Abstract
M. VIVAREZ'S book covers almost the whole field of modern electrical practice in a manner which is neither too technical nor too popular. The daily increasing applications of electricity in the industries and arts render such a book valuable in two ways. In the first place, it should appeal to the ordinary engineer, manufacturer or man of science who finds himself obliged to make use of electricity in some way or other, and who can turn to its pages for general information on the subject. Secondly, the electrical engineer is generally obliged nowadays to become a specialist in some particular branch of his profession, and is liable, in consequence, to get out of touch with other branches with which it is desirable he should have a general, if not a detailed, acquaintance. Such he can obtain from a book of this kind. M. Vivarez has set out with the object of supplying the wants of these persons, and also, doubtless, the want of the intelligent amateur who is anxious to keep pace with modern industrial progress, and he has, we think, succeeded admirably in his endeavour. He has produced a book which is thoroughly readable and interesting, and is not at all overladen with calculation or technical detail. Perhaps in some cases he has shown rather a tendency to skip over the less interesting parts at a sacrifice of clearness, as, for example, in the section on units. This may not be of much importance to the electrician who will have obtained his fundamental conceptions elsewhere, but it is a great disadvantage to the non-electrical reader, who can never properly understand the subject unless his knowledge of the groundwork be sound—a truth he is himself too prone to ignore.
Les Phétiomènes electriques et leurs Applications.
By H. Vivarez. Pp. vi + 574. (Paris: Carré and Naud, 1901.) Price Fr. 15.
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Les Phénomènes electriques et leurs Applications . Nature 63, 585 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/063585a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/063585a0