Electricity and Magnetism for Advanced Students

Abstract

THE rapidity with which physical knowledge is extending at the present time must be a source of no small embarrassment to writers of the more advanced type of text-book. The progress in the subject of electricity during the twelve years which have elapsed since the publication of this book has been of such a fundamental character that it could not be relegated to additional chapters or appendices. A considerable amount of revision was thus necessary if the new matter was not to be too obviously grafted on the original. It is good to find that Mr. Starling has recognised this necessity, and congratulations are due to him on the result, for the book is now up-to-date, yet still homogeneous. He could not, of course, attempt to deal exhaustively with the electron theory and other modern developments, but he has given a very useful survey of them which will serve as an excellent introduction to more detailed study, the more so as it covers the widest possible field. For example, considerable space is devoted to the question of atomic structure, and an account of Bohr's theory of the hydrogen spectrum is given. In connexion with the latter it may be pointed out that the generalised quantum specification was given by Sommerfeld in 1916 (not 1911 as implied), but had been previously proposed by W. Wilson (1915).