NATURE 



[September 4, igig 



PHYSICS IN WAR. 

 Les Applications de la Physique pendant la 

 Guerre. By H. Vigneron. Pp. viii + 322. 

 (Paris : Masson et Cie, 1919.) Price 7 francs 

 net. 



A BOOK with this title, appearing so soon 

 after the termination of hostilities, could 

 scarcely fail to excite coniiderable interest. The 

 public in general and people with a scientific turn 

 of mind in particular have been vaguely aware 

 that, during the war, much work has been done 

 in applying scientific principles to military pur- 

 jKJses. In this country, as well as in Allied 

 countries, there have been spread, in spite of the 

 censorship, most exaggerated and distorted 

 accounts of the practical results of these experi- 

 ments. Here, then, in this book, it might have 

 been supposed, would be afforded an opportunity 

 of testing the truth of the rumours which have 

 been current. To a reader in this frame of mind 

 a perusal of the book will be somewhat disap- 

 pointing. There are no great revelations, and it 

 is a little difficult to see why the French censor- 

 ship would not allow the author to publish the 

 major portion of the contents during the war as 

 he desired. The important subject of submarine 

 detection and destruction, for example, is dealt 

 with in a couple of pages. There is internal 

 evidence that this does not arise from lack of 

 knowledge on the part of the author, but rather 

 from the operation of the censorship, which can 

 have been removed in a very limited sense only. 

 The author has, no doubt, been seriously handi- 

 capped in this way, for the French authorities 

 appear to have been much more strict than our 

 own. 



M. \'igneron, in his preface, very properlv lays 

 Stress on the, important part played in the war 

 by those men of science who, before the war, 

 conducted speculative research without thought 

 of the possibility of its practical application, and 

 were forced by circumstances to join hands 

 with the " tcchniciens," as he calls them. This 

 alliance has produced far-reaching results, and 

 there will be general agreement with the author 

 that it should be fostered and perpetuated. The 

 work of purely scientific workers is verv liable 

 to be lost sight of when it becomes absorbed in 

 industry. One feels that M. Vigneron would 

 have been able to do more justice to them had 

 he delayed publication until it was permissible to 

 refer more explicitly to their work. The author 

 is evidently a believer in the practical fruits of 

 pure science, and his advocacy of the methods of 

 the General Electric Co. of Schenectady in 

 this respect is sound. 



The first of the seven sections of the present 

 volume deals principally with the applications 

 of optics for military purposes. Of particular 

 interest are the chapters concerning rangefinders, 

 and the many and varied uses of photographv in 

 warfare. One misses, however, any adequate 

 reference to modern methods of signalling, such 

 as those with infra-red and ultra-violet light, 



NO. 2601, VOL. 104] 



invented by Prof. R. W. Wood. Sections z 

 and 3 are devoted, respectively, to the aerial and 

 submarine aspects of war, and contain many in- 

 teresting facts and diagrams. There is a long 

 section on artillery and projectiles, containing 

 much information, most of which was probably 

 available before the war. The sixth section, on 

 wireless telegraphy, is shorter than might have 

 been expected, but gives an interesting outline 

 of present methods, including the use of therm- 

 ionic valves as oscillators and amplifiers. There 

 is merely a mention of wireless telephony, which 

 actually came into considerable practical use 

 during the war. Localisation of foreign materials 

 in the human body, mainly, by means of X-rays. 

 forms the subject of the last chapter. 



The book is interesting and well written. 

 It is illustrated with many good diagrams and 

 photographic reproductions, which are explained 

 clearly in the text. What is lacking with regard 

 to "secret" developments the author will, we 

 hope, take up in a subsequent volume. 



EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES ON GLASS. 



Experimental Researches Carried Out in the 

 Department of Glass Technology , University of 

 Sheffield. Vol. i., 1917-18. (Reprinted from 

 the Journal of the Society of . Glass Tech- 

 nology.) Pp. iii+178. (Sheflield : The Uni- 

 versity, n.d.) 



DR. W. E. S. TURNER is to be congratulated 

 upon the success which has attended the 

 formation of the Department of Glass Technology , 

 Sheffield University, of which he is the head, and 

 of the Society of Glass Technologv, of which he is 

 secretary, and in the foundation of which he played 

 a leading part. The results of the experiment?! 

 researches carried out in the department are now 

 reprinted from the journal of the society, together 

 with certain reports to the council of the uni- 

 versity. 



Glass is a peculiarly elusive subject for scientific 

 investigation, but neither man of science, techno- 

 logist, nor practical worker will deny that it is a 

 fascinating one. We know practically nothing 

 about the nature of glass, and in this respect we 

 are much in the position of the metallurgists prior 

 to the introduction of thermal and micrographic 

 methods of investigation. We have as yet no 

 key to the constitution of glass, and this must be 

 sought in the purely scientific study of simple 

 mixtures rather than in the investigation of com- 

 plex glasses, which experience has proved to be 

 practically useful. 



At the beginning of the war very little informa- 

 tion was available with regard even to the essential 

 facts relating to scientific glassware, miners' 

 lamps, and electric bulbs, which our glass manu- 

 facturers were called upon to supply with the least 

 possible delay. Which was the best of the vari- 

 ous brands of beakers and flasks at the moment in 

 everyday use in chemical laboratories? was a 

 question to which only the vaguest answer could 

 be given. As to how these glasses should 



