S. Inanananda. High Vacuum. 1947. D. Van Nostrand. N. Y.

S. Inanananda. High Vacuum. 1947, pp. 310, figs. 13.

In the October issue of the Journal of Applied Physics for 1947, on p. XXIII, there appeared a publisher’s announcement of a book under review, characterized in large type as: “A complete handbook of high-vacuum technique, from the fundamentals of gas theory to the design and practical use of all modern vacuum equipment,” and further: “The present book gives complete practical information on every problem that may arise in the course of high-vacuum work,” and again: “Hundreds of drawings clearly show every construction and every operation,” etc., etc. Naturally, after reading this announcement, one cannot help rejoicing at the appearance of such a highly relevant, in its own way, publication, reflecting the achievements of vacuum technology, which plays so large a role in modern science and industry. Let us open this book and see to what extent it satisfies all our pleasant expectations connected with this advertisement.

The first chapter of the book (pp. 1–73) is devoted to an exposition of the fundamentals of the kinetic theory of gases. The presentation of these questions is standard, with details quite unnecessary for a book of this kind, since they are found literally in dozens of books and textbooks, and there is absolutely no need to burden a book such as the one under review with them.

The second chapter of the book (pp. 74–153) is devoted to vacuum pumps. Here the author has obviously set himself the aim of describing, very briefly, all the pumps used in the history of physics, from ancient piston pumps to modern vapor-oil pumps. But what sense is there, in a book published in 1947, in presenting such “current” types of pumps as, for example, Guericke’s piston pump, Sprengel’s mercury-drop pump, Gaede’s mercury-rotation pump, Crawford’s steam-mercury pump, and many, many others. Those interested in these can acquaint themselves with them, for example, in Deshman’s little book, published in 1926; but to write about this now means piling up unnecessary material at the expense of other, necessary material. Alongside this, the book also describes modern vapor-oil pumps; however, the following tendency is involuntarily apparent: the book describes only relatively old types of vapor-oil pumps with an air-pumping speed of approximately up to 50–70 l per second, and makes no mention of modern fast-acting pumps with pumping speeds of hundreds and thousands of liters per second. Thus, on this question, the reader is thrown back 10 years. Finally, one may regret the practical absence in the book of any exposition of the theory of the operation of diffusion pumps.

The third chapter of the book (pp. 154–245) is devoted to manometers, and, with respect to it, almost the same comments may be repeated as were made regarding the pumps. Here, too, we observe the accumulation of a large number of methods for measuring low pressure which have not entered modern practice and are of only physical and historical interest; moreover, they are described in sufficient detail in the books by Dushman, Dunoyer, and others. On the other hand, manometers that have entered modern practice, such as, for example, the Pirani and ionization gauges, are described very briefly, again almost at the level of Dushman’s 1926 book, while thermoelectric and Phillips manometers are not touched upon at all. Not a word is said in the book about the technical improvements that have made it possible to turn certain manometers into quite convenient instruments for practical use in installations.

The fourth chapter of the book (pp. 246–273) is devoted to vacuum systems, their fittings, and so forth. Material for vacuum fittings (glass, metals), their special features, the rational assembly and design of fittings, moving parts, taps, valves, seals, traps for oil vapors, lubricants, methods of detecting leaks, etc.—all these are, from our point of view, the most difficult and acute group of questions in modern vacuum technique. The practice of recent years with oil-vapor pumps of enormous productivity and with enormous receiver volumes has produced many interesting innovations in this field, a characteristic example of which is the use of the mass spectrometer in leak-detection technique. However, the reader will look in vain for an exposition of all this: apart from a very brief characterization of the material for fittings, valves, vacuum greases, etc., one will probably find nothing interesting or useful here.

The fifth chapter of the book (pp. 274–286) is devoted to the gas content and gas evolution of glass and metals. It gives an account of the phenomenon of adsorption, as well as some data on gases evolved from certain glasses and metals when heated. General principles of gas evolution, vacuum characteristics of materials, etc., are not touched upon here at all.

Finally, the sixth chapter of the book (pp. 287–297) is devoted to physicochemical methods of obtaining high vacuum. It begins with such a “novelty” as activated charcoal, after which there follows a very brief exposition of getters and, finally, clean-up by flashover with phosphorus. It is in vain to seek a sensible exposition of the general principle of getter action, or descriptions of their newest types (barium, zirconium, etc.)—there is none of this in the book.

Thus, unfortunately, it must be stated that we have here a typical example of unscrupulous advertising. The book under review cannot be used as a modern manual on vacuum technique and does not provide practical information on the questions that arise in the course of vacuum work. Even the number of illustrations and pages in the book is exaggerated in this advertisement: it does not contain one hundred illustrations, but only one hundred, with a small number (133); the number of pages is not 324, but only 310. The book lacks the necessary bibliographical index, and in its level it is closer to 1937 than to 1947.

Thus, the necessary manual on vacuum technique still does not exist; Ivanov’s very good book has become somewhat outdated and, moreover, has long since sold out, while Yarwood’s English book, although useful for use—especially by beginning readers—is nevertheless too elementary. Therefore, we must wait patiently for the time when workers in science and industry will at last receive a book in which the extensive practical experience of work in vacuum technique will be seriously summarized, so that they will no longer have to proceed by rule of thumb and rediscover long-known Americas in the process.

N. D. Morgulis