This is a further new edition of A Dictionary of Physics from Oxford University Press. I have reviewed many volumes in the Oxford Quick Reference series, and what I have come to do with those that are just outside my main areas of knowledge is to pick entries that are to the fringe of the subject of the book. This is, I think, fair as it will show the range of the content. The new edition is described on the cover as “the most popular dictionary of physics”, and any reference book that reaches a seventh edition is clearly getting something right, which means the core items must be well covered.
There are about 200 new entries in this latest revision. One of the examples given on the blurb is the Sagnac effect. It is an interference phenomenon with light. The experiment was done in 1913 but is now important in Global Positioning Systems. The first term in the book is Abelian Group, and we are cross-referred to Group Theory, which is a two and half page account of an area of mathematics. The last term is Zwitterion, and the example discussed is an amino acid so we end in biochemistry. Ne’eman, Yuval is one of the more enigmatic entries. We are referred to Gell-Mann, Murray, and the mystery is solved; they shared the Nobel Physics Prize. Just below Ne’eman is a neon lamp which has a simple and clear explanation that would suit a lay person. At the time when I was writing this review, Stephen Hawking was giving the Reith Lectures, so I thought I would look up Hawking Radiation; we get Hawking Process, which covers the radiation. The McLeod gauge is a specialist piece of apparatus, which has a clear explanation and a diagram. The entry on Harmonic gives the physics definition but also explains its musical aspects. There is an entry for Thunderstorm, which has an excellent diagram of the air movement within a thunder cloud. The opposite page has an explanation of tides that is equally good. Nephelometry is a new word to me (and the spell checker). It is the act of measuring cloudiness of liquids; I will use it next time I am served a cloudy pint of bitter. That is probably enough examples!
I have mentioned diagrams in some of my examples; there are plenty of others, which add to the clarity of the definitions. Some topics, such as the timeline for electronics and details on optical telescopes, are presented as fact boxes. There are external links available in the electronic version. I tried one of these with Google and got the original 1939 paper on nuclear fission, so it is worth following these clues even if you do not have access to the Oxford Quick Reference site.
One feature of this series is the appendices. We are given the Greek alphabet in lower and upper case, which is always useful. (I have used science dictionaries’ Greek alphabets to transliterate words in historical or philosophical books.) Fundamental constants are listed with their symbol and their SI value. SI standard and derived units are given, together with the multiple and sub-multiple values. There are conversion factors from imperial to metric. With the USA still using non-metric, this is useful, but, remember, the US pint is smaller than the UK version. The electromagnetic spectrum is presented. There is a periodic table and a list of elements. The Noble Physics Prize winners are listed. The appendices end with a chronology starting with Empedocles and the four elements theory (I rested the temptation to put the name back in to Greek characters) and ends with the discovery of the Higgs Boson. I expect the next edition will have gravitational waves.
I hope I have conveyed the wide scope of A Dictionary of Physics. There is much in it for other scientists and even the general public. School and public libraries might find this a useful addition to stock. In higher education, I guess, many library customers will have bought their own copy.
