The Theory of Space, Time and Gravitation – Fock

Posted on June 16, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post we will see the book The Theory of Space, Time and Gravitation by V. A. Fock.

About the book

The aim of this book is threefold. Firstly, we intended to give a text-book on Relativity Theory and on Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation. Secondly, we wanted to give an exposition of our own researches on these subjects. Thirdly, our aim was to develop a new, non-local, point of view on the theory and to correct a widespread misinterpretation of the Einsteinian Gravitation Theory as some kind of general relativity.

The second edition differs from the first by some additions and reformulations. The question of the uniqueness of the mass tensor is treated in more detail (Section 31*) and is illustrated by two examples (Appendices B and C). The notion of conformal space is introduced and used as a basis for the treatment of Einsteinian statics (Sections 56 and 57). Greatest care has been applied to the formulation of the basic ideas of the theory and to the elucidation of those points on which the author’s views differ from the traditional (Einsteinian) ones. Thus, in order to discuss the general aspects of the relativity principle Section 49* has been added.

The author’s views on the theory are explicitly formulated in different parts of the book and are implicit in the reasoning throughout the whole text. Their general trend is to lay stress on the Absolute rather than on the Relative.

The basic ideas of Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation are considered to be:
(a) the introduction of a space-time manifold with an indefinite metric,
(b) the hypothesis that the space-time metric is not rigid but can be influenced by physical
processes and
(c) the idea of the unity of metric and gravitation.

On the other hand, the principles of relativity and of equivalence are of limited application and, notwithstanding their heuristic value, they are not unrestrictedly part of Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation as expressed by the gravitational equations.

 

 

The book was translated from the Russian by N. Kemmer and was published in 1964.

Credits to the original uploader.

You can get the book here and here.

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An A-Z Of Cosmonautics – Gor’kov, Avdeev

Posted on June 15, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post we will see the book An A-Z Of Cosmonautics by V.  Gor’kov and Yu. Avdeev.

About the book

In the year marking the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space, I was responsible for running the “Small Inter- cosmos’’competition. It was given this title because with the So­viet children taking part in this competition were others from Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, the GDR, Laos, Mongolia and Czechoslovakia. Each o f the competitors had to devise an expe­riment which in his or her opinion might be carried out in space. These children sent in more than two thousand suggestions and amongst these were some that, in my opinion, most children would be capable o f inventing. Take a few examples. A cat, as we know, is one o f the most agile o f all creatures. But how would it behave in a state of weightlessness?

Other children suggested taking ants and bees on board a spaceship. These insects have an excellent sense o f orientation when on Earth. The children proposed an investigation as to whe­ther this sense would be quite so keen if the insects were inside an orbital space station.

There were many suggestions and projects and it would be im­possible to list them all here. I can say only one thing— that cosmonautics has ceased to be the domain o f adults alone. That is not really surprising. Many schoolchildren know more about outer space now than the first cosmonauts themselves knew when preparing for their flights.

It was by chance that I began here by mentioning the “Small Intercosmos’’. This competition underlined the fact that child­ren need good and attractive books for their studies in cosmo­nautics. An A-Z of Cosmonautics is just such a book.

The book was translated from the Russian by K. Ford and was published by Mir in 1989. The design and illustrations were done by V. Stulikov, E. Ilatovsky.

The state of Soviet space technology depicted here is perhaps in its prime (the Russian edition was in 1984). Now in 2021 it seems much of the technology and institutes depicted in this book might be in ruins, and they definitely are not in the best form as shown here. This book provides an unique, and perhaps the last (1989), insight into the Soviet space venture, detailing the history and state of the art that time in a way that is enchanting for young readers.

Though the file size is large (~130M), it does justice to fantastic colour images in the book. I will perhaps post an optimised file sometime later.

You can get the book here.

POST SCRIPT

This book holds a special significance for me. It is the only book that my father gifted to me about two and a half decades back (mid nineties). This book was source of endless fascination about outer space, rockets and space ships. Not to mention the amazing, yet simple drawings depicting the various aspects of space travel. They inspired me to do my own drawings.. In today’s an hypermedia era when you can get any images and information with a simple search, such books may not hold that magic. But back in those days, this book (and books like this) provided the much needed fuel for flights of fantasy! You could model your space station along these lines, and imagine the kind of food cosmonauts eat, how they live, how they train.. I hope others also find this book as fascinating as I did in my younger years.

I came to know about Laika and Yuri Gagarin from this book.

   

Space port Baikonur!

Training hard!

And we have liftoff!

How does inside of the space station looks like?

Weightlessness you say??

Welcome back home!

The multi-page spanner internal structure of Soyuz is highly fascinating.

And also of various other vehicles

 

Also Sputniks which started it all!

The book also has some famous illustrations from the past, for example the Flammarion engraving. 

The book took time to clean as you can see in the comparison images below. I had to  manually clean almost all the pages with images, but the result was worth it.

       

 

 

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Problems of Mathematical Physics – Lebedev, Skalsyaka, Uflyand

Posted on June 14, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post, we will see the book Problems of Mathematical Physics by N. N. Lebedev; I. P. Skalsyaka; Y. S. Uflyand.

About the book

The aim of the present book is to help the reader ac­quire the proficiency needed to successfully apply the methods of mathematical physics to a variety of prob­lems drawn from mechanics, the theory of heat conduc­tion, and the theory of electric and magnetic phenomena. A wide range of topics is covered, including not only problems of the simpler sort, but also problems of a more complicated nature involving such things as curvilinear coordinates, integral transforms, certain kinds of integral equations, etc. The book is intended both for students concomitantly studying the cor­ responding topics in courses of mathematical physics, and for research scientists who in their work find it necessary to carry out calculations using the methods described here. We also think that quite apart from its value as a tool for acquiring technique, the book can also serve as a handbook, especially in view of the fact that answers to the problems are included.

The book was translated from the Russian by Richard Silverman and was published in 1965.

Credits to the original uploader.

You can get the book here.

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Quantum Mechanics – Sokolov, Loskutov, Ternov

Posted on June 6, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post, we  will see the book Quantum Mechanics by A. A. Sokolov, T. M. Loksutov, I. M. Ternov.

About the book

This book is specifically a “textbook” for learning the physical content of quantum mechanics. There is a pleasing progression from the gross quantum effects (blackbody radiation, photoelectric effect, specific heats) to typical quantum mechanical behavior (spreading of wave packets, barrier penetration, stationary states, spin and angular momentum multiplets) to the more refined quantum phenomenology (fine structure, effect of the nucleus on atomic structure, quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, coupling of angular momentums in multielectron atoms and molecules). At each stage of remoteness from everyday experi­ence some of the conceptually and computationally abstruse parts of the theory are dealt with in explicit detail that emphasizes the real observability of the phenomenon. The mathematical form of the theory is thereby dictated by the necessity of having a notational apparatus that is sufficiently rich and flexible to embrace the scope of actual observable effects.

The book was translated from the Russian by Scripta Technica and was published in 1966 by Holt.

You can get the book here.

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The Tale Of Tsarevich Ivan And Grey Wolf

Posted on June 5, 2021 by The Mitr

We will see the book The Tale Of Tsarevich Ivan And Grey Wolf.

 

HEAR ME MY FRIENDS,
AND PRAY LISTEN WELL!
YOU WILL LIKE
THE TALE I’M GOING TO TELL.
IT TELLS OF BRAVE DEEDS
AND OF BRAVE MEN TOO
AND IS A THRILLING TALE
AND A TRUE.
SO OPEN THE BOOK
AND TURN TO PAGE ONE,
AND YOU’LL MEET GREY WOLF
AND TSAREVICH IVAN!

The folk tale in the book was adapted by Viktor Vazhdayev. The fantastic drawings are by N. Kochergin and the tale was retold in English by Irina Zheleznova. The book was published by Malysh Publishers in 1981.

You can get the book here and here.

All credits too Guptaji.

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My Animal Book – Charushin

Posted on June 4, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post, we will see My Animal Book by Yevgeny Charushin.

The book has some really beautiful paintings of animals in their natural habitat. It has three “parts”

The Animals of Hot and Cold Lands 3
In the Woods 29
In Our Yard 51

Each animal has a small description of its habits and habitats.

There are some fantastic full page paintings, and some are spread over two pages!

PS: Loud Thinking: Sometimes I feel there should be a separate/dedicated blog for just the illustrations in Soviet books. What do you think?

There is no information on the illustrator, but it should be N. Charushin, as there are some paintings which are common to this and A Bookful of Beasts by Vladimir Mayakovsky. The book was published by Progress in 1980.

You can get the book here and here.

All credits to Guptaji.

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Cardboard Clock Square – Yakhnin

Posted on June 3, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post we will see the book Cardboard Clock Square by Leonid Yakhnin.

This is an fabulously illustrated storybook for children.

 

The illustrations were done by Evgeny Monin and the book was translated from the Russian by Fainna Glagoleva and was published by Progress in 1978.

The title page is a gorgeous piece of calligraphy!

You can get the book here (slightly better cropped scan) and here (original scan).

All credits to Guptaji.

 

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Problems in Mathematical Physics (with Solutions) – Misyurkeyev

Posted on May 31, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post, we will see the book Problems In Mathematical Physics With Solutions by I. V. Misyurkeyev.

About the book

This collection of problems and exercises in the methods of mathematical physics is designed to fit the present curriculum of the departments of physics and mathematics in universities and other institutes of higher education.

In compiling this collection, I made use of various text and problem books pertinent to the different sections.

To assist in the solution of the difficult problems, and to indicate more rational ways of solving them, I have given di­rections concerning methods of solution for most problems, and have included complete solutions of some. The more difficult problems are indicated by an asterisk.

The book was translated from the Russian by Michael Yanowitch and was published in 1966.

You can get the book here.

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Elementary Particles – Sokolov

Posted on May 29, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post, we will see the book Elementary Particles by A. A. Sokolov.

About the book

The book introduces ideas of quantum mechanics and elementary particles. The book first discusses the concept of elementary particles, and then proceeds to covering the prediction of the positron by Dirac and its experimental discovery. Next, the selection talks about nucleons and pions, along with beta-disintegration and the discovery of the neutrino. The next chapter deals with the problem of non-conservation of parity. The last chapter covers resonons. The book will be of great interest to physicists, particularly those who specialize in quantum mechanics.

The book was translated from the Russian by William E. Jones and was published in 1964.

You can get the book here.

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The Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves in Plasmas – Ginzburg

Posted on May 27, 2021 by The Mitr

In this post, we will see a book by Vitaly Ginzburg titled The Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves in Plasmas.

About the book

In recent years increasing attention has been given to plasmas, plasma dyna­ mics, and yarious processes occurring in plasmas. An important problem in this field is the study of the propagation in plasmas of electromagnetic waves of various types (radio waves, plasma waves, hydromagnetic waves, etc.). A particular case of this is the behaviour of a plasma, i.e. an ionised gas, in an electromagnetic field which is uniform in space but variable in time.
The present book deals with such problems, which are of importance in the theory of radio wave propagation in the Earth’s ionosphere, in radio astro­ nomy and astrophysics, and in the physics of laboratory plasmas.
The study of wave propagation in plasmas involves a great number of different problems and various forms of these problems. The relevant litera­ture is very extensive, especially if kindred problems of plasma physics are included. It must be emphasised that no attempt is made here to review this literature. The author has tried rather to discuss as simply as possible some of the fundamental results, in particular for problems which he himself has helped to investigate. Thus neither the exposition of the material nor the list of references can lay claim to completeness. However, there seems to be no book, Russian or other, in which wave propagation in plasmas is discussed in even the amount of detail given here.

In order to assist the reader and to make the book more useful for reference,
certain formulae have been repeated in different sections, and two sections are devoted to the collation of the principal results. Moreover, the list of references includes some original and review articles on subjects which arc discussed only briefly or not at all in this book. The most important problem omitted concerns the propagation of waves in the presence of statistical inhomogeneities.

You can get the book here.

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