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Handbook of transducers for electronic measuring systems
NUCLEAR
INSTRUMENTS
AND
METHODS
88
(I97O) 331; ©
NORTH-HOLLAND
PUBLISHING
CO.
B O O K REVIEWS The Harmonic Oscillator in Modern Physics: From Atoms to Quarks, M. MOSHtNSKy (Gordon and Breach, London, 1970) pp. 94, £ 5, $12.00. This is a short monograph based on a lecture series by the author. It has all the merits and some of the deficiencies that such publications can have. In this case the subject covered is the very extensive work by the author and his collaborators in nuclear physics and lately in atomic and molecular physics. To some extent the authors path has been the reverse of the one indicated by the title! The author has made essential contributions to the group theoretical approach in the many-body problem. Furthermore, the ,'Moshinsky brackets" simplified enormously the manipulations involved, and the present book can be considered as an informal introduction to the methods proposed by the author, and which he described in more detail in Group Theory and The Many Body Problem (Gordon and Breach, 1968). It is difficult to imagine that the background required from the reader, basic quantum mechanics, Rose's book on angular momentum, and to some extent, irreducible representations of unitary groups, is possessed by anybody who is not a specialist in the matters discussed: H, He, the Hartree-Fock method, quarks and many-particle systems. The simplifications obtained by using the method advocated by the author are appreciated only by those who worked with these and other methods, and they need better descriptions. It may be argued that it could be very instructive to use the material of this book, which is really : use of a basis of harmonic oscillator functions in many-particle systems in conjunction with group theoretical methods. I believe that this material illustrates best the methods and not the problems, and that in fact, it can be misleading to an unwary reader. To describe the accuracy obtained as a percentage of total energies of the system is quite all right if comparison with other methods is done simultaneously. This is missing. To give the overlap of the Hartree-Fock wave function with the exact wave function as an accuracy criterion is all right. To omit saying that for N-->oo this goes to zero can induce to error. But this is not a book to learn about atoms or quarks, but on what can one do with harmonic oscillators in theoretical physics. Specialists or curious students might be prompted into spending £ 5 for this well edited, 94 page book, in order to get a survey of the clever mathematical methods described, but if they become interested in the subject they would have to appeal to more elaborate expositions. The same author has already provided them! O. GOSCINSKI
Spark Chamber O. C. ALLKOFER,ed. (Karl Thiemig K.G., Miinchen, 1969) pp. 247, D M 60.- ($ 15.-). Although the literature on this subject is extensive, it is also dispersed and this book certainly fulfills a desire of many prospective users to have condensed knowledge at Iris disposal.
A short historical survey is followed by about 40 pages of basic data on gas discharge physics. This chapter is clearly not meant to be exhaustive; it merely shows the many problems one encounters in dealing with spark chambers. The first generation of spark chambers, i.e. the multiplate chamber, the track spark chamber and the streamer chamber are covered in detail in about 100 pages. The principle of operation and the fundamental characteristics of spark chambers are elaborated adequately. The more modern filmless spark chambers are covered in 30 pages. The reader finds the essentials of the sonic chamber, and of several wire spark chamber systems, amongst which we mention those with ferrite core read-out and with magneto strictive readout. A useful chapter on spark chamber electronics is included. The book finishes with a chapter on applications (a selection of typical experiments) and a comparison with other detector types. The bibliography contains some 600 references, and the typography of the book is pleasant.
F. KRIENEN Handbook of Transducers for Electronic Measuring Systems, H. N. NORTON, (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969) pp. 704, 26/-. Most physical measurements carried out nowadays use electronic representation of the quantities involved, whatever their nature may be. This book systematically treats the different ways of performing the required transduction for various physical quantities. The chapter on displacement, for example, begins with fundamental definitions, whereupon the author goes on to discuss the principles of the possible transducers. For the capacity variety alone, four different configurations are discussed. The principles of operation of the numerous devices mentioned in this book are admirably well explained by means of simple drawings containing nothing but the bare essentials. However, the reader is not left in doubt about the look of real-life transducers, because many types are shown in photographs, not in the usual detached help-yourself manner but with arrows and labels in the figure to identify the various details in terms of components already discussed. The genealogy of different arrangements is sometimes given in tables. This is a practical book for laboratory workers searching for standard methods of measurement. The systematic presentation and strict order makes it an ideal handbook, but it could also be used as a text book on the subject since it emphasizes principles rather than the pathology of the many brands commercially available. The mathematics is easy enough for any technical student entering the university, and the discussions are verbal rather than formal. The rich bibliography after each chapter refers the reader to more specialized literature, where an accurate account of the operation of a certain device may be found.
331
G. B~CKSTR6M
INSTRUMENTS
AND
METHODS
88
(I97O) 331; ©
NORTH-HOLLAND
PUBLISHING
CO.
B O O K REVIEWS The Harmonic Oscillator in Modern Physics: From Atoms to Quarks, M. MOSHtNSKy (Gordon and Breach, London, 1970) pp. 94, £ 5, $12.00. This is a short monograph based on a lecture series by the author. It has all the merits and some of the deficiencies that such publications can have. In this case the subject covered is the very extensive work by the author and his collaborators in nuclear physics and lately in atomic and molecular physics. To some extent the authors path has been the reverse of the one indicated by the title! The author has made essential contributions to the group theoretical approach in the many-body problem. Furthermore, the ,'Moshinsky brackets" simplified enormously the manipulations involved, and the present book can be considered as an informal introduction to the methods proposed by the author, and which he described in more detail in Group Theory and The Many Body Problem (Gordon and Breach, 1968). It is difficult to imagine that the background required from the reader, basic quantum mechanics, Rose's book on angular momentum, and to some extent, irreducible representations of unitary groups, is possessed by anybody who is not a specialist in the matters discussed: H, He, the Hartree-Fock method, quarks and many-particle systems. The simplifications obtained by using the method advocated by the author are appreciated only by those who worked with these and other methods, and they need better descriptions. It may be argued that it could be very instructive to use the material of this book, which is really : use of a basis of harmonic oscillator functions in many-particle systems in conjunction with group theoretical methods. I believe that this material illustrates best the methods and not the problems, and that in fact, it can be misleading to an unwary reader. To describe the accuracy obtained as a percentage of total energies of the system is quite all right if comparison with other methods is done simultaneously. This is missing. To give the overlap of the Hartree-Fock wave function with the exact wave function as an accuracy criterion is all right. To omit saying that for N-->oo this goes to zero can induce to error. But this is not a book to learn about atoms or quarks, but on what can one do with harmonic oscillators in theoretical physics. Specialists or curious students might be prompted into spending £ 5 for this well edited, 94 page book, in order to get a survey of the clever mathematical methods described, but if they become interested in the subject they would have to appeal to more elaborate expositions. The same author has already provided them! O. GOSCINSKI
Spark Chamber O. C. ALLKOFER,ed. (Karl Thiemig K.G., Miinchen, 1969) pp. 247, D M 60.- ($ 15.-). Although the literature on this subject is extensive, it is also dispersed and this book certainly fulfills a desire of many prospective users to have condensed knowledge at Iris disposal.
A short historical survey is followed by about 40 pages of basic data on gas discharge physics. This chapter is clearly not meant to be exhaustive; it merely shows the many problems one encounters in dealing with spark chambers. The first generation of spark chambers, i.e. the multiplate chamber, the track spark chamber and the streamer chamber are covered in detail in about 100 pages. The principle of operation and the fundamental characteristics of spark chambers are elaborated adequately. The more modern filmless spark chambers are covered in 30 pages. The reader finds the essentials of the sonic chamber, and of several wire spark chamber systems, amongst which we mention those with ferrite core read-out and with magneto strictive readout. A useful chapter on spark chamber electronics is included. The book finishes with a chapter on applications (a selection of typical experiments) and a comparison with other detector types. The bibliography contains some 600 references, and the typography of the book is pleasant.
F. KRIENEN Handbook of Transducers for Electronic Measuring Systems, H. N. NORTON, (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969) pp. 704, 26/-. Most physical measurements carried out nowadays use electronic representation of the quantities involved, whatever their nature may be. This book systematically treats the different ways of performing the required transduction for various physical quantities. The chapter on displacement, for example, begins with fundamental definitions, whereupon the author goes on to discuss the principles of the possible transducers. For the capacity variety alone, four different configurations are discussed. The principles of operation of the numerous devices mentioned in this book are admirably well explained by means of simple drawings containing nothing but the bare essentials. However, the reader is not left in doubt about the look of real-life transducers, because many types are shown in photographs, not in the usual detached help-yourself manner but with arrows and labels in the figure to identify the various details in terms of components already discussed. The genealogy of different arrangements is sometimes given in tables. This is a practical book for laboratory workers searching for standard methods of measurement. The systematic presentation and strict order makes it an ideal handbook, but it could also be used as a text book on the subject since it emphasizes principles rather than the pathology of the many brands commercially available. The mathematics is easy enough for any technical student entering the university, and the discussions are verbal rather than formal. The rich bibliography after each chapter refers the reader to more specialized literature, where an accurate account of the operation of a certain device may be found.
331
G. B~CKSTR6M