Abstract
Hitherto the mathematical equations of electrodynamics have been based on the experimental conclusions of Coulomb, Ampère, and Faraday. Even books which discuss relativity go no further than showing that these equations are co-variant for the Lorentz-Einstein transformation. In Prof. Page's book, however, the equations are derived directly from the principle of relativity. The mathematician will appreciate this procedure as it is more logical, but we think that the average reader will find the older methods more convincing. The units chosen are those advocated by Heaviside and Lorentz. The value of ! the charge at any point is equal to the number of tubes of force diverging from the point; all matter is assumed to be made up of positive and negative electrons; electromagnetic force is defined in terms of the electric intensity of lines of force, and gravitational attraction between two electrons is supposed to be negligibly small. The electrons carrying a current are all of the same sign, and their masses are positive. Hence the “mass of the current” is greater than the sum of the masses of the individual electrons composing it.
An Introduction to Electrodynamics: From the Standpoint of the Electron Theory.
By Prof. Leigh Page. Pp. vi + 134. (Boston and London: Ginn and Co., 1922.) 10s. net.
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An Introduction to Electrodynamics: From the Standpoint of the Electron Theory . Nature 110, 509 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/110509b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/110509b0