Principles and applications of magnetic cooling

Principles and applications of magnetic cooling

JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE l&394-395 (1973) Book Reviews Principles and Applications of Magnetic Cooling. By R. P. Hudson. North-Holland Publi...

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JOURNAL

OF MAGNETIC

RESONANCE

l&394-395

(1973)

Book Reviews Principles and Applications of Magnetic Cooling. By R. P. Hudson. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam and American Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, 1972. 230 pp. $20.75.

This little volume brings together the experimental techniques for achieving extremely low temperatures and the principles of electronic and nuclear magnetism on which the methods of magnetic cooling are based. The author states in the foreword, “I shall venture the opinion that the book should be of most use to the physics undergraduate as he embarks upon specialized studies, or to a research student who has chosen to enter the field of cryogenics.” It appears to the reviewer, who is by no means an expert in the field, that the book fulfills this purpose quite satisfactorily, with the possible exception of the section on thermodynamic considerations in Chapter II, where the ratio of equations to explanations might tend to overwhelm the uninitiated. Possibly the sections of greatest value to the would-be experimenter are those on experimental techniques and on the characteristics of individual substances which are available as low-temperature paramagnets. The coverage of the literature would also seem to be extremely helpful. In reading this volume, the reviewer finds of particular interest the discussion of potential developments in application of nuclear magnetism, which promise to extend beyond the milliK limits of electronic paramagnetism down to the microK region. The magnetic resonance worker who is interested in the theory of his field may well find a few new insights by examining the summaries of electron and nuclear magnetic phenomena as presented by a single author, and from the solid-state physics point of view. W. S. B. Introductory Fourier Transform Spectroscopy. By Robert John Bell. Academic Press,

New York, 1972.382 pp. $19.50. The use of Fourier transform methods in optical spectroscopy antedates applications in nuclear resonance but may finally turn out to be equally as revolutionary in that field as it is in NMR. It is only with the various areas of optical spectroscopy that this volume is concerned, but for these the book gives an excellent description of the experimental considerations in using the interferometric techniques and of the results to be obtained therefrom. The coverage of the literature and the classified bibliography seem especially valuable. Of particular interest to the NMR spectroscopist are Chapters 16, 17, and 18, which deal with computational techniques, the Cooley-Tukey algorithm, and minicomputers, and to which Ralph W. Alexander is listed as a contributor. In the absence of a similar book for NMR workers concerning their use of FT methods, this section might serve as a point of beginning for one who wishes to understand the computational procedures involved in this form of spectroscopy. W. S. B. Copyright All rights

0 1973 by Academic Press, Inc. of reproduction in any form reserved.

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