New Books for the Student

Problems in Electrical Engineering" by Dr. B. This is not a text-book for the student of
Hague, to which Professor Bewley expresses general electrical engineering, but rather a
indebtedness for his own chapter on Image treatise for the specialized engineer or the more
Methods. advanced student. The necessarily long and
It is perhaps from its lecture-room origins involved sentences at times make it rather
that the book derives its strength and weak- difficult to understand, but this is a book
ness. Each aspect of the subject is examined which has to be studied to be appreciated.
and fully treated mathematically, so that the Mathematics has been kept to a minimum,
lecturer, by embellishment out of his own but it is of a high order and is sometimes
experience, may easily provide for the student rather difficult to follow. The book is amply
a comprehensive commentary on the subject. illustrated with line diagrams and graphs, but
As a book for the student, however, some it is felt that one or two photographs or black-
deficiencies are apparent, especially in the later and-white illustrations of the apparatus men-
chapters where the author tends too much to tioned, besides relieving the rather austere look
be chary of words and to allow the equations of the book, would prove very useful.
to speak for themselves. Because of this the As this is the first edition, it contains rather
reader may too often find himself involved in a lengthy list of errata, chiefly concerned with
an inadequately introduced mathematical dis- the mathematics. The student would be well
cussion which concludes without suggesting advised to amend the text before proceeding
any wide practical application. with his studies. R. V. F.
Although, for these reasons, one would
hesitate to recommend the work to the un-
guided student, one would certainly recom- The Electric Lamp Industry. By Arthur A.
mend it as an adjunct to any course of lectures Bright, Junior.
concerned with electromagneticfields,especially (Macmillan. 37s. 6d. Pp. 526.)
where the bias is toward a study of machines The author, Industrial Economist for the
rather than radiocommunication problems. Federal Reserve Bank in Boston, has written
R. M. G. this book as the second in a series of studies
in the Economics of Invention, undertaken at
Earth Conduction Effects in Transmission the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Systems. By Erling D. Sunde. In it he offers a detached analysis of the
(Macmillan. 33s. Pp. 373.) economic and technological evolution of
Mr. Sunde is a member of the technical electric lighting from about 1800 to the end
staff of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, and of the Second World War, aiming at the dis-
this book is based largely on experimental and covery of the factors that have influenced the
theoretical research in connection with com- trend, extent and timing of it.
munication circuits. Great use has also been The book is sectionalized, each section
made of the many pamphlets and papers pro- detailing the advances made during that period,
duced on this subject. together with the effects on the lamp industry,
An idea of the vast scope of this book can and, to a lesser extent, on the electrical industry
be obtained from a brief resume of the contents. as a whole.
The fundamental concepts and' equations of With the exception of the early sections
electromagnetism, including transmission line dealing with periods up to the year 1912, the
equations, self and mutual impedances of European lamp industry receives little attention
cylindrical conductors, and a note on Fourier in comparison with that of the United States.
integral transforms and operational calculus Therefore the story is one of the growth of the
comprise the first chapter. For those who can large companies, their rise to supremacy, and
survive this onslaught upon their grey matter, the way in which that leadership.-has been
the following chapters deal with earth resistivity maintained despite competition and litigation.
testing and analytical approximation' -of A work of such a nature as this book repre-
measured resistivities, the resistance of ground- sents a great deal of hard labour, and the
ing arrangements, e.g. spherical grounds, author is to be congratulated on the masterly
plates and vertical ground rods, etc., the handling of the subject matter. The final
mutual impedance of insulated earth-return conclusions and the appendices containing
conductors, and the propagation character- tabulated facts for easy reference are praise-
istics of earth-return conductors. Direct- worthy indeed.
current earth conduction and corrosion pro- One statement in the book is now, however,
tection is amply described, a whole chapter incorrect. It is mentioned that the Corning
being devoted to the subject. Power-system Ribbon machine has not been exported. Two
earth conduction and inductive interference are machines are being installed in this country
next subjected to our scrutiny, followed by a and will be in production next year.
chapter on the surge characteristics of earth- Nevertheless, the book is one which can be
return conductors. The book finishes with a recommended to the specialist and layman
short description of the lightning protection of alike as informative and highly readable litera-
cables and transmission lines. ture. The only real criticisms that can be
A useful appendix and an excellent biblio- offered are that more illustrations are required
graphy are contained in the rear of the book, in a book of this nature, and that many inter-
the latter being classified into chapters. The esting footnotes, which are really part of the
index, although perhaps a little brief, is very text, would be better incorporated therein.
thorough. G. A. F.
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