Abstract
THIS book consists mainly of descriptions of the author's experimental work, and summarises his reasons for accepting the one-fluid theory of electricity. Photographs of discharges across a spark-gap, and traces on a photographic plate due to discharges over its surface, constitute the major part of the evidence. Much work has been done, and many interesting plates are reproduced, but it is doubtful whether the experiments are quite so conclusive as the author believes. Several novel ideas are introduced, such as the existence of conducting lines or “drainage channels” round the positive or “exhaust” electrode in every kind of discharge, though it might be pointed out that this idea of a well-conducting channel is scarcely compatible with the considerable potential-slope which exists in the positive column of a discharge tube. The suggestion that gravitational attraction is due solely to the “corpuscular nebula” which permeates all matter is also novel; it is used to explain the explosive effect of discharging a Leyden jar through a wire.
Experimental Studies in Electricity and Magnetism.
By F. E. Nipher. Pp. 73. (Philadelphia: P. Blakiston's Son and Co., 1914.) Price 1.25 dollars net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Experimental Studies in Electricity and Magnetism . Nature 95, 63 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/095063a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/095063a0