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Progress in cryogenics 3
Russian work. However, so much progress was made on liquid helium by the Russians in these years that the book gives quite a well balanced picture of research in liquid helium-4 as it was in 1949. The book is very well translated and produced, but costs $7.50 for only 120 smallish pages. One hesitates to criticize the price of a translation at a time when it is desirable to encourage translations of foreign books and journals. Nevertheless, the present price seems rather a lot, particularly as much of the material is already available in English. However, every library should have the book, and it will also be useful for anyone else who can afford it. J. WILKS
Progress in Cryogenics 3. Edited by K. Mendelssohn. (Heywood, 1961) 173 pages. 45s. Volume 3 of this series is another very mixed bag of articles with something to satisfy all customers--both technological and academic. A. J. Croft contributes a good account of the most important types of helium liquefier, and this includes a useful section which gives the essential characteristics of the three types of helium liquefier which are available commercially. A. G. Lenfestey writes on low temperature heat exchangers. This is primarily concerned with the large devices used in industry. There is little of use for the' small man' which might assist in helping him to design a more efficient cryostat. The article on novel refrigeration cycles and devices by W. E. Gifford promises well, but the introductory thermodynamics in Section 2 is far from clear. The chapter on cryogenic rocket propellants by I. E. Smith is a very readable introductory account which gives a good impression of the large number of complex problems which are met with in the design and operation of rocket engines, fuels, fuel feed systems, and instrumentation. R. P. Hudson's article on paramagnetic substances for nuclear orientation imparts considerable clarity to a subject which is of necessity rather complicated. The chapter includes useful data on the preparation and properties of the most commonly used cooling salts. The final article by C. D. Jeffries on dynamic nuclear polarization is a most stimulating treatment and in addition it contains a wealth of information on low temperature microwave techniques and calculations. H. M. ROSENBERG
mainly liquid helium, which have caught the author's fancy'. A puckish sentence in the introduction, concerning the selection, makes it quite clear that the author has written for his own personal pleasure. The book is based on a series of lectures and one would think that the students will have enjoyed them for the stimulus provided. They have been treated as adults who should be capable of reading up the missing bits somewhere else in case they got sufficiently interested in the subject. No special effort has been made to develop a theme or to proceed step by step in the business of teaching low temperature physics. Admittedly, in the first chapter we are told about methods of liquefying gases--or so the author says--but then he gets engrossed in such things as magnetic cooling which, after all, is also making low temperatures. Again, he is quite happy to skip items which a conscientious lecturer would consider indispensable, but when there is a pretty and elegant technique, such as leaving a small residue of air between the walls of a helium Dewar as a means of efficient cooling, he does not mind devoting space to it. Chapters 2 to 8, but with the exception of chapter 7, deal with various aspects of the problem of superfluidity. Most of the standard subjects are treated or at least receive mention, but the list is not exhaustive. True to pattern, Professor Lane considers important what he finds most interesting, and when that is the case, he does not mind going into detail. Throughout, it is rather storytelling than teaching, and his stories on the energy spectrum and on rotating helium make excellent reading. He ends his essays on superfluidity in helium with one on the critical velocities which is a nice way of rounding off the story. Why this chapter is preceded by one on solutions of lielium-3 in helium-4 is difficult to see, unless the author just then felt like talking about solutions instead of leaving them to the end where they belong, and this is probably a good enough reason. The book ends with a chapter on superconductivity which, too, is far from complete but it deals with a lot of interesting things. At first the reviewer who has settled down to assessing another text on low temperature physics is somewhat taken aback by Professor Lane's superb disregard for completeness and balance. Soon, however, one begins to suspect that the author has a pretty good understanding of the student. This is not a book to get him through an examination but one that will make him want to take up superfluidity as a research subject. K. MENDELSSOHN
Superlinid Physics. C. T. Lane. (McGraw-Hill, 1962) 226 pages. 74s.
Progress in Semiconductors 6. Edited by A. F. Gibson. (Heywood, 1962) 322 pages. 65s.
Professor Lane, who is one of the oldhands in the field of low ~emperature research, has refreshingly departed from the standard type of textbook. He has chosen a snappy title for his book, which otherwise might be called, 'Selected essays on topics of low temperature physics,
The articles in this volume again emphasize the importance of low temperature measurements in semiconductor work. In the review by A. K. Jonscher on the physics of semiconductor switching devices, an account is given of the Cryosar, a device which consists simply of a specimen of
372
CRYOGENICS
• DECEMBER
1962
Progress in Cryogenics 3. Edited by K. Mendelssohn. (Heywood, 1961) 173 pages. 45s. Volume 3 of this series is another very mixed bag of articles with something to satisfy all customers--both technological and academic. A. J. Croft contributes a good account of the most important types of helium liquefier, and this includes a useful section which gives the essential characteristics of the three types of helium liquefier which are available commercially. A. G. Lenfestey writes on low temperature heat exchangers. This is primarily concerned with the large devices used in industry. There is little of use for the' small man' which might assist in helping him to design a more efficient cryostat. The article on novel refrigeration cycles and devices by W. E. Gifford promises well, but the introductory thermodynamics in Section 2 is far from clear. The chapter on cryogenic rocket propellants by I. E. Smith is a very readable introductory account which gives a good impression of the large number of complex problems which are met with in the design and operation of rocket engines, fuels, fuel feed systems, and instrumentation. R. P. Hudson's article on paramagnetic substances for nuclear orientation imparts considerable clarity to a subject which is of necessity rather complicated. The chapter includes useful data on the preparation and properties of the most commonly used cooling salts. The final article by C. D. Jeffries on dynamic nuclear polarization is a most stimulating treatment and in addition it contains a wealth of information on low temperature microwave techniques and calculations. H. M. ROSENBERG
mainly liquid helium, which have caught the author's fancy'. A puckish sentence in the introduction, concerning the selection, makes it quite clear that the author has written for his own personal pleasure. The book is based on a series of lectures and one would think that the students will have enjoyed them for the stimulus provided. They have been treated as adults who should be capable of reading up the missing bits somewhere else in case they got sufficiently interested in the subject. No special effort has been made to develop a theme or to proceed step by step in the business of teaching low temperature physics. Admittedly, in the first chapter we are told about methods of liquefying gases--or so the author says--but then he gets engrossed in such things as magnetic cooling which, after all, is also making low temperatures. Again, he is quite happy to skip items which a conscientious lecturer would consider indispensable, but when there is a pretty and elegant technique, such as leaving a small residue of air between the walls of a helium Dewar as a means of efficient cooling, he does not mind devoting space to it. Chapters 2 to 8, but with the exception of chapter 7, deal with various aspects of the problem of superfluidity. Most of the standard subjects are treated or at least receive mention, but the list is not exhaustive. True to pattern, Professor Lane considers important what he finds most interesting, and when that is the case, he does not mind going into detail. Throughout, it is rather storytelling than teaching, and his stories on the energy spectrum and on rotating helium make excellent reading. He ends his essays on superfluidity in helium with one on the critical velocities which is a nice way of rounding off the story. Why this chapter is preceded by one on solutions of lielium-3 in helium-4 is difficult to see, unless the author just then felt like talking about solutions instead of leaving them to the end where they belong, and this is probably a good enough reason. The book ends with a chapter on superconductivity which, too, is far from complete but it deals with a lot of interesting things. At first the reviewer who has settled down to assessing another text on low temperature physics is somewhat taken aback by Professor Lane's superb disregard for completeness and balance. Soon, however, one begins to suspect that the author has a pretty good understanding of the student. This is not a book to get him through an examination but one that will make him want to take up superfluidity as a research subject. K. MENDELSSOHN
Superlinid Physics. C. T. Lane. (McGraw-Hill, 1962) 226 pages. 74s.
Progress in Semiconductors 6. Edited by A. F. Gibson. (Heywood, 1962) 322 pages. 65s.
Professor Lane, who is one of the oldhands in the field of low ~emperature research, has refreshingly departed from the standard type of textbook. He has chosen a snappy title for his book, which otherwise might be called, 'Selected essays on topics of low temperature physics,
The articles in this volume again emphasize the importance of low temperature measurements in semiconductor work. In the review by A. K. Jonscher on the physics of semiconductor switching devices, an account is given of the Cryosar, a device which consists simply of a specimen of
372
CRYOGENICS
• DECEMBER
1962