Abstract
A YEAR ago1, names suggested for the unit ‘cm.−1’ were permicron, Rydberg and Balmer. In a recent review2 of “Modern Interferometers”, Prof. W. F. Meggers advocates ‘Kayser’. Where early workers used the reciprocal of the wave-length in air, H. Kayser recognized that in complex spectra the wave-length in vacuum is essential, and so gave to ‘cm.−1’ its proper definition. Moreover, he compiled the tables still used in the conversion. These arguments are convincing; the more so as Rydberg is commemorated by a constant and Balmer by a series, while K is here a more convenient symbol than R.
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References
Bayliss, N. S., Nature, 167, 367 (1951). Candler, C., Nature, 167, 649 (1951). Bladergroen, W., Nature, 167, 1075 (1951).
Meggers, W. F., J. Opt. Soc. Amer., 41, 106 (1951).
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CANDLER, C. A Unit of Wave-number. Nature 170, 43 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/170043b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/170043b0
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