Bibliography

V. L. Granovsky, Electrical Fluctuations, series “Advances in Physics,” ONTI, 1936, p. 219, price 3 rubles 50 kopecks.

The reviewed book is the first attempt at systematic treatment of the question of fluctuations of electric current—a question that has not only theoretical significance but also great practical interest, especially for persons working in the field of measuring very small quantities of electrical energy. In three chapters of the book (II, III, and IV) the basic theoretical fluctuations of electric charges are set forth (both in electronic and ionic discharge and in conductors), as well as abundant experimental material confirming the reality of the theoretical conceptions presented; despite the comparatively small volume, the author has succeeded in giving a very detailed critical survey of the available material and in evaluating the strong and weak aspects of the various theoretical statements.

Two chapters (V and VI) are devoted to consideration of the practical significance of electrical fluctuations, which set a limit to the possibilities of increasing the sensitivity of electrical measuring instruments: the galvanometer, electrometer, vacuum tube, and photoelectric cell.

The introductory chapter (I) contains a brief summary of information from probability theory necessary for understanding the material of the subsequent chapters, but, as the author notes in the preface, “usually forgotten by electricians at the moment when they need it.” Since electrical technicians are also unfamiliar with the methods of statistical physics, a short introduction to this question could have considerably facilitated the reading of this book for this group of readers (incidentally, the inclusion or omission of auxiliary material in a monograph intended for a comparatively narrow circle of qualified readers depends on the author’s choice and cannot be regarded as a defect of the book).

On the whole, the book gives an excellent account of the current state of the question of fluctuations, written with great skill. The appearance of this book in Russian is all the more valuable because similar monographs have not yet appeared in the foreign literature.

It would be highly desirable to see reviews of this book also in those Russian physics journals (Phys. Zs. d. Sowjetunion, Acta Physicochimica, and others) which have wide circulation abroad.

Among minor defects, which in no way diminish the value of the book, one may note the use of the obsolete term “cathode lamp,” errors in the diagram of Fig. 8, and the not very successful term “age variations of electronic emission.”

N. Malov, Moscow