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Zur statistischen Deutung der Quantentheorie Zur Begründung der Matrizenmechanik
Nuclear Physics 47 (1963) 525--526; (~) North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam
BOOK
REVIEWS
J. B. BIRKS (editor) Rutherford at Manchester (Heywood & Company Ltd., London, 1962 t. x-364 p. 60 s.) This commemorative volume has been issued at the occasion o f the Rutherford Jubilee International Conference held in Manchester in September 1961, to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the atomic nucleus. It contains a wealth of material o f historical and human interest concerning Rutherford's Manchester period and constitutes a contribution to the history o f modern physics, the more valuable as the "official" biography of Rutherford comes singularly short of the expected standards. Thus, it is in this book that we are at last given a full bibliography of Rutherford's publications, as well as a very precious bibliography o f all the papers published from the Manchester Laboratories in the period 1907-1919. The first part of the book consists mainly of a selection of articles concerning Rutherford: in the first place, the texts of the speeches at the Commemorative session during the conference in 1961, then four of the annual Rutherford Lectures, including the most important one by Niels Bohr. The second half of the book brings reprints o f nine fundamental papers by Rutherford and others; these include, besides the papers leading to Rutherford's atom model, two of Bohr's papers on the constitution o f the atom, the two great papers by Moseley, and finally, the article describing the first nuclear reaction l~N(g, p)xTO. There are a few well-chosen photographs, but they do not come off very well. Apart from this, the book is excellently produced and does honour to the Editor, Dr. J. B. Birks, and the publishers. L.R. t The book has been re-issued by W. A. Benjamin, New York 1963, in a very elegant binding, and neatly encased. MAx BORN, Zur statistischen Deutung der Quantentheorie Zur Begriindung der Matrizenmechanik M. BORN, W. HEISENBERG, P. JORDAN, (Ernst Battenberg Verlag, Stuttgart, 1962. 130 p., 135 p.) The attention of the readers of Nuclear Physics should be called to a new series of reprints o f historically important papers written in German, "Dokumente der Naturwissenschaft". The physical subdivision of this series (which is planned to comprise 20 volumes, covering quantum theory, relativity, the "new world view o f physics" and nuclear physics) has been inaugurated by the publication of the two volumes under review, specially dedicated to Max Born on his 80th birthday. The first contains, besides the famous papers on the quantum mechanics of collision problems, a somewhat anecdotic biography by A. Hermann, the editor of the series. The second volume has only the texts o f the fundamental papers on quantum mechanics, reproduced in off-set without any comment or introduction. This is a regrettable shortcoming, which could perhaps still be remedied in future volumes. One may also differ from the editor in the selection of the projected reprints; in particular, the arrangement of the projected volumes could be more systematic and their scope wider. However, we have here the beginning of a useful undertaking deserving every success. L.R. A. E. BRODSKY, Isotopen Chemic (Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1961. ix-700 p. DM 86) This book is a revised version in German of the original Russian work, published in Moscow in 1957. The German editor, J. Mfihlenpfordt, has revised the text in the light o f more recent information, and thus the book has been partly brought up to date. The book gives an introduction to the application of stable and radioactive isotopes in many fields o f chemistry, biology, rfiedicine, agriculture etc., illustrated by a very large number of examples. 525
BOOK
REVIEWS
J. B. BIRKS (editor) Rutherford at Manchester (Heywood & Company Ltd., London, 1962 t. x-364 p. 60 s.) This commemorative volume has been issued at the occasion o f the Rutherford Jubilee International Conference held in Manchester in September 1961, to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the atomic nucleus. It contains a wealth of material o f historical and human interest concerning Rutherford's Manchester period and constitutes a contribution to the history o f modern physics, the more valuable as the "official" biography of Rutherford comes singularly short of the expected standards. Thus, it is in this book that we are at last given a full bibliography of Rutherford's publications, as well as a very precious bibliography o f all the papers published from the Manchester Laboratories in the period 1907-1919. The first part of the book consists mainly of a selection of articles concerning Rutherford: in the first place, the texts of the speeches at the Commemorative session during the conference in 1961, then four of the annual Rutherford Lectures, including the most important one by Niels Bohr. The second half of the book brings reprints o f nine fundamental papers by Rutherford and others; these include, besides the papers leading to Rutherford's atom model, two of Bohr's papers on the constitution o f the atom, the two great papers by Moseley, and finally, the article describing the first nuclear reaction l~N(g, p)xTO. There are a few well-chosen photographs, but they do not come off very well. Apart from this, the book is excellently produced and does honour to the Editor, Dr. J. B. Birks, and the publishers. L.R. t The book has been re-issued by W. A. Benjamin, New York 1963, in a very elegant binding, and neatly encased. MAx BORN, Zur statistischen Deutung der Quantentheorie Zur Begriindung der Matrizenmechanik M. BORN, W. HEISENBERG, P. JORDAN, (Ernst Battenberg Verlag, Stuttgart, 1962. 130 p., 135 p.) The attention of the readers of Nuclear Physics should be called to a new series of reprints o f historically important papers written in German, "Dokumente der Naturwissenschaft". The physical subdivision of this series (which is planned to comprise 20 volumes, covering quantum theory, relativity, the "new world view o f physics" and nuclear physics) has been inaugurated by the publication of the two volumes under review, specially dedicated to Max Born on his 80th birthday. The first contains, besides the famous papers on the quantum mechanics of collision problems, a somewhat anecdotic biography by A. Hermann, the editor of the series. The second volume has only the texts o f the fundamental papers on quantum mechanics, reproduced in off-set without any comment or introduction. This is a regrettable shortcoming, which could perhaps still be remedied in future volumes. One may also differ from the editor in the selection of the projected reprints; in particular, the arrangement of the projected volumes could be more systematic and their scope wider. However, we have here the beginning of a useful undertaking deserving every success. L.R. A. E. BRODSKY, Isotopen Chemic (Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1961. ix-700 p. DM 86) This book is a revised version in German of the original Russian work, published in Moscow in 1957. The German editor, J. Mfihlenpfordt, has revised the text in the light o f more recent information, and thus the book has been partly brought up to date. The book gives an introduction to the application of stable and radioactive isotopes in many fields o f chemistry, biology, rfiedicine, agriculture etc., illustrated by a very large number of examples. 525