Bibliography

Relatively too much space is devoted to the description of a spectrometer with two crystals. In conclusion, only three pages in all are occupied by an exposition of questions of the diffraction of X-rays in amorphous bodies.

It must be said that, in general, questions of the diffraction of waves on particles comparable in size with the wavelength are treated in the book very poorly, in complete disproportion to the significance that these questions have at the present time.

Chapter nine is the diffraction of material particles. This chapter is divided into four sections, each of which consists of several paragraphs. The first section describes the classical experiments of Davisson and Germer and briefly sets forth the foundations of the wave theory of matter. The second section describes the diffraction of slow electrons by crystals and by optical gratings. The third section is the diffraction of fast electrons. Here Thomson’s experiments are described; then the results of experiments on the diffraction of electrons in amorphous bodies are briefly presented; and, finally, the present state of the question of the polarization of electron waves is set forth.

The last section is the diffraction of massive particles (atoms, molecules, and positive ions). Here the results of the most recent experimental work in this field are presented. The exposition is very brief, but clear.

At the end of the book there are appendices containing, for the most part, a more detailed mathematical exposition of certain questions touched upon in the text. A large part of the appendices presents the complete theory of the defects of diffraction gratings. Two appendices give a more detailed exposition of the theory of the diffraction of X-rays and electron waves. An interesting appendix gives a number of instructions for laboratory work on diffraction.

Now a few words about the general character of the exposition. We have already pointed out one serious shortcoming in the construction of the book—the absence of connection between the separate parts. Here we would like to dwell on the question of the level of the exposition and the choice of material.

In terms of the level of exposition, the book is intended for students in the first years, and in scope—for scientific workers and specialists. In this way, the scope of the book and the material it contains are in contradiction with the level of exposition. As has already been indicated, the book contains many superfluous details that are of interest only to the specialist and not of interest to students; on the other hand, the exposition of the majority of fundamental questions is too brief and elementary to be of interest to specialists.

All this greatly reduces the value of the book and leads to the conclusion that the book, despite its tempting title, should not be translated.

V. Fabrikant

PAULING, LINUS, Prof., and B. E. WILSON, Introduction to quantum mechanics, with application to chemistry, N.Y.L. McGrow,-Hill, 1935; XIII, 468 p., 53 Fig., Doll. 5.

PAULING, L., and B. E. WILSON, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry.

The exposition of wave mechanics, which arose only ten years ago, has recently received a sufficiently large number of scholarly works, textbooks, and popular books (introductions). Each new work that systematizes the advances of wave mechanics bears the imprint of the stage of development already passed through.

The book under review is distinguished by the fact that it was written at a time when the turbulent development of science had to some extent given way to slow organic growth. In connection with this there arose the possibility of writing a university course in wave mechanics—a course similar in scope and character to the ordinary courses in theoretical or statistical mechanics for higher educational institutions.

This is the value of the textbook under review. Indeed, it is time to acknowledge that for the student now entering a higher educational institution, wave mechanics, neither in difficulty nor in the novelty of its ideas, appears any different from courses in “classical” physics. On the contrary, every instructor knows that

Bibliography

Today, students often, in studying wave optics, make use of the results of wave mechanics, and not vice versa; and the textbook under review fully corresponds to this state of affairs that has arisen. One strongly feels in it that the authors give themselves a clear account of the readership for which the textbook is intended. For it often happens that an author, striving to satisfy the needs of all readers, piles up in one book elementary discussions, digressions of today, and expositions of new works whose understanding is difficult even for a specialist.

The reader for whom the authors of this book have calculated is the ordinary student studying physics or physical chemistry and approaching the study of wave mechanics for the first time. The chemical orientation of the book is determined by the choice of material. In the form of examples of applications of the new ideas, mainly problems of molecular structure and the nature of the forces of chemical bonding are taken. But it is precisely in this that the value of the book lies. The authors not only set forth the methods, but also give the opportunity to become acquainted with the applications of these methods in concrete examples.

Having worked through this book, everyone will feel that he has mastered wave mechanics, to be sure in a somewhat narrow section, but fully and thoroughly.

The book contains the following chapters:

I. An introductory chapter on classical mechanics, containing the necessary information and preparing for the transition to the new mechanics.

II. The old quantum theory of Bohr. This chapter is useful because the terminology and visual representations of the old theory still find wide application even now.

III and IV. The Schrodinger equation for one and for many particles.

V. The hydrogen atom. This chapter is distinguished by particular clarity of exposition and contains a large number of diagrams that facilitate the assimilation of the question.

VI and VII. Approximate methods. In these chapters, in addition to the usual perturbation theory, variational and other approximate methods of solving problems of quantum mechanics are set forth.

VIII. The theory of the structure of molecules and the nature of the chemical bond.

The last two chapters contain a very brief, but sufficiently comprehensible, exposition of quantum statistics and the doctrine of the symmetry of the elements of matrix mechanics.

Yu. Rumer

Eisen, Magnetische und elektrische Eigenschaften des reinen und kohlenstoffhaltigen Eisens. Bearb. v. Auwers. B., Verl. Chemie, 1934, XXVI, pp. 1421—1634, Fig. (Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie, Tl. A, Lfg 7), Mk 36.

Iron, magnetic and electrical properties of pure and carbon-containing iron.

The book constitutes the 7th fascicle of part A of the 59th volume of the Gmelin handbook (Gmelin’s Handb. der Anorg. Chemie), published by the German Chemical Society under the editorship of Meyer and Pietsch. The 59th volume is devoted to iron. Its part B, consisting of 5 fascicles, contains a description of the compounds of iron.

As is evident from the prospectus, the editors strove to take into account, in the volume devoted to iron, the exceptional significance that this metal has in the economic and cultural life of all peoples. In chapters devoted to the chemical technology of metals, it was impossible to consider questions of metallurgy, mechanical working, and the application of metals without illuminating to a known extent their physical properties.

In the present fascicle the author has given a very complete monograph on the magnetic and electrical properties of iron and its carbon compounds, going beyond the limits of a chemical handbook, and it has acquired the character of a reference work more interesting for physicists and electrical engineers than for chemists. The editors justify this by the fact that in handbooks on pure physics, ...