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Symmetry in the solid state
I
10.D
]
Nuclear Physics 67 (1965) 479; (~) North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam
BOOK
REVIEWS
J. MATHEWS and R. L. WALKER, Mathematical methods of physics (W. A. Benjamin, New York, 1964, x-475 p. $13.75) This is a one year course book for first year graduate students in physics. It covers most of the mathematical techniques a physicist is likely to need. There are many exercises and an extensive bibliography allows the reader to follow up a particular topic in more advanced books. The emphasis on teaching through example is carried so far that the book at times resembles a collection of unrelated tricks, rather than presenting a unified theory. The standard o f English is rather low, with some slang. This is to be deplored in any book addressed to the all too illiterate science students o f today. J. Rosenfeld W. B. THOMPSON, An introduction to plasma physics, 2nd ed. (Pergamon, Oxford, 1964. viii-274 p. 70 s.) B. LEHNERT, Dynamics of charged particles (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1964. x-300 p. $ 9.10) Two more textbooks on magneto-hydrodynamics, the first a new edition (after two years), the second a newcomer to a rather crowded shelf. One should not be too surprised, perhaps, to notice a certain similarity between these books: many formulae are in fact the same (better printed in the second than in the first), and the figures have also much the same look (better in the first than in the second), although there is in Lehnert's diagrams a marked fancy for trochoids, which is not conspicuous in Thompson's drawings. There is, o f course, a more significant difference, described in general terms by saying that Thompson's treatise is more elementary, Lelmert's more systematic and rigorous. Thus, the student could be introduced to the subject by the first, and then find the second most instructive for a deeper insight into the intricate relationship between the various typical phenomena. L.R. J. R. STEHN, M. D. GOLDBERG,g. A.. MAGURNOand R. W1ENER-CHASMAN,Neutron cross sections, Supplement No. 2 (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, L.I., 1964. $ 2.50) Tiffs supplement to a well-known compilation only partially supersedes the previous one. The format is improved, and it has the same outstanding qualities as the earlier publications. L.R. R. S. KNOXand A. GOLD, Symmetry in the solidstate (W. A. Benjamin, New York, 1964. xii-344p.) Extensive collection of reprints of fundamental articles, some of them in English translation from the original German, ranging in date from 1929 to 1962. The introduction is very substantial (166 pages); it is written in a practical spirit, with many tables and clear drawings. It covers the essential features o f the usual applications o f group theory to atomic physics, with special emphasis on crystalline structures. There is also a discussion of the Jahn-Teller effect. A very well-conceived and most useful book. L.R.
479
10.D
]
Nuclear Physics 67 (1965) 479; (~) North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam
BOOK
REVIEWS
J. MATHEWS and R. L. WALKER, Mathematical methods of physics (W. A. Benjamin, New York, 1964, x-475 p. $13.75) This is a one year course book for first year graduate students in physics. It covers most of the mathematical techniques a physicist is likely to need. There are many exercises and an extensive bibliography allows the reader to follow up a particular topic in more advanced books. The emphasis on teaching through example is carried so far that the book at times resembles a collection of unrelated tricks, rather than presenting a unified theory. The standard o f English is rather low, with some slang. This is to be deplored in any book addressed to the all too illiterate science students o f today. J. Rosenfeld W. B. THOMPSON, An introduction to plasma physics, 2nd ed. (Pergamon, Oxford, 1964. viii-274 p. 70 s.) B. LEHNERT, Dynamics of charged particles (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1964. x-300 p. $ 9.10) Two more textbooks on magneto-hydrodynamics, the first a new edition (after two years), the second a newcomer to a rather crowded shelf. One should not be too surprised, perhaps, to notice a certain similarity between these books: many formulae are in fact the same (better printed in the second than in the first), and the figures have also much the same look (better in the first than in the second), although there is in Lehnert's diagrams a marked fancy for trochoids, which is not conspicuous in Thompson's drawings. There is, o f course, a more significant difference, described in general terms by saying that Thompson's treatise is more elementary, Lelmert's more systematic and rigorous. Thus, the student could be introduced to the subject by the first, and then find the second most instructive for a deeper insight into the intricate relationship between the various typical phenomena. L.R. J. R. STEHN, M. D. GOLDBERG,g. A.. MAGURNOand R. W1ENER-CHASMAN,Neutron cross sections, Supplement No. 2 (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, L.I., 1964. $ 2.50) Tiffs supplement to a well-known compilation only partially supersedes the previous one. The format is improved, and it has the same outstanding qualities as the earlier publications. L.R. R. S. KNOXand A. GOLD, Symmetry in the solidstate (W. A. Benjamin, New York, 1964. xii-344p.) Extensive collection of reprints of fundamental articles, some of them in English translation from the original German, ranging in date from 1929 to 1962. The introduction is very substantial (166 pages); it is written in a practical spirit, with many tables and clear drawings. It covers the essential features o f the usual applications o f group theory to atomic physics, with special emphasis on crystalline structures. There is also a discussion of the Jahn-Teller effect. A very well-conceived and most useful book. L.R.
479