Abstract
THIS book has reached the status of a classic of meteorology ; the few weaknesses of the first edition having been for the most part remedied in the second, the third edition needed little more than bringing up to date by the addition of references to the advances of the last ten years. These additions have necessitated the writing of a number of new paragraphs, notably on the effect of clouds on incoming and outgoing radiation, energy equations of evaporation, and zones of silence in meteorological acoustics, the latter remedying a serious omission in the second edition, while throughout the book existing paragraphs have been expanded to take in work published up to 1939. In a few cases the additions are disappointing ; for example, the subject of air-mass identification was surely worth more than a half-page, and the “principal Ice-age theories”do not include the well-known solar pluvial theory associated with the name of Sir George Simpson. As a whole, however, the book remains equal to its expressed purpose of providing an orderly assemblage of facts and theories, equally valuable as a text-book for advanced study or a work of reference on a meteorologist's shelves. One unfortunate misprint has crept into the list of contents, where atmospheric refraction has been included under “Reflection phenomena”.
Physics of the Air
Dr.
W. J.
Humphreys
By. Third edition. Pp. xiv + 676. (New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1940.) 42s.
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Physics of the Air. Nature 149, 8 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149008d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149008d0