VR LITERATVRE REVIEWS MAGAZINES A First Course in Physics. A Textbook for Colleges and High Schools. By Robert Andrews Millikan, Ph. D., Assistant Professor of Physics in the University of Chicago, and Henry Gordon Gale, Ph. D., Instructor in Physics in the University of Chicago. Cloth. Pages 488. Profusely illustrated with diagrams, half-tones, and woodcuts. Indexed. Published by Ginn & Company, Boston, Mass. Price $1.25 net. THIS treatise is no mere shaking-up of dry bones, like the traditional textbook on physics, but a progressive, up-to-date work as truly revolutionary of fossil methods and old-time view-point as the latest scientific researches have proved to be of the hypotheses prevalent a generation ago. In the domains of physical and chemical theory, the present era is one of rapid transition; many a longcherished opinion, sacred in the entrenchment of tradition, has disappeared in the unfolding of the latest "Book of Revelation" whose authors are Curie, Thompson, et al. We must not look, therefore, in the book now under review-nor, for that matter, in any other book that could possibly be written at this stage-for the final dictum as to the nature and constitution of matter, its relation to electricity, etc. The present work, however, brings us closer to the confines of a full revelation of Nature's secret than any other physical textbook that has yet been published. It does so, too, in simple language suited to the common understanding, without recourse to the burdensome or utterly uncomprehended formulæ of mathematics. It is, in fact-as the authors claim a direct, simple, presentation of the "hows and whys" of familiar physical phenomena as opposed to the study of the use of mathematical formulæ or a mere mathematical and mechanical introduction to technical science. The High School Physics of the past BOOKS decade has been to too large an extent a dry, boiled-down edition of College Physics. The aim in the present work has been to familiarize the student with what he wants and needs to know most about the physical world in which he lives. Hence the book differs from most books of its kind in the thoroughness with which the practical applications of physics to life are treated. It is planned with a view, first, to awaken an interest in the pupil; then, to train him in the observation and interpretation of the physical world in which he lives. It puts the student in familiar touch with the latest advances in physics, devoting an unusual amount of space to such subjects as electrical radiations, cathode rays, the phenomena of radio-activity, and the electron theory. In the treatment of light, the time-honored fiction of rays has been replaced by the truer, simpler, and more comprehensible view-point of change in wave curvature. Human interest is aroused and sustained by the insertion of numerous portraits of great men who have adorned the history of physical investigation, and by interweaving the story of their lives with the study of their work. Great pains have been taken to make the illustrations unusually instructive. This is especially noteworthy in the case of such mechanisms as the gas engine, the turbine, hydraulic elevators, electrical generators, optical and musical instruments, etc. The book has nearly twice. as many illustrations as most other books of its kind. Its completeness is emphasized by the addition of a valuable topical and analytical index. tent lege work with most n he most nned the Djects s, the the nt of rays mpler, int of an inthe in great ory of weav study make uctive. he case engine, empha at Madison Square Garden Office Appliance and Business System Show. The swiftest and most accurate adders in the world break all previous official records for speed and accuracy in addition and multiplication. There were two classes of contests: those open to adding-listing machines only, and those open to all classes of machines. The Comptometer won every contest open to all classes of machines, there being nine American and three European makes on exhibition. Here are some of the records made on the Comptometer in the contests open to all machines. No record equaling even the slowest of the following was made on any make of machine other than the Comptometer: 1st Prize-MISS MAY MAHER, of the C., B. & Q. Ry. Co., Chicago, MISS ANNA M. O'CALLAHAN, Jordan Marsh & Co., Boston, 4 Min. 19 Sec. 4 Min. 21 Sec. 4 Min. 28 Sec. 4 Min. 41 Sec. 5 Min. 43 Sec. 6 Min. 4 Sec. Every One Absolutely Correct and Every One Using the Comptometer MULTIPLICATION CONTEST Performing twenty-five large multiplications 1st Prize-MISS THEA SWANSON, of Swift & Co., Chicago, 2d Prize-MISS CECELIA M. ENGEL, of Western Electric Co., N. Y., MISS CAROLYN L. SCHEER, of Western Electric Co., N. Y., MISS MAE BARCLAY, of Ill. Central R. R., Chicago, 2 Min. 5 Sec. 2 Min. 18 Sec. 2 Min. 32 Sec. Every One Absolutely Correct and Every One Using the Comptometer You do not need to change your office systems to use the Comptometer successfully. When you buy an adding or calculating machine, get the one that is good all around You can get a good adding machine for $300 or $400, and a good multiplying and dividing machine for about $250, but the adding machine will not be as good for adding, nor will the multiplying machine be as good for multiplying as is the Comptometer, which is twice as rapid and more convenient to use than either of the others in its own field. Yet the Comptometer costs only a fraction as much. The Comptometer is as universal in its practical and time-saving application as the science of arithmetic itself. Sent, express prepaid, on 30 days' free trial to responsible parties FELT & TARRANT MFG. CO., Illinois and N. Orleans Sts., Chicago |