a clear and precise definition—see, for example, Chapter V, § 8, “The Nature of Surface Tension,” Chapter VII, § 114, “Introduction,” containing the definition of surface tension, the definition of the concept of viscosity, etc. All the definitions are of a mathematical and phenomenological character. The mathematical relation between the quantities studied is given. Explanations from the point of view of the kinetic theory of matter and the like are entirely absent; for a modern textbook of physics, of course, such an approach to the questions considered would be a very great shortcoming, but in a manual of this type, such as the book under review, it is permissible and allows the author to concentrate all attention on the mathematical and experimental questions essential for such a manual.