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Physics of the lower ionosphere
Planet. Space Sci. 1966. Vol. 14, p. 449.
Pergamon Press
Ltd. Printedin NorthernIreland
BOOK REVtEWS
R. C. WHITTEN and I. G. 1965. 232 pp.
POPOFF: Physics ofthe Lower Zunospheve.
Prentice-Hall,
New York,
THIS volume is about half-way between a monograph and a book pertaining to the subject matter. It deals with the relevant processes involved in the height range of about 50-150 km. It is divided into eight chapters concerned with solar radiation, upper atmosphere structure, radiationatmosphere interactions, ion kinetics, lower ionosphere charged particle structure, electromagnetic effects Most of the major factors concerning these subjects are introduced and a and ionospheric perturbations. few are gone into in some detail. However, the major emphasis of the book is to give an “overview” of the subject in a coherent manner and this the authors have done extremely well. The various topics are well referenced so that the interested reader may delve into any specific subject to the depth that he may desire. The book should serve several useful purposes. It provides an excellent introduction to the student entering this field as well as to an individual working in peripheral areas. It is an excellent source book for the researcher engaged in upper atmosphere studies. The mechanics of production of the book are excellent. It is reasonably priced. A. H. WAYNICK
B. M. SHCHIGOLEV(Translated by H. EAGLE): Mathematical Analysis of Obseroations. Iliffe, London and American Elsevier, New York. English Edition, 1965. xv + 350 pp. 63s. IT IS STILL comparatively
rare to lind books which combine numerical analysis with statistics. This one attempts to do so but the result is rather unsatisfactory. The book is in five parts: I Operations with approximate numbers; II Point interpolation; III Probability theory; IV Fundamentals of the theory of random measurement errors; V Analysis of statistical material. A major criticism is that the approach is old-fashioned. A book of this type, published here in 1965, should surely take some account of the existence of electronic computers but, for example, computational details are given in terms of desk calculators, discussion of errors in fundamental arithmetic operations is essentially confined to fixed point arithmetic and iterative procedures receive virtually no attention. Again, the statistical sections (including probability) could well have been written in the thirties. There is an almost complete absence of discussion of such key topics as experimental design, estimation of parameters, hypothesis testing and small sample methods. The treatment leans very heavily on the normal (Gaussian) distribution. The exposition is detailed (and sometimes unnecessarily laboured). Almost all the applied examples are from astronomy. An interested reader with no knowledge of statistics should not find the statistical parts unduly difficult to follow but would not gain a balanced view of present-day ideas and methods. The standard of translation appears to be good, but there are irritating differences in notation and terminology from those current here. The bibliography is very brief in relation to the length of the book and almost all references are to Russian books. This is particularly annoying when standard techniques are being cited. Translated works can be made more useful to the reader by the provision of a roughly equivalent list of English language references wherever possible.
C. D.
KEMP
Pergamon Press
Ltd. Printedin NorthernIreland
BOOK REVtEWS
R. C. WHITTEN and I. G. 1965. 232 pp.
POPOFF: Physics ofthe Lower Zunospheve.
Prentice-Hall,
New York,
THIS volume is about half-way between a monograph and a book pertaining to the subject matter. It deals with the relevant processes involved in the height range of about 50-150 km. It is divided into eight chapters concerned with solar radiation, upper atmosphere structure, radiationatmosphere interactions, ion kinetics, lower ionosphere charged particle structure, electromagnetic effects Most of the major factors concerning these subjects are introduced and a and ionospheric perturbations. few are gone into in some detail. However, the major emphasis of the book is to give an “overview” of the subject in a coherent manner and this the authors have done extremely well. The various topics are well referenced so that the interested reader may delve into any specific subject to the depth that he may desire. The book should serve several useful purposes. It provides an excellent introduction to the student entering this field as well as to an individual working in peripheral areas. It is an excellent source book for the researcher engaged in upper atmosphere studies. The mechanics of production of the book are excellent. It is reasonably priced. A. H. WAYNICK
B. M. SHCHIGOLEV(Translated by H. EAGLE): Mathematical Analysis of Obseroations. Iliffe, London and American Elsevier, New York. English Edition, 1965. xv + 350 pp. 63s. IT IS STILL comparatively
rare to lind books which combine numerical analysis with statistics. This one attempts to do so but the result is rather unsatisfactory. The book is in five parts: I Operations with approximate numbers; II Point interpolation; III Probability theory; IV Fundamentals of the theory of random measurement errors; V Analysis of statistical material. A major criticism is that the approach is old-fashioned. A book of this type, published here in 1965, should surely take some account of the existence of electronic computers but, for example, computational details are given in terms of desk calculators, discussion of errors in fundamental arithmetic operations is essentially confined to fixed point arithmetic and iterative procedures receive virtually no attention. Again, the statistical sections (including probability) could well have been written in the thirties. There is an almost complete absence of discussion of such key topics as experimental design, estimation of parameters, hypothesis testing and small sample methods. The treatment leans very heavily on the normal (Gaussian) distribution. The exposition is detailed (and sometimes unnecessarily laboured). Almost all the applied examples are from astronomy. An interested reader with no knowledge of statistics should not find the statistical parts unduly difficult to follow but would not gain a balanced view of present-day ideas and methods. The standard of translation appears to be good, but there are irritating differences in notation and terminology from those current here. The bibliography is very brief in relation to the length of the book and almost all references are to Russian books. This is particularly annoying when standard techniques are being cited. Translated works can be made more useful to the reader by the provision of a roughly equivalent list of English language references wherever possible.
C. D.
KEMP