Subatomic Physics Research Articles

Book review

Abstract Electron Spin Resonance. By N. M. Atherton. (Ellis Horwood, 1973.) [Pp. 438.] £11.50. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/postgraduate; undergraduate. The Riddle of the Pyramids. By Kurt Mendelssohn. (Thames and Hudson, 1974.) [Pp. 224. £3.50. Level: General reader. Radioactivity in Nuclear Spectroscopy, Vol. 1. Editors, J. H. Hamilton and J. C. Manthuruthil. (Gordon & Breach, 1972.) [Pp. xi+578.] £18.75. Scope: Conference Proceedings. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. The Scanning Electron Microscope: Part I. The Instrument. By C. W. Oatley. (Cambridge University Press, 1972.) [Pp. viii+194.] £5.30. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. Louis de Broglie: sa Conception du Monde Physipue. Contributed papers, with a preface by M. Druon. (Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1973.) [Pp. xxvii+387.] 160F. Statistical Mechanics. By R. K. Pathria. (Pergamon, 1972.) [Pp. xiii+527.] £8.00. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/graduate. Market Survey for Nuclear Power in Developing Countries—A General Report printed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. Price £6.00; U.S. dollar;15.00 Physical Models for Semiconductor Devices. By J. E. Carroll. (Edward Arnold, 1974.) [Pp. xvi+253.] £6.50 (Paper, £3.25). Scope: Textbook. Level: Undergraduate. An Introduction to Linear Electric Circuits. By L. V. Kite. (Longman, 1974.) [xiii+290.] £3.95. Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Undergraduate. Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 28: Lectures in Statistical Physics. Edited by W. C. Schieve and J. S. Turner. (Springer-Verlap: Berlin, Heidelberg and New York, 1974.) [Pp. vi+342.] DM34; about £5.75. Scope: Conference proceedings; treatise. Level: Specialist/post-graduate. Scanning Electron Microscopy: Systems and Applications. Edited by W. C. Nixon. (The Institute of Physics, 1973.) [Pp. x+338.] £15.00. Scope: Conference proceedings. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. Subatomic Physics. By H. Frauenfelder and E. M. Henley. (Prentice Hall, 1974.) [Pp. xv+554.] Scope: Treatise/textbook. Level: Specialist/post-graduate; undergraduate. Channeling. Edited by D. V. Morgan. (John Wiley & Sons, 1974.) [Pp. xv+486.] £11.75. Scope: Survey. Level: Specialist/postgraduate. Principles of Heavy Current Engineering. By P. G. Lund and A. M. Howatson. (Chapman and Hall, 1974.) [Pp. 115.] Price: £1.65. Level: Undergraduate; School; General reader. From Circuits to Computere. Edited by L. Solymar. (Chapman and Hall, 1974.) [Pp. 184.] £2.50. Level: Undergraduate; School; General reader. Exciting Electrical Machines. By E. R. Laithwaite. (Pergamon, 1974.) [Pp. 68.] £0.60. Level: Undergraduate; School; General reader. Microwave Spectroacopy of Free Radicals. By A. Carrington. (Academic Press, 1974.) [Pp. ix+264.] £4.50. Scope: Textbook; survey. Level: Post-graduate; research. Optics. By E. Hecht and A. Zajac. (Addison-Wesley, 1974.) [Pp. viii+565.] Scope: Textbook; library. Level: General reader; undergraduate. The Physics of Liquid Cystals. By P. G. de Gennes. (Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press, 1974.) [Pp. xi+333.] £11.50. Mathemtical Methods for the Physical Sciencw. By K. F. Riley. (Cambridge University Press, 1974.) [Pp. xvi+533.] Cloth £8.75; paper £3.75. Scope: Textbook. Level: Undergraduate. Human Engineering. By John Lenihan. (Wiedenfeld and Nicholson, 1974.) [Pp. 207.] £3.00. Level: Undergraduate, School, General reader.

Units for Atomic and Subatomic Physics

The consequences are examined of setting ħ = 1 and c = 1, while retaining the electron volt. The system of units thus defined is simple and practical for atomic and subatomic physics. A convention is also suggested which permits any quantity to be expressed by a number near unity. Trial teaching with such units is suggested.

The third revolution in 20th century physics

“Twentieth century physics already has undergone two breathtaking revolutions—in relativity and in quantum mechanics. We may be standing on the threshold of a third.” Thus spoke Geoffrey F. Chew on the occasion of the Rouse Ball Lecture which he delivered at the University of Cambridge on March 12, 1963. The title of this lecture is “The Dubious Role of the Space‐Time Continuum in Subatomic Physics”.

Mechanical Physics Sub-Atomic Physics University Physics

PROF. DINGLE's two small books form a balanced course of physics, not including mechanics. They begin at the post-matriculation stage, assuming a slight knowledge of mechanics and of the calculus, and they attain a level, on the standard of the University of London, somewhere between the physics of Intermediate Science and that of the General B.Sc. They treat ordinary academic physics and are not specially “aero”. The explanations are easily read and almost all very clear, the diagrams abundant and satisfactory, the paper good, the print excellent, and the price low. There are indexes and exercises. A welcome addition to the usual course of physics is a chapter on sidereal and solar time, with diagrams of the celestial sphere. An original feature is the broad grouping of the subject-matter into “mechanical” and “sub-atomic” books ; the former including gravitation, elasticity, surface tension, viscosity, heat and sound ; whereas the “sub-atomic” book includes optics, electricity and magnetism. In explanation of this arrangement the second book has a chapter on the structure of the atom. But it is placed at the beginning, at a stage where the student cannot yet understand the experimental evidence. This dogmatic chapter may whet the appetite of some students, but discourage others. Mechanical Physics By Prof. Herbert Dingle. (Nelson's Aeroscience Manuals.) Pp. 248. (London and Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1942.) 5s. net. Sub-Atomic Physics By Prof. Herbert Dingle. (Nelson's Aeroscience Manuals.) Pp. 272. (London and Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1942.) 5s. net. University Physics By Dr. F. C. Champion. Part 5: Electricity and Magnetism. Pp. vii + 246. (London, Glasgow and Bombay: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1942.) 7s. 6d. net.