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The beginnings of solid state physics
Book reviews Language of the Stars by Zdenek Kopai. Pp. viii + 2 76. Reidel, Dordrecht. 1979. Cloth Dfl. 120, Paper Dfl.55. Judging from the title alone, the would-be purchaser might be misled into imagining that this is yet another popular book on astronomy. He would be very much mistaken. Language of the Stars is a rather profound and highly mathematical treatment of eclipsing variable stars. However, having said this, the book is nevertheless generally well-written and a valuable contribution to an important branch of astrophysics. Those numerous binary systems whose orbital planes by chance lie very nearly in our line of sight have contributed vastly to our understanding of stellar parameters and stellar structure. This is merely because the components happen to eclipse one another, either wholly or partially. The ‘language’ of such stars is their own Peculiar light variation arising from these periodic occultations. Professor Kopal, who has made outstanding contributions to this field of study over more than forty years, sets out to investigate how this language is produced and to outline current methods of decoding it. He begins with the ideal case of a pair of spherical stars orbiting one another. This proves to be a good approximation to the truth where the components are reasonably widely separated. Later, the more complex subject of tidally distorted stars is treated in detail. The overall picture is a comprehensive discussion of almost every aspect of eclipsing binaries.
F. R. Stephenson
buy this book but instead, perhaps, to glance at a library copy.
J.A.Pyle and Coherent
Optics by
L. M. Soroko. TranslatedbyA. Pp. vii + 8 18. Plenum, New $59.50.
Holography
Tybulewicz. York. 1980.
A comprehensive book in its subject, 702 pages being developed from a lecture course at the Moscow Physicotechnical Institute plus an appendix comprising 3 papers from the translating editor, George Strike, with others. It is a text book with character, giving the sense of taught material rather than strict statement of fact. Personally I liked this presentation of theoretical optics which set out the underlying basis for a wide range of optical phenomena. The practical holographer may be surprised by statements making full colour holography seem simple and another section where the holographic microscope is described in 7 lines of text and summarised in two mathematical inequalities. A student of the subject will appreciate the introduction to mathematical techniques in Chapter 2, which describes the use of transforms and functions before setting them down in conventional form. The work overall is slanted to information processing with examples from electrical engineering as well as optics. The body of the work is now approaching 10 years old, which is a long time in a new, fast moving subject, but optics have been dealt with in ways as relevant today as they were when written. I can warmly recommend this book to the serious student in optics.
John N. Butters The Ozone Layer. Edited Biswas. Pp. 38t. Pergamon 1980. f23.00 ($SO.OOl.
by Asit K. Press, Oxford.
This volume contains in twenty-three chapters the proceedings of a meeting organised by the United Nations Environment Programme held in March 1977. The passage of three years means that recent important developments in the measurement of reaction rate constants and in the understanding of transport processes find no place here and the book will be of no great interest to experts. It could provide useful background, however, for as well as discussing the ozone layer, chapters are devoted to the effect of ultraviolet radiation on biological and botanical organisms. I cannot assess the quality of these latter chapters. I was, however, horrified to find two errors as early as in figure 1.1, showing the temperature structure of the stratosphere. The book contains much that I found turgid, particularly the chapters on the research programmes funded by industry and by different governmental non-governmental and organizations. I would not recommend any researcher to
90
.
The Beginnings
was inspired by a variety of practical problems ranging from ground movement in mines through work hardening of metals to image formation in photographic emulsions. The book is a hardbound offprint of Proc. Roy. Sot., series A, volume 371 and is without index. This is particularly unfortunate because a quarter of the memoirs are not referenced.
J. 0. NM R Spectroscopy Pp. 436.
Wiley,
by H. Giinther. Chichester. 1980. f7.95.
This book is clearly going to be of considerable value to physical organic chemists. It is wellwritten and excellently produced at a modest price in paperback. The principal limitation lies in its coverage. The author has deliberately chosen to minimise discussion of nuclei other than ’ H and 13C. Moreover, in this reviewer’s opinion the coverage of Fourier transform techniques and of relaxation phenomena is less than is desirable. However, incorporation of further material would necessitate either a longer book or omission of many ofthe present pages-neither alternative is attractive! The spectral analysis section is, in contrast, rather overemphasised for the likely readership, though it is very nicely presented. The copious use of chemical examples throughout the book must delight any spectroscopically-inclined chemist. The illustrations, particularly the spectra, are very welcome, as is the use of SI formalism (curiously dropped for the short section on oriented molecules). As in any scientific book, there are several minor points with which one could quibble, but these are fewer in number than is usual. In summary, I would recommend this book to any organic chemist interested in NMR.
R. K. Harris
of Solid State Physics.
A RoyalSociety Symposium. Pp. 167. The RoyalSociety, London. 1980. f9.75 (UK) f 10.25 (overseas).
This volume contains the proceedings of a symposium organised by Sir Neville Mott and held at the Royal Society early in 1979, together with additional memoirs from distinguished physicists who were unable to attend. Apart from two articles written by professional historians the contributions take the form of personal reminiscences. Mott reports in his introduction that he invited contributions from scientists who had worked on two areas, namely the theory of electrons in solids up to the second World War and dislocations in crystals up to 1956. The published responses show a remarkable difference between the two gelds. The electron theorists report themselves as having worked in small communities where the only stimuli were problems in the existing theories and publications. Comprehensive theories were required, ad hoc solutions were seen as ‘dirty physics’, and commercial applications were avoided. In contrast the work on dislocations
Marsh
Infrared Characteristic Group Frequencies by G. Socrates. Pp. 153. Wiley,
Chichester.
1980.
f24.00.
‘The purpose of this book is to provide a simple introduction to characteristic group frequencies so as to assist all who may need to interpret or examine infrared spectra.’ Laudable and possible, but the book falls short of its stated ideal. Thus the deliberate avoidance of even an elementary theoretical background leads to an Introduction of limited use to a true beginner, and results in late emergence of ‘infrared inactive’ (p.52), ‘Fermi resonance’ (p.60). and ‘point group’ (p.143), with little or no explanation. ‘Raman active’ is used (p. 138) without description of the Raman effect, and the limitation of the whole concept of group frequencies is saved for p.73. There are other disappointing aspects: basic instrumentation and even sampling are totally neglected, yet their appreciation is necessary for proper use of spectra; there are no selfassessment problems for readers; only two diagrams actually illustrate spectra (!). On the
F. R. Stephenson
buy this book but instead, perhaps, to glance at a library copy.
J.A.Pyle and Coherent
Optics by
L. M. Soroko. TranslatedbyA. Pp. vii + 8 18. Plenum, New $59.50.
Holography
Tybulewicz. York. 1980.
A comprehensive book in its subject, 702 pages being developed from a lecture course at the Moscow Physicotechnical Institute plus an appendix comprising 3 papers from the translating editor, George Strike, with others. It is a text book with character, giving the sense of taught material rather than strict statement of fact. Personally I liked this presentation of theoretical optics which set out the underlying basis for a wide range of optical phenomena. The practical holographer may be surprised by statements making full colour holography seem simple and another section where the holographic microscope is described in 7 lines of text and summarised in two mathematical inequalities. A student of the subject will appreciate the introduction to mathematical techniques in Chapter 2, which describes the use of transforms and functions before setting them down in conventional form. The work overall is slanted to information processing with examples from electrical engineering as well as optics. The body of the work is now approaching 10 years old, which is a long time in a new, fast moving subject, but optics have been dealt with in ways as relevant today as they were when written. I can warmly recommend this book to the serious student in optics.
John N. Butters The Ozone Layer. Edited Biswas. Pp. 38t. Pergamon 1980. f23.00 ($SO.OOl.
by Asit K. Press, Oxford.
This volume contains in twenty-three chapters the proceedings of a meeting organised by the United Nations Environment Programme held in March 1977. The passage of three years means that recent important developments in the measurement of reaction rate constants and in the understanding of transport processes find no place here and the book will be of no great interest to experts. It could provide useful background, however, for as well as discussing the ozone layer, chapters are devoted to the effect of ultraviolet radiation on biological and botanical organisms. I cannot assess the quality of these latter chapters. I was, however, horrified to find two errors as early as in figure 1.1, showing the temperature structure of the stratosphere. The book contains much that I found turgid, particularly the chapters on the research programmes funded by industry and by different governmental non-governmental and organizations. I would not recommend any researcher to
90
.
The Beginnings
was inspired by a variety of practical problems ranging from ground movement in mines through work hardening of metals to image formation in photographic emulsions. The book is a hardbound offprint of Proc. Roy. Sot., series A, volume 371 and is without index. This is particularly unfortunate because a quarter of the memoirs are not referenced.
J. 0. NM R Spectroscopy Pp. 436.
Wiley,
by H. Giinther. Chichester. 1980. f7.95.
This book is clearly going to be of considerable value to physical organic chemists. It is wellwritten and excellently produced at a modest price in paperback. The principal limitation lies in its coverage. The author has deliberately chosen to minimise discussion of nuclei other than ’ H and 13C. Moreover, in this reviewer’s opinion the coverage of Fourier transform techniques and of relaxation phenomena is less than is desirable. However, incorporation of further material would necessitate either a longer book or omission of many ofthe present pages-neither alternative is attractive! The spectral analysis section is, in contrast, rather overemphasised for the likely readership, though it is very nicely presented. The copious use of chemical examples throughout the book must delight any spectroscopically-inclined chemist. The illustrations, particularly the spectra, are very welcome, as is the use of SI formalism (curiously dropped for the short section on oriented molecules). As in any scientific book, there are several minor points with which one could quibble, but these are fewer in number than is usual. In summary, I would recommend this book to any organic chemist interested in NMR.
R. K. Harris
of Solid State Physics.
A RoyalSociety Symposium. Pp. 167. The RoyalSociety, London. 1980. f9.75 (UK) f 10.25 (overseas).
This volume contains the proceedings of a symposium organised by Sir Neville Mott and held at the Royal Society early in 1979, together with additional memoirs from distinguished physicists who were unable to attend. Apart from two articles written by professional historians the contributions take the form of personal reminiscences. Mott reports in his introduction that he invited contributions from scientists who had worked on two areas, namely the theory of electrons in solids up to the second World War and dislocations in crystals up to 1956. The published responses show a remarkable difference between the two gelds. The electron theorists report themselves as having worked in small communities where the only stimuli were problems in the existing theories and publications. Comprehensive theories were required, ad hoc solutions were seen as ‘dirty physics’, and commercial applications were avoided. In contrast the work on dislocations
Marsh
Infrared Characteristic Group Frequencies by G. Socrates. Pp. 153. Wiley,
Chichester.
1980.
f24.00.
‘The purpose of this book is to provide a simple introduction to characteristic group frequencies so as to assist all who may need to interpret or examine infrared spectra.’ Laudable and possible, but the book falls short of its stated ideal. Thus the deliberate avoidance of even an elementary theoretical background leads to an Introduction of limited use to a true beginner, and results in late emergence of ‘infrared inactive’ (p.52), ‘Fermi resonance’ (p.60). and ‘point group’ (p.143), with little or no explanation. ‘Raman active’ is used (p. 138) without description of the Raman effect, and the limitation of the whole concept of group frequencies is saved for p.73. There are other disappointing aspects: basic instrumentation and even sampling are totally neglected, yet their appreciation is necessary for proper use of spectra; there are no selfassessment problems for readers; only two diagrams actually illustrate spectra (!). On the