Siegbahn, Kai

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R EV IEWBeta- and Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy. Edited by Kai Siegbahii. Pp i-xxiii+959.North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam. 1 9 5 0 . Price £7. 12. 0.This book is a comprehensive treatise on the theory and experimental methods of the study of /?- and y-ray spectra. Besides the introfluction written by the Editor himself, there are altogether 2b chapters and 8 appendi(^es written by dif­ferent specialists working in these lines. The ve^y fact that the Editor has secured the cooperation of an international team of 42'snch specialist  ^ in writing the flif- ferent chapters clearly indicates his attempt toln^oi porate in the treatise authori­tative treatments of the different problems ill the theoretical and experimental domains of this subject, and even a brief survey of the different chapters will convince the reader that the Editor has been t li^oughly suc(tessful in this attempt.The introduction contains a brief but maliBterly survey of some of the main experimental methods and of the (Hmclusiohs drawn frotn the experimental results.The first chapter contributed by W. Paul and H. Steinwedel aiid the second chapter written by C. M. Davisson deal r(‘spe(*tively with the interaction of electrons and y-rays with matter. The existing theories have been discussed and the experimental results have been (n)rnpared with those deduced theoretically in these two chapters. The theories and design of different types of/Z-ray spec­trometers have been discussed by K. Siegbahn in f^ haptcu* III. This chapter extending over 47 pages includes beaut iful diagrams and rej)roductions of some s])cctra recorded on photographic; plates and also by automatic re(;ording system. Tlie fourth (;hapter dealing with (;rystal diffraction spectroscopy of nu(;Iear y-rays has been written by d. W. M. Dumond whose own contrifmtions in this line are well known. The scintillation nudhod has Ixhmi discusscal by P. R. Bcdl in the fifth chapter using 23 diagrams to illustrate the obser\'ed results. The sixth chapter has been contributed by tour writers. S. V. ("urran lias dealt with pro­portional counter spectrometery, H. Bulbriglit has discussed the use oi a high pressure proportional counter in /i-niy sfiecrtroscripy and (i. Bishop and R. Wilson have discussed some special metliods in y-ray spectroscofiy, such as measurement of photoneutron and photoproton energies. In Chapter V l^l. A. (5. Mitchcdl has discussed the methods of (counting coim*iden(;es 1x4 ween beta-rays and gamma- rays or between two y-rays, and application of the method in the mea.surement of internal conversion electrons, determination of efficiency of y-ray counters, etc. In the next chapter he has dealt with the investigations of flisintogration schemes and H. Slatis has discussed various methods of preparing sources for beta-ray spectroscopy and the thin films on which these surces are spread. M. E. Rose has given in brief the theory of allowed ^-decay in Chapter IX  and the theory oi internal conversion in Chajiter XIV. The theory of forbidden //-decay has been4748 Reviewgiven by E. Konopinisky in Chapter X . C. S. W u has described experim ents on  shapes o f yff-spectra due to allowed and forbidden transitions in Chapter X I  and  in the next chapter O. Kofoed-Hansen has described some experiments on recoil of neutrino and has discussed the significance o f the results.The theory of multipole radiation has been investigated in detail by S. A. Moszkowski in Chapter XIII. The shell model o f the nuclei has been discussed in detail by J. H. D. Jensen in Chapter XV. In the next chapter M. Qoeppert- Mayer has dealt with classification o f /9-transitions including a table giving spin of the daughter nuclei, half life, branching ratio etc. In the same chapter M. GolcDiaber and A. W. Sunyar have discussed the classification o f nuclear isomers. Unified nuclear model has been discussed by A. Bohr and B. R. Mottelson in Chapter XVII. Measurement of short life times of excited states by delayed coincidence methods ha.s been discussed by R. E. Bell and measurement o f such life times by studying the resonant scattering of y-rays has been dealt with in detail by K. G. Malmfors in Chapter XVIII. The next chapter dealing with angular distribution of nuclear radiation has been contributed by six specialists who have themselves made valuable contributions in this line of research. H. Prauenfelder has covered 08 pages dealing with angular correlation, incorporating in the treatment the theory of y-y direc^tion correlation in free nuclei and a general theory o f angular corre­lation. Similarly, a-y and ^-y directional correlations as well as methods for the determination of several nuclear constants have also been discussed by him. R. J. Blin-Stoyle, M. A. Grace and H . Halban have surveyed the experimental methods used in investigations with oriented nuclei, and the experimental results have been discussed in detail. Finally, S. R. Groot and H. A. Tolhoek have given the theory of angular effects of radiations from oriented nuclei in the same chapter.In Chapter X X , I. Bergstrom has described in detail the results o f investiga­tions on Auger electrons emitted by radioactive atoms and has discussed the signifi­cance of the experimental results, R. Wilson has dealt with internal pair formation at different ranges of energy and C, S. Wu has discussed internal hremsirahhmg. The next chapter deals with the application of scintillation technique to the study of particular problems. Discussions on the application to the study o f the Compton effect by P. E. Cavanagh, on the usefulness of the technique in a search for double /9-decay by H. Fulbright and on its use in the study of annihilation of positrons by S. de Benedetti, R. E. Bell and M.Deutsch have been incorporated in this chapter.Some typical resuls of investigations on the artificial disintegration o f nuclei have been discussed in Chapter X X II by R. E. Bell, D. E. Alburger, A. C. G. Mitcell and P. Preiswerk and in the next chapter N. Feather has dealt with /9- and y-disintegration of some heavy radio elements with Z greater than 80. The next two chapters are devoted to y-radiation. D. E. Alburger has discussed the y-radiation observed in charges particle reactions and B. B. Kinsey has discussed the emission o f y-rays after neutron capture. Measurement of disintegration rate has been discussed in Chapter X X V I by J. L. Putman.Review 49In Appendix 1, M. Davisson has given absorption coefficients o f various ele­ments for photon of energies ranging from .01 Mev. to 100 Mev. The other ap­pendices complied by different workers give Fermi functions, forbidden f^f-decay functions, internal conversion coefficients, values of some parameters used in direc- ttonal correlation, critical X-ray absorption energies, details of j8-ray spclra  of some elements and values o f Bp for different values of Kev.It can be easily seen from the summary of the contents given above that tlie treatise under review will be. useful as a valuable book of reference not only k. research workers, but also to imst-graduate students interested in nuclear physics. Of course, thd price is beyond the reach of stirients of average means, but consi­dering the fact that the number of figures exceeds 4(M) and the number of pages 1000, the price is found to l)e only moderate.S. (\ S.Professor M eghnad Saha, F.R.S.Born -October 6, 1893 Died— February 16, 1956

Beta and Gamma Ray Spectroscopy

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