Abstract
THIS work has now gone through four editions, and it remains the standard book on the theory of radiation. The earlier parts, dealing with the classical theory, are practically unaltered, and constitute still far the most thorough introduction which a student could have into the rather difficult ideas of the theory. The later part differs from the earlier editions very considerably. In the first and second editions the end of the book contained a good deal of rather arid discussion of the radiation problem from several only slightly different points of view. All this has now been replaced by a very interesting development of the quantum theory, in particular of those branches, including radiation, which concern temperature problems. The discussion from the point of view of entropy is very complete, except for the lack of an explanation of why it is right first to define entropy in terms of probability, and then to re-define probability—the so-called thermodynamic probability—so as to derive from it the “absolute” entropy. Apart from this question of the arbitrary constant in the entropy, there is a very clear account of Planck's more recent work on the equation of state of gases.
Vorlesungen über die Theorie der Wärmestrah-lung.
Prof.
Max
Planck
By. Vierte, Abermals Umgearbeitete Auflage. Pp. xi + 224. (Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1921.) 36 marks.
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Vorlesungen über die Theorie der Wärmestrah-lung . Nature 108, 527 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/108527a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/108527a0