BOOK REVIEWS

Beta- and Ganunt%Ra~ S~ectmem~. By KAI SI~~BAHN. 1955. North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

PROF. SIEGBAHN is to be congratulated for a masterpiece which will be of the greatest value to all nuclear physicists. It would have been impossible for any one person to write such an excellent and complete survey covering a vast field: the editor seems to have chosen hi contributors (forty-two) very wisely to achieve a high level and avoid extensive overlapping. Each section is written by a leading expert in the field, and the result is a clear exposition due to thorough understanding of the subject matter. It is worth noting that about a quarter of the contributions come from authors associated with Government-sponsored laboratories such as the Brookhaven National Laboratory or A.E.R.E., Hat-well, and the rest from members of university physics departments.

The book starts with an account of the interaction of electrons and gamma-rays with matter (Chapters I and II), followed by an excellent chapter on the theory and design of beta-ray spectro- meters (K. SIEOBAHN), and a particularly delightful section on gamma energy measurements by crystal diffraction by J. W. M. DUMOND. Here is found experimental physics of the highest or&r, worthy of study by all, particularly young physicists. Since Dr. DUM~ND is a pioneer in this field, most of the work comes from his own laboratory. The survey of the tools of the beta decay spectro- scopist is completed with thorough and competent accounts of scintillation methods, proportional counters, the disintegration of deuterium for energy measurements of gamma-rays, and a fine chapter by A. C. G. MI%HELL on the use of coincidence methods, and also by the same author in collaboration with H. SLATIS on the use and interpretation of observations obtained. The whole section is valuable for the many practical hints which are generally known only to the specialist.

The theoretical side of beta decay is summarized very effectively by M. E. Rose (allowed transitions) and E. KONOPINSKI (forbidden transitions). No extensive calculations are given, but the path which leads to the final formulae is indicated. The theory of multipole radiation is given in more detail by S. A. M~~ZKOW~KI and that of internal conversion by M. E. ROLE. One of the most attractivechapters is by C. S. WV on the shape of beta spectra and the information one can obtain from them on the type of interaction. Neutrino recoil experiments are dealt with by 0. Ko~~ED-HANSON. The chapters on shell structure (N. YENSEN), nuclear shell systematics (M. GOEPPERT-MAYER, M. GOLDHABER, and A. W. SLIKWAR), and on the collective nuclear motion (A. BOHR and P. R. MO-ITELWN) am first class. Angular correlations of nuclear radiations, and of oriented nuclei in ex- periment and theory are extensively dealt with: the section on the effect of the medium and of external magnetic fields on angular correlations seems particularly fascinating, as magnetic moments of excited states can be obtained (H. FRAUENFELDER). The annihilation OF positrons (S. DE BENEDFTTI; R. E. BELL) and the fine section on positronium (M. DEUTSCH) are followed by “Illustrative Disintegration Studies,” giving a complete account of methods used, results obtained and theoretical implications of four particularly interesting cases; I(131) (R. E. BELL), Bi(206) (D. E. ALBURGER), Cd(lll) (P. PREISWJZRK), and the sequence I(130) + Xe(130) -+ Cs(l30) -+Ba(130) (A. C. G. MITCHELL). A survey of the decay of some elements of Z > 80 (N. FEATHER) and a chapter particularly useful for practical beta-ray users on the measurement of the decay rate (J. I__ PUTMAN) complete that part dealing with the beta unstable elements. However, since gamma spectroscopy extends to other fields, a section on gamma radiation from charged particle reactions (D. E. ALBURGER) and gamma-rays emitted on neutron capture (B. B. KINSEY) has justifiably been ad&d. Eight appendices on gamma-ray absorption coefficients, Fermi functions, forbid&n shape

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Book reviews 227

factors, internal. conversion factors, angular correlations, X-ray absorption energies, the Th(C +’ C’ + C”) spectrum and Bp versus keV, give that information without which the volume would be incomplete from the user’s point of view. Much of this information was available only in A.E.C. laboratory reports.

For what readers is this book meant? Because of its completeness I am certain that research physicists working on the low-energy field will wish to have it on the desk in spite of its cost, and for the lecturer who teaches nuclear physics it will replace successfully quite a series of monographs. It is a pleasure to read and it is stimulating.

There are a few omissions; the important neutrino work from the Los Alamos group, the medium effects on the rate of the Be(7) K-capture (E. SEORE and collaborators), and, surprisingly, the neutron decay, which was established by SNELL in Oak Ridge and Ronso~ in Chalk River. The transformation of the neutron into the proton is after all one of the basic nuclear processes.

E. B.

Mater&is for Nnclear Power Reactors, by H. H. HNJSNER and S. B. ROBOFF. Reinhold.

Tms book belongs to the Pilot Book series which Messrs. Reinhold have introduced. The claim is that these books will be “comparatively short though complete in essential information; and written in language understandable to the non-expert.” It will be appreciated that this in itself is a consider- able undertaking, and when one adds the statement in the preface to this volume that “the book should also be valuable for those persons who have an interest in the atomic-energy field but are not technically trained .‘. .,” the undertaking in such a compass and to cover such a range becomes formidable.

The authors belong to the Atomic Energy Division of Sylvania Electric Products Inc. As a result of their company’s association with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, they obviously have first-hand knowledge of quite a number of the materials problems arising in the atomic-energy field, and have drawn both on this and on data from U.S.A.E.C. in order towmpile the book.

The two hundred pages of the text are divided into twelve chapters. The authors have found it necessary to devote the first four chapters, covering fifty-five pages, or over a quarter of the text, to a general exposition of what makes nuclear reactors work, what are the basic parts, and what various reactor types there are. They have succeeded in covering this ground, but more liberal use of diagrams and (in one or iwo instances) tabulation would, it is thought, have led to a clearer exposition, easier reference, and economy in space which could have been used to advantage. The use of summary lists of items to be discussed in the introduction to chapters is a good one, however. After a discussion in Chapter 5 of the special problems of materials in reactors, induding in outline the effects of irradia- tion, succeeding chapters deal with fuels, moderators,. and rdlectors, control elements, shielding materials, and special materials of construction. A final chapter deals very briefly with health hazards, handlingproblems of active materials, and waste disposal, and the book concludes with an appendix giving a table of thermal cross-sections, and a glossary of “nucleonic terms.”

In their preface, the authors say they have had at times to indulge in places in “over-simplification’* to give a clearer picture, but it is unfortunate that the text suffers in places from what verge on plati- tudinous statements-for exampie, on page 57: “. . . each component in a reactor is placed there to perform a particular function.” There are also several sins of repetition, and in places the book shows evidence of what, it must be assumed, is hasty compilation, in that them are small errors and,