BIBLIOGRAPHY

V. K. ARKAD'EV, Electromagnetic Processes in Metals, Part II, The Electromagnetic Field, ONTI, 304 pp. Moscow–Leningrad, 1936.

The second volume of V. K. Arkad'ev’s book is devoted to consideration of the behavior of metals in alternating fields.* Its contents are divided into the following nine chapters: I — Maxwell’s equations; II — The electromagnetic field in a metal; III — Metallic bodies in an alternating field; IV — Basic methods for calculating electromagnetic coefficients; V — Alternating current inside a wire; VI — Propagation of electric and magnetic waves along wires and rods; VII — Certain cases of reflection and diffraction of electromagnetic waves; VIII — The process of magnetization of matter; IX — General scheme of behavior of metals on the scale of electromagnetic waves.

A distinctive feature of the book is the introduction, into the equations of a periodic electromagnetic current field, of magnetic conductivity caused by magnetic viscosity, hysteresis, or other causes. Owing to this, Maxwell’s equations assume a symmetric form; moreover, in addition to the coefficients ordinarily appearing in them, which characterize the substance—$\varepsilon$, $\mu$, and $\zeta$—there enters still another, $\rho$, magnetic conductivity, which is essentially important for the analysis of processes in ferromagnetic metals. The introduction of a complex permeability makes it possible to develop the theory of electromagnetic phenomena in ferromagnetic bodies more accurately than had previously been proposed.

The book contains many diagrams and tables serving to calculate, at any frequency, the calculated permeability and losses in transformer iron and in wires; graphs are given for calculating the resistance and self-inductance of wires possessing a specified magnetic conductivity $\rho$. The same diagrams serve to determine $\mu$ and $\rho$ of a substance from permeability and wattmeter power measured experimentally, or from the inductive and active resistance of wires under alternating current.

The book analyzes in detail the principal types of magnetic permeability, 76 in all, and shows the peculiarities of the propagation of electromagnetic processes in ferromagnetic bodies for various regions of the frequency spectrum. The propagation, in metal, of radio-frequency and ultrashort waves is considered, as is the influence on their propagation in air of wires, grids, and other metallic obstacles. The systematic presentation of the material includes the newest methods for detecting electromagnetic fields, for example, obtaining photographs with the aid of Geitler waves.

The appearance of this book should be welcomed, since it gives, for the first time, a coherent and detailed exposition of electromagnetic processes in metals, chiefly ferromagnetic ones, based to a considerable degree on Soviet work—both that of V. K. Arkad'ev himself and that of researchers of his school.

The book, unfortunately, is not free of misprints.

N. Nikitin, Moscow.

* For a review of Part I see Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk, 15, 1048, 1935.