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ELECTRONICS & POWER SEPTEMBER 1980 749

Book Reviews
RC active citcuits vide an up-to-date coverage of the main vironment is often more important than
L.T. Bruton essentials for a book in this area. the language itself.
However, there are several notable In fact, the main body of the book is
Prentice-Hall, 1980, 523pp. 19-45 omissions. Pole-amplitude modulation is only about one-third ot its total length.
not mentioned, and it is surprising that Most of the remainder is taken up by ap-
'RC active circuits' is a penetrating no reference is made of Kron's work on
study of topics pertinent to the theory pendixes describing the features of 17
machine analysis: a bibliography and/or different programming languages and it is
and design of linear filter networks, par- list of references would have helped to
ticularly thoce based on the operational this part that I found disappointing. The
remedy this deficiency. The concept of descriptions of each vary in detail and
amplifier. torque-production in different machines
The reader will find the material is ef- are full of errors. For example, I counted
used by the authors is essentially the 15 syntax errors and 3 factual errors in
fectively organised and supported with same as that used by Prof. Selmon in his
well chosen worked examples and sup- the section on Pascal. More importantly,
previous book and is somewhat over- there is no critical assessment of the
plementery questions. A notable feature laborious and laboured. A more succinct
is the extensive use made of the nullor languages described and virtually no in-
account, perhaps including Maxwell's formation about typical implementation
concept, which allows the student to tangenti-al-stress concept, would have
relate the apparent diversity of filter con- characteristics. The reader is therefore
helped to streamline the content. left with a great deal of work to do before
figurations. It is also worth noting that
although the major synthesis schemes The reviewer was also disappointed he could make a value judgment on
(simulated ladder filters, biquadratic that no mention is made of either pro- the suitability of any one language for his
structures and signal flow graph techni- blems encountered in modern machine particular needs.
ques) have been considered; they are, practice: for example noise or the ever In summary, the book will be of some
however, presented with a somewhat ir- increasing application of digital com- interest to non-software experts looking
regular emphasis. For example, while a puters to many facets of electrical for guidance in this area, but at 15 in
two-amplifier version of a generalised- machines; calculation and optimisation paperback the publishers could have
immittance convertor is exhaustively of machine parameters; computer-aided given much better value for money. In
studied, the complete class of single- design; manufacture; application particular, I would like to have seen
amplifier structures is accorded a aspects etc. This- aspect must be ex- some opinions as to which are good
relatively cursory examination and some ploited if this area of electrical engineer- languages, which are bad and why.
multiple-feedback configurations are ing is to attract good students. Perhaps, as I suspect, they have not got
omitted in their entirety. Given that no Nevertheless, the book can be any!
single book can give comprehensive thoroughly recommended as an under- S.J. YOUNG
coverage, it is nonetheless surprising graduate textbook for a course in elec-
that space has not been found for such trical machines. Its readability and wide IEEE standard test procedures for
topics as: noise, couputer-aided design range of well chosen and graded ex- antennas
and, in particular, statistical sensitivity amples should make it a popular choice Antenna Standards Committee
measures. by students. IEEE, 1980, 144pp.
By far the poorest aspect of the book D. O'KELLY
is the relatively large number of errors Many advances in antenna measure-
which have eluded the editorial scalpel. High level languages for ment instrumentation have been made
They range from inconsequential spell- microprocessor projects since 1965, when the last edition of this
ing mistakes through to incorrect circuit D. Taylor and L. Morgan standard was issued. This new publica-
diagrams and, more seriously, to er- NCC, 1980, 279pp. 15 tion describes the use of this equipment
roneous design data. Although this text for the measurements of antenna
has been written with the undergraduate When microprocessors first appeared in parameters in a very lucid manner, with
student, postgraduate researcher and the early 1970s, the only available tools a minimum amount of mathematics and
practicing engineer in mind, its cost for software development were many helpful diagrams.
(19-45), together with its scope and assemblers. Today, however, a wide Chapters are devoted to far-field
level of treatment may limit its appeal to range of high-level languages are range and anechoic chamber in-
those research students who are seek- available and the engineer is faced with strumentation, and performance evalua-
ing an authoritative treatment of induc- a bewildering choice. Taylor and Morgan tion. Measurements of amplitude,
tor simulation/elimination techniques. have attempted to explain how high-level phase, polarisation and gain are treated
G. WILSON languages are used, why they are impor- exhaustively, with special emphasis on
Electric machines tant and how to decide which one to likely errors due to range or instrumenta-
.choose. tion imperfections. Recent advances
G.R. Selmon and A. Straughen such as compact and near field test
Addison Wesley, 1980, 575pp In the early chapters the basic con-
cepts and methodology underlying the systems are only briefly mentioned.
$28-95 use of a high-level language are describ- Most of the techniques described ap-
ed and the major languages briefly ply particularly to microwave-frequency
Prof. Selmon is well known for his work reviewed. Software development techni- antennas that are small enough to be
on machine equivalent circuits, and this ques and design methods are then mounted on a controlled positioner,
aspect is an obvious feature of the book discussed followed by a chapter on although the title implies that antennas
which includes many equivalent circuits, criteria for choosing a language. The for all frequency bands are covered.
some not usually found in under- book concludes with some rather irrele- Ground wave propagation is mentioned
graduate textbooks. The importance of vant predictions concerning the impact in chapter 17, but the reader will find it
the magnetic properties of materials is of artificial intelligence on future soft- necessary to consult the references for
highlighted and helps to make a good in- ware development. detailed information.
troduction to the subject. After chapters In general, there is little to criticise This book provides definitions of the
on transformers and basic machine prin- about the treatment of these topics, parameters of antennas, and indicates
ciples the three main types of machine although I found the style rather dull. The how these parameters can be
are covered in separate chapters. The authors rightly emphasise the impor- measured. It contains a good
material is well presented and logically tance of good software-engineering bibliography of articles relating to anten-
arranged, far better than Prof. Selmon's methods and how a high-level language na measurements, and will be a useful
previous book ' M a g n e t o e l e c t r i c can be of great value in both reducing reference work for antenna engineers
devices', published in 1966, from which costs and improving the quality of the and research students.
are taken many of the examples and final product. When faced with the selec- G.A. HURD
large extracts of text. Sections on solid- tion problem, they stress the fact that a
state drives, stepping motors etc. pro- good implementation and support en- turn to p.750

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