20 BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



3. The approximations do not apply if the conductors are quite im- 



perfect or if the dielectric is highly dissipative. This affects the 

 application in certain practical cases as indicated above. 



4. The classic theory does not apply to circuits of the usual dimensions 



for extremely high frequencies in the order of millions of cycles. 

 From the standpoint of the best appreciation of the fundamentals 

 of the electrical arts it might be said that the ideal course for students in 

 electrical theory would start with the fundamental discoveries of Ohm, 

 Oersted, Ampere, Faraday and Henry, pass through the generalized 

 mathematical statement of the laws which they discovered to the 

 general electromagnetic equations of Maxwell and Lorentz, and then 

 from this focal point derive the various approximations of electric 

 theory as applied to the various electrical arts ; electric light and power, 

 electric transportation, telephone, telegraph and radio. Unfortu- 

 nately, teachers and students as well as the rest of us are hampered by 

 questions of time and this approach is not proposed as a practical 

 undergraduate course at the present time. 



Conclusion 



Electrical science and its practical applications are undergoing a 

 very rapid development and expansion. The science of today is the 

 engineering of tomorrow. These facts result in increasing importance 

 in the mastery by the engineering student during his time at college of 

 the electrical principles of broadest general usefulness, rather than 

 learning specific applications of these principles. By a mastery is meant 

 such an appreciation of the scope and limitations of the principles that 

 he is able to apply them correctly to new conditions as they come up. 



It is not intended to express a judgment on the extent to which the 

 curricula of engineering schools should go in presenting electrical 

 theory, and it is, of course, recognized that different schools have differ- 

 ent conditions to meet which will naturally result in somewhat differ- 

 ent courses. It is not proposed that the specific forms of electrical 

 theory applying directly to telephone problems should be taught. 



It is proposed for consideration, however, that whatever the scope 

 of general electrical principles which is taught, these be so presented 

 that the student have a clear picture of what they mean and of how 

 and where they apply, and that he also should appreciate the relation 

 to the general principles of any specific cases presented and the ap- 

 proximations which they involve. As far as practicable, all principles 

 should be related to the general electromagnetic theory, the funda- 

 mental basis of all our electrical science. 



