W. Bragg, The World of Light, translated by V. Ya. Pulver, Main Editorial Office of Popular-Science and Youth Literature, ONTI, 238 pp., print run 10,000 copies, price in binding 2 rubles 50 kopecks.

Bragg’s new book, The World of Light, excellently complements the series of his popular books already known to the Soviet reader: On the Nature of Things, The World of Sound, Old Trades and Modern Science. The purpose of this book is formulated by the author himself as follows:

“Recent successes in physics attract broad attention chiefly because the interesting problems to which they lead have been admirably expounded by many authors. It seemed to me that, for the popularization of these new ideas, it would be useful if I were to write a short sketch of the earlier investigations from which modern science arose. On the experiments and conclusions of Newton and Huygens, Young and Fresnel, Crookes and Thomson, and many other scientists, the road leading to our present positions was built. We cannot grasp the significance of these positions fully unless we have some information about the path traveled by our predecessors.”

In its character the book is closest of all to The World of Sound. It is not a systematic exposition of the theory of light, but a series of excellent essays in which optics is closely intertwined with the most diverse questions of physiology, astronomy, chemistry, and practical life. Thus, in Chapter I, after an outline of the two theories of light, the laws of reflection, refraction, and scattering of light are considered; however, the author does not confine himself to the usual examples connected with diffuse reflection, but discusses in considerable detail what is explained by “glossiness,” in particular certain fabrics. In Chapter II refraction is considered chiefly in connection with the function of the eye. In the chapters devoted to the spectrum and to colors, the reader, besides the usual facts, finds much interesting information about dyes and—in particular—about the coloration of flowers. The author lovingly explains that the color of a rose and the blue color of a cornflower are caused by dyes that have one and the same chemical structure; he tells why blue hyacinths planted near an anthill become red, why a primrose turns pale after a heavy rain, and so on. Becoming acquainted with diffraction, the reader also learns the reason for the coloring of butterfly wings and cock feathers; he learns, moreover, how by means of diffraction one can measure the diameter of wool fibers. Chapter VI deals with the generality of the description of polarization phenomena; Chapter VII is devoted to the light of the sun and stars; Chapter VIII to invisible light; and, finally, Chapter IX to the conflict between the wave and corpuscular properties of light and of particles of matter.

To say that the book is written brilliantly would be insufficient. It is read with extraordinary warmth, love for nature, love for humanity, to which it is dedicated. There is much subtle humor in it, and throughout the whole book lies the stamp of a special charm characteristic of books written by first-rate scientists and great people. The circle of readers of this book is extraordinarily broad: from schoolchild to professor of physics. The specialist can learn from it how to present things known to him. In our country such books should be printed not in tens, but in hundreds of thousands of copies.

A few words about the design. It is fairly neat, the paper is satisfactory, and there is even a color plate. But anyone who has seen the English edition will be disappointed. He will see that the whole style of the book’s design in the Russian edition is considerably paler than in the English one. At present, Detizdat is publishing quite a large number of books in excellent design, and it is still a major question whether all these books deserve excellent paper and a glossy binding. Could the Main Editorial Office of Youth Literature really not find the means to publish Bragg’s truly outstanding book in the way it deserves?

E. Shpolsky, Moscow.