Abstract
THE special features of this book are the emphasis laid upon the applications of the subject and the forty-four examples with their full solutions (occupying fourteen pages) in an appendix. The first chapter deals with scalar and vector products and their applications, chiefly to electric circuits. The second introduces differential operations; after defining gradient, divergence and curl we are given many applications to mechanics and physics. An interesting historical note points out that the symbol like an inverted delta was first introduced by Hamilton, who called it “nabla”, after a Hebrew stringed instrument. The third chapter deals with orthogonal curvilinear co-ordinates, with applications to Laplace's equation, wave motion, and rigid dynamics. The fourth chapter, headed “Tensors”, is disappointing. It opens well by following the historical development of the subject, which is connected with elasticity, but it is misleading to state that “A tensor is determined by six numbers”, and the whole of the chapter seems spoilt by the implicit assumption that all tensors are necessarily of the second order and in three dimensions. The fifth and last chapter deals with applications to hydrodynamics and electrodynamics. Except for the tensor chapter, the book appears likely to be useful to students of applied mathematics and physics.
Vector Analysis: with Applications to Physics.
By Prof. Richard Gans. Authorised translation from the sixth German edition by Winifred M. Deans. Pp. ix + 163. (London, Glasgow and Bombay: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1932.) 12s. 6d. net.
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Mathematical and Physical Science. Nature 130, 621 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130621c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130621c0