ELEMENTARY COLLEGE PHYSICS

By Norman E. Gilbert and Leslie F. Murch, Harcourt Brace and Co. 447 pp. 1937, and Laboratory Exercises for the above text by the same authors and publishers; 57 experiments.

There are many texts in physics. But it is a large domain and there are not only various views regarding the subject matter which a text should contain, there are also diversemethods of presentation. "This text and the accompanying laboratory manual were prepared for college students who desire a brief course in college but who do not intend to major in physics or engineering. The text also fits the needs of those students who wish to meet the minimum requirements of the medical schools."

The common complaint of students in physics is "I can't understand that text." To understand any worthwhile text in physics requires labor, diligence, clear thinking on the part of the student. This text will satisfy that kind of student. The presentation is clear. The mathematical operations are almost entirely arithmetical and even these are reduced to their lowest terms. A commendable feature is that students are given many illustrations in the working of problems without the use of formulae. The writer has frequently told his students that a formula is a combination of algebraical symbols which a student may sometimes use in order to conceal his ignorance. But there is another point of view. Formulae in physics constitute a universal, an international language. They are shorthand comprehensive statements of physical principles. But students should comprehend the phenomena before they are allowed to use formulae. Then they should avail themselves of these compact symbolic relations.

As to subject matter, it is clear from the statement quoted from the preface that some of the more difficult topics of general physics are omitted in this text, notably the large and important topic of rotational motion. Now it is true that frequently the only result of a student's long labor in this part of the subject is that he gets twisted. But after he gets untwisted and strikes his stride again he "catches on." Then he is in a realm of great fun. However many students throughout the country will rise up and call the authors blessed for this omission.

But the authors have shown that they are without imagination. They have not called their book—"From Archimedes in a Bath to Jim Farley on a Tight Rope." There is no picture of a monkey illustrating a pendulum as it swings from bough to bough, or of Miss America looping the loop on a bicycle. They might have entered into competition with the movies for the attention of the light minded, but instead of doing that they have written a consistently clear and purposeful text, well suited for the objective they have in mind.

The laboratory manual contains instructions and suggestions in regard to 57 experiments all the way from mechanics to electron tubes. These outlines are definitely written for the apparatus in the Wilder Laboratory but they are all of general importance and ought to be of value in any well equipped laboratory. A student who has taken the two courses for which these texts have been written will have a pretty fair knowledge of general physics.