The Library Shelf Available to Purchase

Those who are acquainted with the other books in this series will know, on the whole, what to expect in this volume, which is on very similar lines. Very roughly, nearly a half of the book is taken up by a consideration of production methods and of fabrication techniques and problems, most of the rest being concerned with fundamental properties, alloying, nuclear questions, and so on, with some special attention given to toxic effects and safety measures. The treatment is comprehensive, detailed and well‐referenced, and is admirably organized and presented. It deals comprehensively with questions such as the textures developed in working operations; mechanical properties generally, and the effects on these of the production variables—rolling programme, reduction and so on; reactivity; the alloy systems in which beryllium appears as the major element (e.g. beryllium‐copper, beryllium‐titanium, beryllium‐chromium) together with much of the relevant equilibrium diagram as is known at present; its applications as a minor alloying addition; the effects of irradiation and its applications in reactor technology. In view of the ductility limitation of beryllium at the present time, one might have expected a rather more special examination of this problem than that given by the authors, and perhaps in rather more fundamental terms. Indeed neither ‘brittleness’ not ‘ductility’ get a mention in the index, and dislocations, as such, are dealt with in a paragraph or two. A look into the future possibilities of beryllium might also have added to its interest. However, these are small points, as the main purpose has not been to produce a research text, but a book of practical value, particularly to those concerned with nuclear engineering. This aim is achieved with great success. It is, indeed, a relief to find a scientific book which really is a book in the proper sense, and not a collection of individual and unrelated papers by different authors, expert though they may be in their respective fields. The modern trend, unfortunately is to expect the reader to do much of the deductive and collative work for himself. Needless to say, this is not so here, and the book will certainly be welcomed as a text for all those who want to have the facts on beryllium to hand.