[Book Reviews]

Abstract

THE author produced his “Dynamik der Kristallgitter” in 1915 as one of the monographs of Blumenthal's “Fortschritte der mathematischen Wissenschaften.” This led to an invitation to write an article for the Mathematical Encyclopasdia. Before this could be carried out, Prof. Born had accumulated material for a second edition of his monograph; and as time did not allow of the performance of the double task, he produced the present work to do duty both as an article for the Encyclopaedia and as a second edition of his earlier work. The “Dynamik “has been completely re-written and expanded from 122 to 260 pages. The “Atomtheorie “is to all intents and purposes a new-book, rather than a second edition of the old, though on the same lines. It has been adapted to encyclopaedia purposes by the addition of a large number of references and accounts of earlier work on the same subject. The attempt to make the book do double duty is perhaps as good a success as could have been expected, though at times a sudden transition from the encyclopaedia to the text-book style, or vice versa, is rather startling.

Atomtheorie des festen Zustandes (Dynamik der Kristall-gitter).

Von Max Born. Zweite Auflage. (Fort-schritte der mathematischen Wissenschaften in Monographien, Heft 4.) Pp. vi + 527–789. (Leipzig und Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1923.) 3s. 8d.