Abstract
OBJECTION may be raised against the title of this book, on the grounds that it has been used before, and that it seems to imply an exaggerated sense of the importance of the views therein expressed. The physical dimensions of electric and magnetic quantities are first discussed, and the author, rightly we think, emphasises the importance of retaining the specific inductive capacity, k, and the permeability, µ, in the equations. He supposes that k may be considered as the reciprocal of a velocity, and Maxwell's relation then automatically determines ju, as a quantity of the same kind. This gives a single system of units for all quantities in terms of length, mass, and time, electric and magnetic charges appearing as quantities of the same dimensions. Dr. Crehore's next step is far more questionable—he assumes that the dimensions of mass are those of a velocity. We cannot attach much importance to the first of the “two equally forceful reasons”he advances in support of this assumption. His new expression for Planck's constant may be the result-merely of a numerical coincidence. His second reason is based on the gravitational equation which he has developed, but this equation has been criticised, and must be considered as still sub judice. As a literary production the book cannot be commended, and the habit of stating results “in advance of the narrative”tempts one to suggest that it should be read backwards.
The New Physics.
Dr.
A. C.
Crehore
By. Pp. xii + 111. (San Francisco: Journal of Electricity, 1920.) 2 dollars.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The New Physics . Nature 109, 39 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/109039a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/109039a0