Both for the student of science and for the general
reader willing to direct some concentration on to a subject abounding in fascinating possibilities, these three essays will prove stimulating reading. They are non-mathematical, and de- scribe the application of the quantum theory to the problems of atomic structure. Professor Bohr points out the failure of classical electro-dynamics to explain the laws of line spectra, and shows how consideration of temperature radiation led Planck to his theory of a discontinuous transformation of energy. In Essay II. the correspondence principle is introduced and an admirable account follows of the basic ideas of the quantum theory of spectra. In considering atomic structure, the author takes as his basis the theory of the nuclear atom, due to the researches of Rutherford on radio-active substances, and attempts to solve certain diffi- culties connected with stability by the application of the ideas of Planck's theory.
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