E. MC ARTHUR. Electronics and electron tubes, 1936.

J. Wiley and Sons, New York.

E. MAC ARTHUR. Electronics and Electron Tubes. 173 pp. and 89 figs.

The book under review, written by an employee of the tube department of G. E. C., presents, in a generally accessible form, a description of various vacuum-tube devices, chiefly from the point of view of the physical processes taking place in them; it contains the following sections:

I. Electrons, atoms, molecules. II. Properties of gases. III. Elements of electron tubes. IV. Two-electrode tubes. V. Control of electron current. VI. Applications of the triode and multi-electrode tube. VII. Gas- and vapor-filled tubes. VIII. Applications of gas-filled tubes. IX. Special tubes. X. Construction of electron tubes.

The book is written very simply and elementarily; all the laws presented in it, and even the formulas for the parameters of the triode, are given in their final form, without any attempt to show how they are obtained. The book is written unevenly: alongside a very brief description of a whole series of tubes, the description of gas-discharge tubes and their applications is presented in much greater and more interesting detail, this apparently being the central part of the whole book. The book also has a number of shortcomings: for example, it is quite surprising that the secondary emission is mentioned only in connection with radio tubes, and only its harmful influence in this case is noted, and not a single—

In a word, no mention is made of its enormous importance in the technology of photodynatrons, although questions concerning photoelements and gas amplification are touched upon in the booklet. Then, too, the grouping in Chapter IV, on a purely external basis, of such devices that differ in their principle of operation as the vacuum and gas-filled photoelements, the selenium cell, and the thermionic diode seems artificial. The choice of material for Chapter IX, etc., is likewise rather arbitrary. This book would undoubtedly have benefited if, considering its small size, a number of questions—also treated very superficially—had been omitted, thereby making it possible to develop two or three questions in greater detail, without touching on the rest. Despite these shortcomings, McArthur’s book may nevertheless be used by the beginning reader who wishes to become acquainted with the field it covers, and especially with gas-discharge tubes (the thyratron and tyratron) and their applications.

N. D. Morgulis, Kiev