Author Description

Excerpt from Advanced Laboratory Practice in Electricity and Magnetism In preparing this book, the author has had in mind particularly the needs of those students who have at their disposal only one year to devote to the study of electricity and magnetism in addition to the work covered in an elementary course in general physics. It has been his aim to include, in addition to the usual work in electrical measurements, a sufficient study of the discharge of electricity through gases, radio activity, and thermionics to enable those who cannot pursue special courses to gain an idea of the fundamentals of these newer branches. The subject matter covers the work given to third year students in electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. Following the elementary work of the first nine chapters, a number of the complex bridge methods for precise measurements of inductance and capacitance arc discussed, together with descriptions of the various sources of alternating currents which have been developed in recent years for energizing bridge circuits. A discussion of the more modern instruments for detecting the balance condition of bridges, together with their individual merits, has been included. This is preceded by an elementary study of "transients," in which the fundamental phenomena of reactance, necessary for an understanding of bridge methods, arc set forth. The electron tube, "because of the multiplicity of its uses, finds many applications, not only in the art of radio communication, but also in engineering practice and in the general research laboratory. Considerable space has been devoted to this device, as well as to the fundamentals of the electron theory and the passage of electricity through gases. The author is a firm believer in the laboratory method of instruction, and each exercise is preceded by a discussion of the theories involved sufficient to enable the student to understand clearly the relation of each experiment