Bibliography

S. Chapman and T. G. Cowling, The mathematical theory of non-uniform gases. An account of the kinetic theory of viscosity, thermal conduction and diffusion in gases, 404 pp., 13 ill., Cambridge, University Press, 19391.

S. Chapman and T. Cowling, Mathematical Theory of Inhomogeneous Gases. Kinetic Theory of Viscosity, Thermal Conductivity, and Diffusion of Gases, 404 pp., 13 ill., Cambridge, University Press, 1939.

In the monograph by Chapman and Cowling, consisting of 18 chapters, the mathematical theory of thermal conductivity, diffusion, and viscosity of gases is considered, based on the principles of the kinetic theory of gases. The central place in the monograph is occupied by the Maxwell–Boltzmann equations. The investigation of the phenomena mentioned is carried out by the method of integrating these equations. The authors use a modified, likewise simplified method proposed by Enskog in 1916–1917. In addition to questions that can be investigated in this way, the monograph also presents—though, to be sure, in a very cursory and compressed form—the quantum theory of molecular collisions and the quantum theory of gas degeneracy (Chapter XVII), as well as electromagnetic phenomena in ionized gases, magnetic fields, and phenomena in strong electric fields (Chapter XVIII).

The monograph also devotes space to such questions of the kinetic theory of gases as the mean free path in a gas, calculation of the number of collisions, Boltzmann’s \(H\)-theorem, and so on.

A brief sketch of the development of this group of questions is also given. The chief merit of the book lies in its careful analysis of various consequences of the basic Boltzmann equations, with accuracy up to and including the third approximation.

The book is intended for theoretical physicists. For experimentalists, only summary tables of the most important results are of much convenience. A shortcoming of the book is the narrow selection of material, as well as the authors’ use of rather peculiar notation, which somewhat hampers reading.

The book is of great value for specialists working in this field; it is therefore desirable to translate it into Russian, but in a limited print run (on the order of 1,000 copies), with the obligatory condition that the mathematical symbolism be revised so as to bring it closer to the generally accepted ordinary vector and tensor notation for mechanical quantities.

K. Nikol’skii, Moscow

1. Based on materials of the Information-Bibliographic Sector of the State Scientific Library of the People’s Commissariat of Coal of the USSR. ↩