- Email: [email protected]
The rise of the petroleum industry
322
BOOK REVIEWS.
[J. F. I.
magnetism, ProPerties of alternating current circuits, vacuum tubes and tube circuits, and electrical communication systems. The author squarely faces the fact t h a t in any practical t r e a t m e n t of value a certain amount of mathematics is necessary in the solution of problems and to crystallize the theory in the mind of the student. This is in contrast to some of the recent texts. Another feature is the very useful problems for exercise. They appear whereever they are needed in the text and make it more impressionable and practical. The treatment is not too detailed but careful selection is made as to the depth of coverage. The book can be used in the classroom and in home study as well. It is of the grade that high school students may use. R. H. OPPERMANN. THE RISE OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, by Malcolm MacLaren. 225 pages, illustrations, 16 X 24 cms. New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1943. Price $3.75Here is a story written by one who personally contacted many of the pioneers of the industry and who was in a position to observe m a n y of the early developments. Malcolm MacLaren is an electrical engineer who graduated from Princeton in I89O. He has had considerable engineering experience both in this country and in England. He studied under Cyrus Fogg Brakett and for twenty-five years was chairman of the department of electrical engineers at Princeton University. In addition to his contributions and broad experience, the author has had the advantage of having available much of the apparatus of pioneers and developers, for Princeton was the scene of creative work by men such as Joseph Henry, Thomas A. Edison and Dr. Brakett. The story of the electrical industry is told in this book in a non-technical fashion but facilities are provided to enable anyone who may so desire to make further study of any particular phase of the development. At the end of the book the reader will find a rather complete bibliography containing references to the principal papers bearing upon the subject. The method of presentation first lays out the early history of electricity, then takes up separately communication systems, illumination, motors and their application, direct current switchboards, direct current generators, precision instruments and methods of measurement, early alternating current developments, and commercial development of alternating current systems. Thus the presentation is an ordered one in comparison with a straight chronologic record regardless of arrangement of topics which has been the practice. The work is authoritative and quite complete, filling in many gaps which heretofore have not been stressed. R. H. OPPERMANN. RADIO TROUBLESHOOTER'S HANDBOOK, by Alfred A. Ghirardi. 744 pages, illustrations, 22 X 29 cms. New York, Radio & Technical Publishing Co., I943. Price $5.00. It is estimated t h a t there are some 55 million radio~receivers in use in our country. Thousands of these are at the stage when they should normally be replaced. For the war's duration this is largely impossible and the service man is called upon to service this equipment, to repair many faulty parts which retain usefulness, to substitute and adapt the very limited variety and quantity of available replacement requirements. This demand on his ability and ingenuity requires complete fundamental knowledge of receiver circuits and design. Under this pressure it can be readily seen that a good, workable handbook is most valuable. This book is in its third revised and enlarged edition. The previous edition in I94I has been reviewed on these pages, but the book has undergone some changes made in the light of modernization and practicability. At the very beginning and for some 400 pages there are given ca~e histories of actual trouble symptoms and remedies for the common troubles in 482o models of various makes of home and auto-radio receivers and automatic record changers. These are arranged according to the name and type of set. Then attention is focused on intermediate transformer troubles and servicing and aligning superheterodyne receivers. The needs of the service man are visualized to an unusual extent as is evidenced by the very great quantity of information given. There is a cross index of model numbers, trouble shooter re-
BOOK REVIEWS.
[J. F. I.
magnetism, ProPerties of alternating current circuits, vacuum tubes and tube circuits, and electrical communication systems. The author squarely faces the fact t h a t in any practical t r e a t m e n t of value a certain amount of mathematics is necessary in the solution of problems and to crystallize the theory in the mind of the student. This is in contrast to some of the recent texts. Another feature is the very useful problems for exercise. They appear whereever they are needed in the text and make it more impressionable and practical. The treatment is not too detailed but careful selection is made as to the depth of coverage. The book can be used in the classroom and in home study as well. It is of the grade that high school students may use. R. H. OPPERMANN. THE RISE OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, by Malcolm MacLaren. 225 pages, illustrations, 16 X 24 cms. New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1943. Price $3.75Here is a story written by one who personally contacted many of the pioneers of the industry and who was in a position to observe m a n y of the early developments. Malcolm MacLaren is an electrical engineer who graduated from Princeton in I89O. He has had considerable engineering experience both in this country and in England. He studied under Cyrus Fogg Brakett and for twenty-five years was chairman of the department of electrical engineers at Princeton University. In addition to his contributions and broad experience, the author has had the advantage of having available much of the apparatus of pioneers and developers, for Princeton was the scene of creative work by men such as Joseph Henry, Thomas A. Edison and Dr. Brakett. The story of the electrical industry is told in this book in a non-technical fashion but facilities are provided to enable anyone who may so desire to make further study of any particular phase of the development. At the end of the book the reader will find a rather complete bibliography containing references to the principal papers bearing upon the subject. The method of presentation first lays out the early history of electricity, then takes up separately communication systems, illumination, motors and their application, direct current switchboards, direct current generators, precision instruments and methods of measurement, early alternating current developments, and commercial development of alternating current systems. Thus the presentation is an ordered one in comparison with a straight chronologic record regardless of arrangement of topics which has been the practice. The work is authoritative and quite complete, filling in many gaps which heretofore have not been stressed. R. H. OPPERMANN. RADIO TROUBLESHOOTER'S HANDBOOK, by Alfred A. Ghirardi. 744 pages, illustrations, 22 X 29 cms. New York, Radio & Technical Publishing Co., I943. Price $5.00. It is estimated t h a t there are some 55 million radio~receivers in use in our country. Thousands of these are at the stage when they should normally be replaced. For the war's duration this is largely impossible and the service man is called upon to service this equipment, to repair many faulty parts which retain usefulness, to substitute and adapt the very limited variety and quantity of available replacement requirements. This demand on his ability and ingenuity requires complete fundamental knowledge of receiver circuits and design. Under this pressure it can be readily seen that a good, workable handbook is most valuable. This book is in its third revised and enlarged edition. The previous edition in I94I has been reviewed on these pages, but the book has undergone some changes made in the light of modernization and practicability. At the very beginning and for some 400 pages there are given ca~e histories of actual trouble symptoms and remedies for the common troubles in 482o models of various makes of home and auto-radio receivers and automatic record changers. These are arranged according to the name and type of set. Then attention is focused on intermediate transformer troubles and servicing and aligning superheterodyne receivers. The needs of the service man are visualized to an unusual extent as is evidenced by the very great quantity of information given. There is a cross index of model numbers, trouble shooter re-