Bibliographic guide to refrigeration 1953–1960

into two parts, the generation of high magnetic fields and the research to be carried out with them. These two aspects are not always separated in the.individual contributions since quite a number of them do not deal with work carried out, but rather with work contemplated. This means that a good deal of the material of the report consists of programme outlines which elaborate the proposed magnet facilities and the kind of research which might be carried out with them. This in itself is a useful thing in a field where, as is obvious, much money is going to be spent. The report opens with a few basic papers on field analysis which are followed by contributions on steady fields and power supplies for them. Then comes a similar section on pulsed fields and one on superconductive magnets. The next part is entirely devoted to research programmes, and this is followed by one dealing with research problems involving high magnet fields in solid state and low temperature physics. Here one of the sections is devoted to superconducting materials, but it is clear that the main interest is in alloys and compounds suitable for superconductive magnets, and should be read in conjunction with the earlier section dealing with these. Finally, there are three sections on plasma, fusion, and particle physics in high magnetic fields. Reading through the report, one is a bit doubtful whether it would be wise for the organizers of future high magnetic field conferences to attempt again this very wide coverage. Surely nobody would think of arranging a meeting to deal with both the construction and application of very sensitive galvanometers. The large attendance at the present Conference shows only too clearly what is likely to happen in five years' time if all aspects included in this report are to be discussed together with an unspecified number of new ones. In spite of being a bit diffuse, the present report will be a useful guide for all those working with high magnetic fields, or intending to do so, because it provides a fair assessment of the state of development. It is, however, surprising and to be regretted that the report does not contain a contribution on magnet construction or programme by the U.S. Navy Research Laboratory which, during the past decade, has been in the forefront of magnet design, and whose pioneering work in high magnetic field has been outstandingly successful. K . MENDELSSOHN

Bibliographic

Guide to Refrigeration

1953-1960.

(Pergamon Press, 1962) 1,112 pages. 140s. International Dictionary of Refrigeration. (Pergamon Press, 1962) 311 pages. 90s. This is not the place to assess the value of these two reference books to the refrigeration engineer nor is 56

the present reviewer qualified to do so: it is more a matter of gauging their usefulness to the cryogenic physicist or engineer. The Bibh'ographic Guide to Refrigeration is a compilation of some 10,000 references derived from abstracts published between 1953 and 1960 by the International Institute of Refrigeration. It therefore suffers from the basic limitation that it covers only eight years: however much cryogenics may have expanded in the last decade, quite a lot of work done before 1953 is still of importance. About one-third of the contents is directly concerned with what is generally understood by cryogenics. The remainder is not, though not without its fascination: 'On the formation of 'drip' in the freezing of squid meat', for example. The parts more to the taste of readers of CRYOGENICS are comprehensive and well set out. The subject and author indexes are good and passed a brief check for accuracy; the system of classification is also good. The complete text, indexes, list of contents, etc., are given in English and French. This is a book that the cryogenist will want to be able to get at but would probably not want to own, even if it were cheaper. Other bibliographies cover a range less restricted in time and more restricted to his field-that published b y this journal, for instance. The International Dictionary of Refrigeration (compiled by the International Institute of Refrigeration) gives terms used in refrigeration, defined in some cases in English and French and with their equivalents in these tongues and in German, Russian, Spanish, and Italian--these are spread across opposing pages. There is an index for each language, easily located by thick coloured pages--one bound in upside-down in the review copy. Here the subject matter is strictly limited to the field of refrigeration in the accepted sense. For example, gudgeon pin, manifold, piston ring, and poppet valve appear but helium, hydrogen, Dewar vessel, and cryostat do not. (It must be admitted that it is more often the former type of word that gives the greater trouble in translation.) Liquefier is an interesting intermediate case: it is included but given a wrong English spelling and defined in a sense alien to its use in cryogenics. The present reviewer cannot pass much of an opinion on the quality of the translation but helpful colleagues assure him that there are no obvious howlers. The somewhat idiosyncratic use of English in the foreword and preface must therefore not be allowed to shake the reader's confidence in this respect. Although this book is relatively as expensive as the other, it could be quite useful to the cryogenic engineer though less so to the cryogenic physicist. Finally, one cannot resist drawing attention to its potentialities as an aid to the traveller. Suppose you are in Madrid and want to say 'There is mould on this ice-lolly': the operative words are there--hongo and polo. A. J. CROFT C R Y O G E N I C S • F E B R U A R Y 1964