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Particles in the atmosphere and space
Book reviews
905
Particle Effect in the Geomagnetic Field by E. N. Parker;
Precipitation of Electrons and Protons into the Atmosphere by Brian J. O'Brien;
Survey of Acceleration and Diffusion by J. W. Dungey;
:~lagnetospheric ~Vlodels by A. J. Dessler and F. C. Michel. Some of the papers present detailed results of individual experiments. These are important for the specialist, but would have been better published in the normal scientific journals. Some of t h e m have been so published, and their re-issue here is scarcely justified. The few papers which discuss the effect of trapped radiation on sensors, electron devices and solar cells, are of particular interest, since the authors have not previously published in journals easily accessible to geophysicists. The papers on radiation hazards to manned flight are also particularly interesting. This large and expensive volume is very valuable and will be frequently consulted, especially for the review papers. I f it could have been restricted to these, it might have been reduced to about half its present size, and it would probably then have been more valuable still.
R.ICHARD A. CRAIG: The Upper Atmosphere--Meteorology and Physics. Academic Press, New York, 1965, X I I ÷ 509 pp. IN THE Preface to this book the author says: " I have written this book with the meteorological reader primarily in mind. This means that I have emphasized those topics t h a t I think might interest him the most. I t also means that I have elaborated on related physical and chemical problems t h a t I think might be the most unfamiliar to him, and at the same time, important for him to appreciate. On the other band, I have assumed a mature reader with a good background in applied mathematics and in basic aspects of physics and chemistry, such as a graduate student or research worker in meteorology should have. .Not all will agree with specific applications of these intentions, because no two readers will have the same interests and background, I have therefore thought it very important to include large numbers of references which will enable the reader to follow up subjects for which he finds my treatment deficient for his purposes. For various reasons the emphasis is on the atmosphere between the tropopause and 100 kin, although a gc~od deal of material is also included about the atmosphere between I00 and 300 kln. Very little is said about the important problems at still higher levels, which are now the subject of active and vigorous research." The book deals with principles rather than with detailed results, and many sections form admirable condensed accounts of branches of physics, important for understanding how the atmosphere behaves. Chapter 9, containing seventy pages, is an admirable account in simple terms of the principles underlying the phenomena of geomagnetism, the ionosphere and the aurora. The more purely 'meteorological' part of the book is equally clear but, as the author himself points out, it is less concerned with a description of principles and more with results. The author is clearly an experienced teacher, and any student of the atmosphere will derive much benefit from studying several portions of this book in detail.
RICHARD D. CADLE: Particles in the Atmosphere and Space. Reinhold, New York, 1966, V I I I -t- 226 pp., $10.00. To M ~ Y readers of this journal, the title of this book m a y be misleading. The author deals almost entirely with uncharged particles, such as the kind which form fog in the troposphere,
906
Book reviews
noctlilucent clouds in the stratosphere or dust in interplanetary space, and on the surface of the moon. Fifty pages are devoted to the troposphere, twenty three to the stratosphere and mesosphere, thirty seven to radio-active fall-out and eighty nine to extra-terrestrial regions a n d the consideration of such matters as zodiacal light, comets, and the dust on the surface of the moon and the planets. J. A. RATCLIFFE
Proceedings o! the Ninth International Conference on Cosmic Rays. The Institute of Physics a n d the Physical Society, London, 1965, two volumes, 1113 pp., £10.10s. (£5 to members). THESE tWO volumes, containing more t h a n three hundred papers, present a complete and coherent picture of current cosmic ray research. I t is due in part to the excellent invited papers which preface the more-detailed conference papers, and in part to the skill shown in the rapporteur papers, that the significance of the different studies should emerge so clearly. A question appearing in various guises throughout is " W h a t part do cosmic rays play in the Universe?". Current views on the significance of cosmic rays are well represented b y a quotation from an invited p a p e r b y V. L. Ginzburg and S. I. S y r o v a t s k y - - " T o d a y there is hardly any doubt that along with stars and interstellar gas cosmic rays belong to the basic elements out of which the galaxies and the universe as a whole are composed". Extensive-air-shower measurements of cosmic rays with energies as high as 1020eY bring into question a possible limit to the accelerating capability of the Universe. Several new techniques for observing high-energy cosmic rays are discussed. I t is appropriate that, at the end of a cycle of solar activity, the solar modulation of cosmic rays should come in for critical examination. Over the last few years some very precise measurements of the spectral composition of cosmic rays have been made. The sensitivity and accuracy that are now possible using satellites have led to conclusions that are dramatically different from those accepted a few years ago. The increasing interest in the electron-positron component of cosmic radiation is demonstrated by a n u m b e r of new results. The predominance of negatively-charged electrons points to direct acceleration rather t h a n production b y p r o t o n - p r o t o n collisions in the galaxy. The search for X - r a y and y-ray sources continues. The significance of cosmic y-rays is discussed in terms of bremmstrahlung from electron interactions, and the decay of s0 mesons from nuclear interactions in the galaxy. Some new measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field and outer geomagnetic field are presented and discussed in relation to the trajectories of cosmic ray particles and the discovery of bursts of electrons in the outer magnetosphere. Considerable attention is given to the nature of high-energy nuclear interactions which are of m u t u a l interest to cosmic-ray physicists and nuclear physicists. The recent detection of cosmic~ ray neutrino interactions opens up the exciting possibility of neutrino astronomy. D. A. BRYANT
905
Particle Effect in the Geomagnetic Field by E. N. Parker;
Precipitation of Electrons and Protons into the Atmosphere by Brian J. O'Brien;
Survey of Acceleration and Diffusion by J. W. Dungey;
:~lagnetospheric ~Vlodels by A. J. Dessler and F. C. Michel. Some of the papers present detailed results of individual experiments. These are important for the specialist, but would have been better published in the normal scientific journals. Some of t h e m have been so published, and their re-issue here is scarcely justified. The few papers which discuss the effect of trapped radiation on sensors, electron devices and solar cells, are of particular interest, since the authors have not previously published in journals easily accessible to geophysicists. The papers on radiation hazards to manned flight are also particularly interesting. This large and expensive volume is very valuable and will be frequently consulted, especially for the review papers. I f it could have been restricted to these, it might have been reduced to about half its present size, and it would probably then have been more valuable still.
R.ICHARD A. CRAIG: The Upper Atmosphere--Meteorology and Physics. Academic Press, New York, 1965, X I I ÷ 509 pp. IN THE Preface to this book the author says: " I have written this book with the meteorological reader primarily in mind. This means that I have emphasized those topics t h a t I think might interest him the most. I t also means that I have elaborated on related physical and chemical problems t h a t I think might be the most unfamiliar to him, and at the same time, important for him to appreciate. On the other band, I have assumed a mature reader with a good background in applied mathematics and in basic aspects of physics and chemistry, such as a graduate student or research worker in meteorology should have. .Not all will agree with specific applications of these intentions, because no two readers will have the same interests and background, I have therefore thought it very important to include large numbers of references which will enable the reader to follow up subjects for which he finds my treatment deficient for his purposes. For various reasons the emphasis is on the atmosphere between the tropopause and 100 kin, although a gc~od deal of material is also included about the atmosphere between I00 and 300 kln. Very little is said about the important problems at still higher levels, which are now the subject of active and vigorous research." The book deals with principles rather than with detailed results, and many sections form admirable condensed accounts of branches of physics, important for understanding how the atmosphere behaves. Chapter 9, containing seventy pages, is an admirable account in simple terms of the principles underlying the phenomena of geomagnetism, the ionosphere and the aurora. The more purely 'meteorological' part of the book is equally clear but, as the author himself points out, it is less concerned with a description of principles and more with results. The author is clearly an experienced teacher, and any student of the atmosphere will derive much benefit from studying several portions of this book in detail.
RICHARD D. CADLE: Particles in the Atmosphere and Space. Reinhold, New York, 1966, V I I I -t- 226 pp., $10.00. To M ~ Y readers of this journal, the title of this book m a y be misleading. The author deals almost entirely with uncharged particles, such as the kind which form fog in the troposphere,
906
Book reviews
noctlilucent clouds in the stratosphere or dust in interplanetary space, and on the surface of the moon. Fifty pages are devoted to the troposphere, twenty three to the stratosphere and mesosphere, thirty seven to radio-active fall-out and eighty nine to extra-terrestrial regions a n d the consideration of such matters as zodiacal light, comets, and the dust on the surface of the moon and the planets. J. A. RATCLIFFE
Proceedings o! the Ninth International Conference on Cosmic Rays. The Institute of Physics a n d the Physical Society, London, 1965, two volumes, 1113 pp., £10.10s. (£5 to members). THESE tWO volumes, containing more t h a n three hundred papers, present a complete and coherent picture of current cosmic ray research. I t is due in part to the excellent invited papers which preface the more-detailed conference papers, and in part to the skill shown in the rapporteur papers, that the significance of the different studies should emerge so clearly. A question appearing in various guises throughout is " W h a t part do cosmic rays play in the Universe?". Current views on the significance of cosmic rays are well represented b y a quotation from an invited p a p e r b y V. L. Ginzburg and S. I. S y r o v a t s k y - - " T o d a y there is hardly any doubt that along with stars and interstellar gas cosmic rays belong to the basic elements out of which the galaxies and the universe as a whole are composed". Extensive-air-shower measurements of cosmic rays with energies as high as 1020eY bring into question a possible limit to the accelerating capability of the Universe. Several new techniques for observing high-energy cosmic rays are discussed. I t is appropriate that, at the end of a cycle of solar activity, the solar modulation of cosmic rays should come in for critical examination. Over the last few years some very precise measurements of the spectral composition of cosmic rays have been made. The sensitivity and accuracy that are now possible using satellites have led to conclusions that are dramatically different from those accepted a few years ago. The increasing interest in the electron-positron component of cosmic radiation is demonstrated by a n u m b e r of new results. The predominance of negatively-charged electrons points to direct acceleration rather t h a n production b y p r o t o n - p r o t o n collisions in the galaxy. The search for X - r a y and y-ray sources continues. The significance of cosmic y-rays is discussed in terms of bremmstrahlung from electron interactions, and the decay of s0 mesons from nuclear interactions in the galaxy. Some new measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field and outer geomagnetic field are presented and discussed in relation to the trajectories of cosmic ray particles and the discovery of bursts of electrons in the outer magnetosphere. Considerable attention is given to the nature of high-energy nuclear interactions which are of m u t u a l interest to cosmic-ray physicists and nuclear physicists. The recent detection of cosmic~ ray neutrino interactions opens up the exciting possibility of neutrino astronomy. D. A. BRYANT