The electron, its isolation and measurement and the determination of some of its properties

Chapter 4: PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

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About This Book

A systematic presentation of experimental and theoretical work that establishes the discrete, atomic character of electric charge and explains techniques used to isolate and measure the elementary charge. It traces historical ideas about electricity, extends electrolytic laws to gas conduction, analyzes ionization by penetrating radiation, examines Brownian motion in gases, and considers whether the electron is divisible. Later chapters discuss atomic structure and the behavior of radiant energy. Mathematical proofs, experimental data, and technical derivations are collected in appendices to keep the main text accessible to non-specialist readers.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

In the present edition of this book I have endeavored to present a simple treatment of all the developments in physics to date which have caused a modification or extension of any of the viewpoints expressed just seven years ago. In its preparation I have been very much impressed to find how uniformly the changes represent additions rather than subtractions—a striking illustration of the great truth that science, like a plant, grows in the main by the process of accretion. If I have succeeded in interesting some old friends and making a few new ones for one of the most fascinating of subjects, I shall be content.

ROBERT ANDREWS MILLIKAN

NORMAN BRIDGE LABORATORY OF PHYSICS
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
MAY 18, 1924