Vorlesungen über die Theorie der Wärmestrahlung

THE first edition of this book, which appeared in 1906, was reviewed in NATURE (October 11, 1906, Supplement iii.). The many and varied contributions to our knowledge of radiation phenomena that have been published in the ensuing seven years have made it necessary for Dr. Planck to rewrite and modify the book to a considerable extent, so that it now contains many novel features. As before, the object of the book is to apply the statistical methods previously used in the kinetic theory of gases to the phenomena of radiation, and full use is made of Boltzmann's views on the interpretation of entropy in connection with the theory of probability. But the present treatment is largely based on the remarkable assumption which the author designates as the “quantum-hypothesis.”Vorlesungen ber die Theorie der Wrmestrahlung.By Dr. Max Planck. Zweite Auflage. Pp. xii + 206. (Leipzig: J. A. Barth, 1913.) Price 7 marks.