The Library Shelf

The present writer has reviewed in AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING all but two of the Sections of the Handbook of Supersonic Aerodynamics as each has appeared; and it is a matter of some disappointment that although the first review was made over ten years ago, nearly half the handbook is still awaited. For such an important document to take so long to appear is, to say the least, unfortunate. When complete the handbook will have 21 Sections comprising six volumes; the sections are each prepared by an expert, under the general editorship of the John Hopkins University, while publication and distribution arc in the hands of the U.S. Naval Bureau of Ordnance. Of the 21 sections, there have appeared at various times and in no particular order Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, and 18: they have been reviewed, singly or in groups (except for Section 15, a set of tables) in the May 1952, November 1952, November 1958, February 1960, September 1960 and January 1961 issues of AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING. Of the remaining sections, eight are in process of preparation; there is no statement about the last.