MAX PLANCK, Scientific Autobiog- he wrote several papers intended for physics touche-; upon philosophy. raphy and Other Papers. the gemera1 reader which are pol- The! show that even in his very ad- lected in the present volume. vanced age the author was fully Philosophical Library, N.Y., $3.75 abreast of the latest development^. Rerimed by Paul S. Epsfcin Planck's scientific c a ree r waq Of particular interest are his views Professor of Theoretical Physics, rather unu*-;ual. As early as 1892 he or "Religion and Natural Science." had been appointed professor of Planck grew up in a religious atmos- HE FAVTOUS GERMAN physi- theoretical physic%at the Berlin Vni- phere. being the sou and grandson of T cist Max Planck died in the versity and had thus attained the noted Protestant theologians. In his fall of 1947 at the ripe age of 92. highest position in the German ara- later life he lost the naive faith in During the last ~wovears of his life dernic ttorld open to men of his miracles but retained the ethical ont- cpecialtv. But he admit*-; himself look of religon: a strongly developed that his influence on the development sense of duty and of moral purpose. of yihyqics in his country \\a< almost He feels that mankinrl needs a great nil. Being of a lonely turn of mind. common ideoloCT. a common belief he devoted hi*-;interests to the out-of- through which men should become the-way subject of thermodyrianiics aware of their inherent brotherhood, and let slip past him the two great bv and uhirh should establish mutual creations of nineteenth century phys- love and peace on earth. It is doubt- ALBERT ic<: the electromagnetic and the fill. however. whether his own world kinetic theories of matter. He was view - a somewhat abstract pan- therefore, completely overshadowed theism--~ ould be suitahle to scrxe EINSTEIN by the exponents of these two prob- as this uriifving ideal. lems. his greai contemporaries Hein- 4s an introduction the volume con- This is the First new collection rich Hertz and Ludwig Baltzmann. To make matters worse. he had the tains the memorial address read at of papers, since 1936, by the mortification to discover that eien Planck's funeral by Max von Laue. eminent physicist. A consider- his thermodynamical results were his pupil and life-long friend. able number of these essays not new but had been anticipated. have never been published niany years earlier and in greater ROUTE SURVEYS before in any language. generality. by the American Josiah by Russell R. Skelton W. Gibhs. McGraw-Hill, N.Y. 531 pp., $4.50 Nevertheless, Planck labored on undaunted. and about the turn of the Reviewed by William W. Michael The Theory of Relativity E=:MCZ century his work led to unexpected hsociate Professor of Time, Space and Gravitation retmlts. His iinestigation of the Civil Engine~ring Physics and Reality tliermoclyna~nic6:of heat radiation led The Fundaments of Theoretical Physics him to the discovery of the quantum R. SKE~~TON'SRoute Surveys of action. which opened up neier- presents the subject in a The Common Language of Science dreamed-of new vistas of scientific compreh~n'-'Keand informative man- The Laws of Science and the insight. Thus. the man who had ner Lows of Ethics been consi(1ered a sound but hack- An Elementary Derivation of the ward ph~iicist in the nineteenth The sample field notes on prelim- Equivalence of Mass and Energy century. became the foiinder and inary and location surveys are ex- cellent examples of present day Science and Civilization leader of the new phvsics of the twentieth century. practice. and the text on curve'-'- A Message to Intellectuals both simple and rompound-with A Reply to Soviet Scientists In the essay entitled "4 Scientific its illustrative problems rovers i his Atomic War or Peace A.utobioprap11y" Planck writes with portion of the work in a satisfactory Military Intrusion in Science quiet dignity about his frustrations manner. The spiral curve has been and with modest restraint about his presented in a way that is under- Isaac Newton Johannes Kepler great achievement. The reader gets standable and applirable 011 both Marie Curie Max Planck the impression of a nohle personalitv railroads and highway location. Paul Longevin Walther Nernst di~pa~sionatelypursuing hi4 lonely The chapter on con~tructionsur- Paul Ehrenfest \$a\. Only rarelt a bitter remark reveals the depth of his early (ticap- vevs should be particularly useful poiritments. as for instance: "A new to the student who has not had any qcierltific truth does not triumph practical experience on actual con- PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY hv convir~cingit~opponents and strurtiori work. The table" are pod, Pl~l)Iish~rs rnakirig them see the light. but rather and the size and qhape of the hook lend to its wf111rie-;s in the field. 15 E. 40th St., Dept. 433 because its opponents eventually die, and a new grneratiori prows up that making it fit snugly into the engi- New York 16, N. Y. neer's pocket or field bag. the i familiar vi ith it." On Wrpedite ¥shipmen by cn