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LXXIX. Notices respecting New Books. 



Thermodynamics for Engineers. By J. A. Ewing, Cambridge 

 University Press. Pp. xiii-f-383. Price 30s. net. 



HPHIS book is largely based upon Sir J. A. Ewing's two well- 

 known books on applied thermodynamics, ' The Steam Engine ' 

 and 'The Mechanical Production of Cold.' The chapter on •' First 

 Principles " follows closely the second chapter of " The Steam 

 Engine," but has gained in clarity in rewriting, and the general 

 treatment in the book before us of the Theory of the Steam Engine 

 (Chapter III.), the Theory of Refrigeration (Chapter IY.), Jets 

 and Turbines (Chapter V.), and Internal Combustion Engines 

 (Chapter VI.) does not differ essentially from the exposition given 

 in the books mentioned. We notice that the author restricts 

 the term adiabatic to reversible processes : the general practice 

 nowadays is rather to indicate by adiabatic a process in which no 

 heat is allowed to enter or leave the substance, and to specify 

 further whether the process in question is reversible or irreversible 

 in the case considered. The last two chapters, devoted to general 

 thermodynamic relations and their applications to particular fluids, 

 contain much new matter. A list of therm odynamical formulae 

 is given which is very convenient for reference. The porous plug 

 experiment, which is often so ineffectively handled, receives 

 adequate treatment, and Callendar's equation, now so widely 

 used, is discussed in considerable detail, the author being careful 

 to draw attention to its limitations. The variations of the specific 

 heats of saturated vapours, the subject of recent papers by 

 Sir J. A. Ewing and Professor A. W. Porter in this magazine, are 

 not considered. The book is illustrated by excellent diagrams, 

 some of them, such as that exhibiting Witkowski's isothermals 

 for air, being not usually found in text-books. Eor the physicist 

 who wants to study thermodynamics from the point of view of 

 the engineering, rather than the physico-chemical, applications, as 

 for the engineer who wants to grasp the theoretical foundations 

 of all engine-efficiencies, the book is in every way excellent, com- 

 bining as it does sound theory and practical knowledge in a way 

 that is only too rare. 



Life and Works of Sir Jagadis C. Bose. By Patrick GrEDDES. 

 Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. xii-f 259. Price 16s. net. 



Early in life Sir J. C. Bose set himself the task of winniug a place 

 for the native of India in modern science, and this task he has 

 pursued with a steadfast and unselfish devotion in the face of 

 Aery great difficulties. The foundation of the Bose Research 

 Institute and the somewhat tardy award of the E.R.S. may be 

 said to mark the final success of his endeavours. Some twenty-five 

 years ago his name became known to physicists in connexion with his 

 work on very short electromagnetic waves, an investigation which' 

 he carried out with the utmost experimental skill ; and although his 



