October 20, 1923] 



NA TURE 



;87 



Physics in Industry. Lectures delivered before the 

 Institute of Physics by Prof. A. Barr, Sir James 

 Ewing, and C. C. Paterson. (Oxford Technical 

 Publications.) Vol. i. Pp. 59. (London : H. 

 Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton, 1923.) 2s. 6d. 

 net. 



The first of these three lectures directs attention to the 

 great complexity of the problems with which the 

 engineer has to deal ; and to the fact that, in many 

 problems of design it is practically impossible to 

 proceed by the method of scientific experiment ; "his 

 own experience and his inheritance of the accumulated 

 results of the labours of his predecessors " must 

 largely guide the successful engineer. Sir James 

 Ewing deals with the relation of the physicist to the 

 developmental history of the heat engine, and states 

 that " the impulses towards any new departure are, 

 in general, given by men who are at home in that 

 delightful country which may be described as the 

 I borderland of physics and engineering. I have roamed 

 ' in it for many happy years, and have been privileged 

 to know some of the great men who have dwelt on its 

 hill-tops. I have enjoyed its morning mists and its 

 changing landscapes." The third lecture gives the 

 experiences and views of a research physicist, working 

 with an important electrical company which manu- 

 factures most of the machines, apparatus, and accessories 

 made use of in modern electrical practice. His views 

 on the duties and methods of the research organisa- 

 tion of such a company are of the highest importance, 

 and should receive very close consideration by all who 

 are interested in industrial research. 



(i) Essentials of Modern Physics. By C. E. Dull. 

 Pp. xi + 525. (London, Calcutta and Sydney: 

 G. G. Harrap and Co., Ltd., 1923.) 55. 



(2) The Elements of Applied Physics. By Prof. A. W. 

 Smith. Pp. xiv + 483. (London: McGraw-Hill 

 Publishing Co., Ltd., 1923.) 12^. 6d. 



(3) Practical Heat. Edited by T. Croft. (Power 

 Plant Series.) Pp. xiii + 713. (New York and 

 London : McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., 1923.) 255. 



In our issue of December 9, 1922, p. 792, we directed 

 attention to the first of a series of reports on the 

 teaching of physics in the United States by a committee 

 of the American Physical Society formed to investigate 

 the subject and to make recommendations for the 

 future. The tliree books under notice may be regarded 

 as outcomes of that report, for their aim is to provide 

 a sound knowledge of the fundamental principles of 

 the subject and to show how those principles find their 

 applications in the common experiences of everyday 

 life. The first is for secondary school use and intro- 

 duces each principle by a familiar fact depending on 

 it, the second supplies the needs of a student in his 

 first ycir at a University intending to become an 

 engineer, while the third is a more complete ( xposi- 

 tion of the principles which underlie heat engim i linu. 

 All are well printed, and the latter is abundantly 

 illustrated. There are a few lapses on fundamental 

 points, but they do not seriously interfere with the 

 usefulness of the books for those who wish to know 

 the " why " of things th(\ Mr ;i round them. 



NO. 2816, VOL. I 12] 



Plane Geometry : An Account of the More Elementary 

 Properties of the Conic Sections, treated by the Methods 

 of Co-ordinate Geometry, and of Modern Projective 

 Geometry, with Applications to Practical Drawing. 

 By L. B. Benny. Pp. vii + 336. (London : Blackie 

 and Son, Ltd., 1922.) 10s. 6d. net. 



On the whole, Mr. Benny's book is one that we would 

 heartily recommend to the class oi^tudents he had in 

 mind while writing it. It is not a book for beginners ; 

 it is not a book for mathematical specialists. But for 

 the student who wishes to acquire a fairly competent 

 knowledge of the methods of analytical conies, com- 

 bined with the modern geometrical point of view, the 

 book should prove very useful. The style is attractive, 

 and the treatment interesting. 



Mr. Benny's aim is clearly to combine the geometrical 

 with the analytical treatment of conies. This aim is 

 one that all should approve. The only fault we can 

 find with the author's treatment is one that he himself 

 mentions in the preface, namely, that there is a sort of 

 see-saw between geometry and analysis in alternate 

 chapters. This gives a rather unpleasant impression, 

 and we must confess that when we first took up Mr. 

 Benny's book the impression it made was a bad one. 

 But continued study of the book showed that the fault 

 is more apparent than real. Perhaps in a future 

 edition Mr. Benny could so rearrange the material as 

 to work the geometrical and the analytical into a really 

 organic whole. S. B. 



Electrical Engineering Laboratory Experiments. By 

 Prof. C. W. Ricker and C. E. Tucker. Pp. xiv + 310. 

 (London : McGraw-Hill PubUshing Co., Ltd., 1922.) 

 IIS. 2,d. 



A STUDENT in an electrical engineering laboratory 

 should be taught to rely on his own resources and 

 encouraged to exert his own initiative. At the 

 beginning of his course it is advisable that he perform 

 rapidly under careful supervision the fundamental 

 testing experiments. He should then be assigned 

 work which requires a certain amount of originality. 

 If he shows a particular interest in any problem, he 

 should be encouraged to make a research on it. The 

 teacher is occasionally rewarded by finding a keen 

 and accurate observer who has the ability to analyse 

 his experiments and draw useful conclusions from them. 

 In the book under notice fifty-six experiments are 

 given ranging from the wheatstone bridge to the 

 mercury arc rectifier and from the direct - current 

 generator to the load characteristics of a three-phase 

 commutator motor. The theory given of the various 

 tests is not too lengthy and can be easily under- 

 stood. The book can be commended to teachers and 

 students. 



Practical Chemistry. By Dr. L. C. Newell. Pp. 

 viii + 543. (London and Sydney : D. C. Heath and 

 Co., n.d.) 6s. 



Dr. Newell's work is not a " practical " text-book in 

 the English sense, but an elementary text-book of 

 chemistr\ iilnn;; ihc linrs now followed in America. 

 Industrial apjilK ati(m> arc kept in \\\v lorcground, and 



illusti-.ii M.:i ^ i:i icrliiia.il pi, ml are numerous. 



